I have alot of content and here is just a glimpse of the beautiful sunsets.
Bourbon, Flies, and Lies
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Sunday, July 20, 2025
Tuesday, July 15, 2025
Sunday, July 13, 2025
Messing with the residents on this hot July day (7.12.2025)!
Dog Days of Summer
Its that time of year when our rivers and creeks are showing
signs of summer. These rivers and creeks are showing us their secrets. They
tell us a story about where fishing holes are. Where the fish would hold in
higher water levels.
Its during these times before the falls rains come when a
fisherman can learn about the river. Is
it tough work well yes because the sun is high in the sky and you can get
dehydrated fast.
Today I went to wade fish as low as you could on Conneaut Creek. I had heard the lower has lost a lot of her ability to hold fish and after today’s walk, I see why. She has accumulated so much small cobbles and sand from the storms over the years. For me it would not be worth the wade to get down there. Mind you this is summer pool level, and the water was in places up to my high thigh. This would be impossible to wade safely with another couple of feet of water in her water course.
I took my trusty TiCr TFO 6wt out for a walk. The rod was
lined with a GPX 6wt and an Airflo sinking leader it as a sink rate of 1.5”/sec.
I used my generic white streamer with a brown hackle collar.
I did connect with a few resident fish today. I saw several
Ospreys and one Bald Eagle. Its nice to see them flourishing.
I managed to see one fawn today while on the Grand River.
I hope you enjoy the artwork, and I am off to hike up into
Brandywine Creek Gorge.
Sunday, July 6, 2025
Hiking McConnels Mill PA State Park Pt 1
Today I brought my good friend R to hike with me. Today I chose
McConnell’s Mill of PA but started at Hell’s Hollow Access. This would ensure
us not running into other hikers for many miles.
This section of the
trail would be challenging for the two of us. Not to the point of whether we
could not do it from the perspective of we are not used to this much vertical
change in topography back to back to back.
This is also a part of the North Country Trail System. It
was hot, muggy, muddy, and buggy! I am convinced the bugs play a game of how
annoying we can be! Lol
We did find where mother nature is carving a small natural but
deep bridge out of the small mountain that’s on the trail this can be found
here at these coordinates (N40° 55.571' W80° 13.368').
I don’t know how long the bridge will last due to the water
erosion, but it’s interesting to see how one way a natural land bridge is
created by mother nature.
The sound of the Slippery Rock Creek and her tributaries
were nice to listen to throughout the hike. You could hear the creek no matter
where you were on the hike.
Since it’s been an incredibly wet spring and summer the
mushrooms are growing everywhere. You could see where animals tried to eat them
and found them to be awful. You would
randomly see them torn to shreds as the animal tried to find a tasty part of
the mushroom!
We too ka rest on some large rocks at our turn around. It
was hot an humid and that’s why we started early like 0730. We had chosen to
turn around at mile 6. Now, here comes the moment where we look at the map vs
the six-mile waypoint. It was 0.60 miles further. Now that might not sound like
a lot but in this terrain, it was a bunch.
With all the up and down we had done at this point and how
much the map had been off horizontally and vertically we decided to turn around
at this point.
I need to point out that I planned the trail off “AllTrails”
we all know they are normally off to begin with and not to be used as gospel.
It was just another example of you can not trust technology all the time and especially
when you did not create the map yourself!!
We ended up hiking
12.2 miles and ascended and descended a little over 2100 feet.
Saturday, July 5, 2025
Breakwall fishing in Buffalo, NY
Breakwall fishing in
Buffalo, NY
Over the decades of fishing New York, I have passed this
area 100’s of times. Since I did not get a chance to fish for smallies in New
York for the spring run I owed to myself to see if I could find some around the
breakwall.
