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My friend Tim Denis of Mansfield
and I decided to go hiking at
Mohican State Park on March 21, 2009.
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The photo below shows the Clear
Fork of the Mohican River on its
sojourn through the village of
Bellville. We would follow this
stream throughout our day trip.
----
-----Flowing east to the Mohican
River then on to the Walhonding
and Muskinghum rivers, this little
stream will eventually wind up
in the Gulf of Mexico by way
of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.
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-----Our first stop was this little chapel
called the Memorial Shrine.
It is a place for remembering
the war dead
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-----Our next stop was inside the
park. Unlike driving next to
the stream in Bellville, the
Clear Fork was in the beautifully
eroded valley below us here.
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-----I love the Eastern Hemlock that
line the upper portions of the
hills in this area of the state.
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-----Ten to twelve buzzards soared
majestically overhead as we
surveyed the scenery.
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-----We decided to head toward
the covered bridge next.
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-----The island above was a
pastoral masterpiece.
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Below, I wanted to think that
the stones in the river were
put there by God, but Tim
thinks they were placed there
by man to help guide canoes
into the deeper part of the stream.
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-----Tim was able to capture the
U-shaped stone diversion, the
covered bridge and my ugly mug
all in a single shot.
(It was overcast, but it doesn't
take much to get these blue
eyes to squint!)
-----
-----I know...I take weird photos.
Why this swampy looking bit
of ground with some weeds, huh?
.....It was the only sign of spring.
-----
-----Trust me: it was much too cool
for someone to be wearing
flip-flops at the park!
Tim thinks it's a murder clue.
-----
-----Do you see the archer/fisherman
in the photo below?
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-----We were heading toward Big and
Little Lyons waterfalls.
I joked when we saw this tiny
tumble of water that this must
be Little Lyons Falls.
Truth is that this is the same
water that created BIG
Lyons Falls! Go figure!
-----
-----I realize now I should have had
people in the photo to give
some perspective of Big Lyons
Falls in the shot below.
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-----From the top of the waterfall
to the base is 40 feet!
-----
-----And, yes, you will notice as you
peruse these photos my greatest
fascination -- ice!
-----
-----I suppose the water comes off the
ledge in such a small quantity
but at such a great height that
the mist created by the splashing
causes the cold rocks to become
ice-encased. Fantastic!
-----
-----Oh, it was chilly the day we
hiked...but it was in the 40s--
not nearly cold enough for
frozen ground!
-----
-----I loved this huge piece of ice
in the shot below. I can just
imagine what it must have sounded
like when the winter thaw
released it from its ledge-
clutching height and allowed
it to plunge to the cave floor!
-----
----We climbed to the top of the hill
so we could see what was making
all the fuss below.
It was this tiny channel of water,
barely one- to two-feet wide.
-----
-----Here the water makes its
suicidal plunge!
-----
------Finally! A photo that gives
some perspective!
-----
-----And another that shows
NO perspective at all!
------
-----I try to find things in nature
that others might miss.
I really found this black mass
on the birch tree (one of several)
to be cool. While I was sure
once I got close enough
that the growth was some
form of fungus, it wasn't until
I got home and saw this photo
that I realized the sparkling
quality of the parasite.
------
-----After a heavy wind storm last
year, an uprooted tree isn't that
uncommon. What I found
fascinating was the rocks that
made up a portion of its root
mass. It must have been like
trying to wrench the tree
from concrete when Mother
Nature let loose!
Nature let loose!
-----
-----
Ah...Little Lyons Falls...
-----
-----This one is much less accessible
than its older sister.
-----
-----Strangely, I found this
waterfall much more
mesmerizing than the
bigger one. I think it had
to do with the difficulty
I had getting to its base.
-----
We were blowing cold smoke
with every breath in this portion
of the hike.
-----
-----Again, an enormous ice chuck
on a slow thaw from the winter
freeze. Notice the Northern
red oak leaves--about six inches
long--embedded in the ice.
-----
-----I wish I had a better shot of this
icicle. It was probably twenty feet
long. Actually, it was a root
sticking out from the side of the hill
that had slowly grown an ice
coat from the trickle of water
that ran down its long leg.
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Here is the small water sourcethat created the lovely falls.
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-----I'm not sure how the log fell
into this position.
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-----The water is little more than
handwidth before it tumbles
over the ledge.
-----
-----From this side, we had a better
view...both of the waterfall and
the sign saying that getting
close to the waterfall was
prohibited. Whoops!
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-----At the end of the rugged
trail, it seemed the fork
started from a great
underground spring beneath
this tall hill.
-----
----Actually, the Army Corp of
Engineers created this manmade
dam in the early 1900s.
-----
This is Pleasant Hill Lake, formed from the
stream, on the other side of the dam.
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And, strangely, this is the dam.------
-----
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-----This stone structure above allows
the water to flow underneath the
dam and release the water on
the other side of the road.
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-----The "octogonal" looking contraption
below is a flood control device.
It has never been used!
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-----This is another shot of the flood
control device. Should a deluge
of catastophic proportions ever
occur, the water would run into
this drain to keep the land around
the lake from going under water.
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-----This is a shot of the dam
from above. The water flows into
the base of the dam like a
gigantic kitchen drain.
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-----This guy is fishing at the spillway.
(What I want to know is how he
got there!)
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-----The rerouted Clear Fork of the
Mochican River!
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-----Thanks, Tim, for spending
the day with me!
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