by guest blogger Bonnie Spencer   Part 1, Part 2 November 7, 2015 Day 9: Island MetroPark to Canal Lock Park in Tipp City (16.1 trail miles) It had been a week since our last hike and we were ready to get back on the trail. We would have a long day, not only from the trail mileage but also due to extra shuttling. Our plan was to break the hike into two segments. One reason was so that CW wouldn’t have to drive out of Dayton at the end of the day in rush-hour …

by guest blogger Bonnie Spencer   Part 1, Part 3 October 23, 2015 Day 5: Horseman’s Group Camp to Access Ramp at Spring Valley-Paintersville Road (10.6 trail miles) After two zero days, we were back in Caesar Creek State Park. My ankle was still swollen, but the pain wasn’t bad enough to keep me off of it. We began hiking at 10:15, taking the Moonlight Vista Bridle Trail from Horseman’s Camp to get back to the BT. After a mile on the BT, we reached the second saddle dam and saw another red-blazed trail to …

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6 August 26, 2015 The Final Leg When I was still in school, Dad took me to see the giant coal shovels operating in eastern Ohio. They had names like Silver Spade, GEM (Giant Earth Mover or Giant Excavating Machine) of Egypt, and Mountaineer, all of them now extinct. The AEP (American Electric Power) has reclaimed 60,000 acres that were strip-mined by these and other shovels into an outdoor recreation area known as ReCreation Land. They planted over 63 million trees, created hundreds of …

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 7 August 16, 2015 Hot Meals and Cold Nights Halloween night I slept like a barn owl after a high-mileage night of hunting. I awoke early, feeling a little ashamed that I had fallen asleep and missed the Great Pumpkin. Of course, he might have cancelled his appearance due to the weather. But the sleet and wind had subsided, and it looked as if we had dodged one more weather bullet. George, Jim, and I all wondered how long our good fortune would last. …