I must talk about the characteristics of this wall. This
wall is old and while majority of this wall is in great shape one must use
caution because some of the walls are not. Another word of warning I want to
pass along. The footers of the bottom of the breakwall are slick! I am saying
if you don’t have studded boots you’re going to do two things, fall and then
slide into the water! This could be disastrous and because water does not care
about your feelings, please use extreme common sense.
Thursday, July 3, 2025
Monday, June 30, 2025
Creek Hike in New York Pt 1
I decided to go to New York today. I had chosen a Lake Erie tributary to hike. I wanted to hike 8 miles, but mother nature’s wrath or evidence of would not allow it. You will see what I mean by the videos and photos I will post. I ended up only hiking 5.5 miles.
As I hiked into the gorge I could tell this was going to be
an interesting day. While hiking to find the old roadbed I saw a mature Redtail
Hawk get harassed by some other birds.
When I got to the creek bed I saw a Bald Eagle. Then I was greeted by the sounds of flowing
water. She was in her summer low flow already. I was afraid of the rain we last
had that I would not be able to hike her today.
I have fished this creek before but from the downstream section. I never got close to this area before. I am going to call this “The Barrel”. It looks like to me a gun barrel for because it will shoot you out if you fall and you will not be able to get back up from where you fell. I saw that if I slipped into the water there would be zero chance I could get back to where I fell from. As you can see there was zero chance for me to grab onto something to stop my potential fall.
The creeks, many chutes and waterfalls made this hike a reel
treat.
I was in the shade most of the day and did not get started
until 0900. I needed the sun high in the
sky because I would be down in a gorge.
There was abundant life in the pools and riffels. I saw Red
Side Dace and other minnows. I saw plenty of midge activity and saw some black
stoneflies also.
Saturday, June 28, 2025
7 Mile Hike on the NCT in PA 6.28.2025
Out on the NCT today I hiked with a good friend, and we only did seven miles. My Danner Boots sprung a leak! Well, I called them on the way back and because it was under 90 days they gave me a new pair off the shelf.
It was buggy and muddy on this section. I knew it would be
this way because we saw evidence of the rain that fell this morning. It was
good to get out and see this new short section of the NCT “North Country
Trail”.
Sonder
Sunday, June 22, 2025
Moraine State Park Pennsylvania
More hike videos from yesterday while on the North Country Trail (NCT)
Moraine State Park - Pennsylvania
I have only recently found the North Country Trail (NCT). This trail starts in North Dakota and stretches to Vermont. Its does this via and actual dedicated trail and via roadways. Here are a few websites if you want to know more. https://nct.maps.arcgis.com/apps/View/index.html?appid=247bfb7befd64180a4471533b937ec25&extent=-80.9868,39.8497,-77.4766,42.4751
https://northcountrytrail.org/
I first encountered a section of the NCT here in Ohio. The
trail sections I have encountered have been more remote and take more effort to
hike than other trails. The effort is what makes it all worth it. The
volunteers they have working on this trail system do an amazing job.
So, back to my hike on the NCT. I was looking at challenging
myself physically and mentally with a hike this summer. I looked through to
start with utilizing AllTrails found here https://www.alltrails.com/.
After hiking on the NCT in Beaver Creek State Park I wanted
to see if I can find other sections in Pennsylvania and in New York. I found
several sections of the NCT, but one stood out to me.
This section would be in the Moraine State Park
This park is in Portersville, Pennsylvania and is big enough
to get away from most of the people. Lake Arthur is in the park. This sees
heavy boat traffic and a lot of people in the summer.
The NCT trail section here has plenty of elevation
deviation. I ascended and descended through out the hike 3300 feet. As you can see in the graphic below it is
quite the roller coaster ride. There were only two climbs and descents that
were tough I thought.
I also wanted to mention I don’t think a lot of people out
there are used to this, let me explain. When you get into an area that has a
trail that goes up and down for several hundred feet these trails become rivers
and creeks when it rains.
