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schnikel
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« on: October 17, 2009, 08:17:40 AM » |
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My wife and I and a couple friends hiked the Granda Gateway Trail down in Hocking Hills last weekend. The trail goes from Old Man's Cave to Cedar Falls and then over to Ash Cave, about 5 miles. It follows the Buckeye Trail the entire way. It is a great hike with a lot of unique rock formations and follows a creek for a lot of the hike. It also goes by an old fire tower. The trail has also seen recent trail maintenance which is always a plus for Ohio trails.
It is easy to forget that we have a long distance trail right here in Ohio. I know a lot of the trail is road walking, but there are also a lot of single track trail for many miles. Has anyone ever done a long trip on the Buckeye trail? If so where and how were the trail conditions? I have hiked some of the trail in the Hocking Hills area as well as in Tar Hollow, but that is it for me. That article that BPO sent a link about the new preserve that might go in around Dayton got me thinking a little.
With the trail so close to me (Columbus) an idea might be to take 2 cars and park one at the end point and take the other to the beginining of the hike. That way a weekend backpack trip could be done. This is what we did for the dayhike I did last weekend and it worked well.
What do you all think? Schnikel
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doc
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« Reply #1 on: October 19, 2009, 04:12:35 AM » |
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Good idea w/ the car parking plan. I've seen parts of the buckeye trail at HH but never hiked the parts that weren't shared by the state parks trails. I've always wondered how long it would take to circle the whole state.
How were the crowds at HH this time of year schnikel? I've never been there in the fall and bet it would be great.
doc
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shoebox185
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« Reply #2 on: October 19, 2009, 05:12:59 AM » |
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If you go to the website for the Buckeye trail they have info on times and maps as well. I know that there a people who are attempting to thru hike it every year. shoebox http://www.buckeyetrail.org/ |
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But with every walk in nature one receives more than he seeks
John Muir
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schnikel
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« Reply #3 on: October 19, 2009, 09:28:01 AM » |
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Very crowded, but as soon as we left Old Mans Cave and started on the Buckeye trail to Cerar falls there were few people and far between. Same for the section between Cedar falls and Ash Cave. People just don't like to walk far. They park the car look around quickly,thinking they have seen all to be seen and move on. The area is amazing, but so is the trail between the main attractions.
Just got done reading skeemer's trail journal of thru hiking the Buckeye Trail. Very informative and a cool read. I have no desire to hike the whole trail though- to much road walking for me. I would like to do the longer sections of tail that aren't all on roads however.
Schnikel
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BPO
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« Reply #4 on: October 19, 2009, 02:04:09 PM » |
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A newer segment of the BT has been added to connect with the North Country Trail in the vicinity of the beloved Archers Fork Trail. Here's an excerpt from the web site:
"Along with the Whipple Section, this section provides a link between the off-road trail in AEP Recreation Lands and North Country Trail in the Marietta Unit of Wayne National Forest. Although somewhat below average in off-road trail, this segment lies in very remote, wooded country of high ridges. Some of the roads are so little used that days may pass between vehicles..."
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schnikel
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« Reply #5 on: December 14, 2009, 07:20:44 AM » |
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I thought I wold resirrect this thread.
My friend and I are going to hike sections of this trail in this upcoming year.
I was wondering what sections all of you have hiked of the Buckeye Trail and what you thought of it.
was it blazed well and easy to follow. Was it a lot of road walking ( I know a lot of it is).
This way we can get a better picture of what sections are nice and we will by the maps for those sections and hike them first trying to stay off long road sections of trail.
Any thoughts on the trail are welcomed!
Schnikel
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Tony
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« Reply #6 on: December 14, 2009, 11:55:17 AM » |
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I watched a presentation on the BT a few years ago given by a younger couple (college age at the time they walked) that completed a thru hike of the BT (first thru-hike???). The husband is currently working for the Dayton area metro parks and I believe the wife works at Wright State? I know they both graduated from Wright State.
From what I recall, they mentioned that the best sections were between the NE (Cleveland/Akron) and SE corners of the state and the section from Dayton south to Cinncy.
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« Last Edit: December 14, 2009, 01:15:05 PM by Tony »
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Tony
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schnikel
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« Reply #7 on: December 14, 2009, 12:38:36 PM » |
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Thanks for the reply Tony.
I have heard that the NE section is really nice as well.
I am looking at the section from Old Man's Cave down through Shawnee. Lots of parks through that area which might be cause more trail maintenance there than other areas.
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schnikel
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« Reply #8 on: March 04, 2010, 01:39:54 PM » |
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Thought I would keep the hiking public up to date.
I am in the process of becoming the trail maintainer of the section of the Buckeye Trail from Ash Cave to Tar Hollow. It is a long section of trail but I am looking forward to the task.
I have a friend that said he was interested in helping me out.
We are hiking the Buckeye Trail from Old Man's Cave to Tar Hollow the weekend of March 13th. hopefully. I will post the TR when we get back.
Schnikel
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BPO
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« Reply #9 on: March 04, 2010, 03:14:38 PM » |
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Thought I would keep the hiking public up to date.
I am in the process of becoming the trail maintainer of the section of the Buckeye Trail from Ash Cave to Tar Hollow. It is a long section of trail but I am looking forward to the task.
I have a friend that said he was interested in helping me out.
We are hiking the Buckeye Trail from Old Man's Cave to Tar Hollow the weekend of March 13th. hopefully. I will post the TR when we get back.
Schnikel
Good for you! I wish I had more time to do something like this. Look forward to your tr. |
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schnikel
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« Reply #10 on: March 07, 2010, 06:56:54 PM » |
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Just seeing if anyone has hiked around hocking hills or tar hollw recently? After this nice weather we have been having I am wondering about snow levels or mud levels? Anyone got any ideas of the trail conditions out there?
Thanks, Schnikel
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Andy
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« Reply #11 on: March 08, 2010, 06:33:11 AM » |
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Yesterday, Clear Creek still had plenty of snow on the trails with some mud and standing water. Any part of the trail which was even slightly south-facing and out of the hollows was generally clear and even somewhat dry in places.
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When the first Europeans landed in the Americas, they described it as one vast untouched wilderness. This was about the highest compliment they could pay to the Native people who had lived there for thousands of years. -Bill Mason
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schnikel
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« Reply #12 on: March 10, 2010, 07:12:13 PM » |
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Just to keep this alive:
My hiking partner and I are planning to drive down to point 26 on the Buckeye Trail in Old Man's cave Section to sleep and leave one car. In the Morning we will eat and drive the other car to point 14 and park. Hike on Saturday we will hike from point 14 to just past Ash Cave and sleep. Sunday we will wake up and continue to hike back to point 26 to the car. Than drive back and pick up the other and drive home. Total miles hiked is just over 20; not to bad for a day and a half. I spoke with some BT trail maintainers that still have 6-8 inches of snow in their front yard and say there is 4 inches of ice on the trail. We will see, I plan to post a Trip Report if you all want one. Let me know, and thanks Andy for weather report.
Schnikel
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DAN
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« Reply #13 on: March 11, 2010, 02:26:30 AM » |
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I was thinking about trail conditions in general....what they are like in March....I look at recent rains to predict how muddy it will be & how swollen the creeks may be. I'm thinking there is a need to wear boot gaiters this time of year. Zaleski trail can become streams and water falls when we've had rains.
Rain for PM thursday threw saturday...............good luck & get out there.
The car shuttling opens up alot of possibilities...of doing new trails, or doing old trails a different way.>>DAN
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Stargazer
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« Reply #14 on: March 14, 2010, 08:34:56 AM » |
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Just back from a few days at Shawnee. It's wet. Very wet. The stream crossings are all on the high-water side. Because of the lack of adequate switchbacking, long sections of the trail are virtual creeks. There is a solution to the problem, however, which I will discuss in another thread.
Stargazer
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Happy Trails!
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