When this happens the dirt and sometimes the smaller rocks get washed away. If you in an area with clay this can be very slippery when wet. For example, every step you take must be deliberate and caution must be taken. You will see in the videos water still running down the hills. The creeks and springs were all running strong. I love the sound of running water there is something about it that just makes me feel at peace.
I deliberately chose to go no faster than 2.0 mph on this
hike. I wanted to finish the entire length of the trail I laid out in Garmin
Basecamp. I had calculated it was 16 miles long, but ended up being 17.10 miles. I place mile marker waypoints along the trail
to assist myself to monitor how I was doing.
I would make a conscious effort like at mile 6 to do a
system check on myself. I would ask how do I feel? Do I feel hydrated? Am I
drinking enough water? How much water do I have left?
Since I do a lot of my activities solo, I need to make sure
I do these system checks. Out of the three people I saw on the trail today most
of the time I saw no one.
Yes, so please use common sense and be prepared.
I saw only wone deer today and a bevy of hoof prints. The
mosquitoes were annoying but as wet as it was it could have been a lot worse.
I saw two interesting birds yesterday. I saw this bird down
in Beaver Creek State and along the trail.
The one was an American Redstart. I thought at first it was a mismarked
Baltimore Oriole. The next bird I saw I thought I was seeing things. Its body
was bright but deep red in color and its wings were black. What I saw was male
Scarlet Tanager.
I try and be very aware of animals that I see and hear
around me. This was neat to see these two birds. Especially the Red Tanager. I
thought my eyes were playing tricks on me.
This would be one of the highlights of the day. At about
mile 16.15 I was ready for the hike to end. I was very hydrated, but my almost
60 yo body was over it. My dogs were barking, and I was done. I call it zombie
hiking. This is where your body knows what has to be done to complete the task,
but your brain is off! Lol
I hope you enjoyed the write-up and the artwork and be well.
Sonder
Thursday, June 19, 2025
Pennsylvania 15.8 Mile hike on 6.21.2025
I am headed to Pennsylvania for a 15.8 Mile hike on 6.21.2025
I will be hiking another section of the North Country Trail
(NCT). Between Alltrails and Garmin Basecamp I have laid out the hike.
It is telling me that the ascent and descent will be over
3300 feet. I am going to see how it goes through the hike. I would like to
complete it on Saturday. We will see I have
never been there.
I am taking two water bladders with me in my pack. The one
bladder is 3 liters and the other is 2 liters. I am only going to carry a total
of 4 and not 5.
I have not covered terrain like this since the service and that’s
been decades ago. I will monitor my pace
and keep it slow and steady. Even at a 2-mph
pace that’s 7.9 hours! I will pack my head lamp just in case lol “not really
funny, but kind of is”.
Be well,
Sonder
Sunday, June 15, 2025
Beaver Creek State Park in Ohio
The one thing about hiking is getting there early. This is
for several reasons. some of the reasons are to be ahead of everyone, sometimes
it's for a photo and I don’t want other bipeds in it, less noise, and now so I
can get spiderwebs in my face. The spider webs show me that no animal or human
has been on that part of the trail today.
I arrived at the Beaver Creek State Park parking lot at
0800. This would be my baptism under fire for the new chest pack.
I would start out with my battery pack today as the prime
power source for the GoPro13. The set up worked better than I had hoped.
I will utilize this set up when fishing in the future.
I put on a hike together in the park consisting of 13 plus
miles. I will be concentrating on the North Country Trail today.
The trail goes through the state park. I would take it to
the west where route 7 reaches.
This section is not used to a lot. I had my Garmin 64sx and
I could reconnoiter to find the trail. Yea this section is where I saw bear
scat and believe I heard a bear huff at me. I was on the high ground, and I
just kept on trucking.
The GoPro13 does not do well in low light scenarios. The
videos look ok, but I know they could be better. I just wanted to mention that
some of the quality is not the best and explain the reason.
I only saw one person physically on the trail I was hiking
today. I think the wet trail and the number of mosquitoes scared a lot of people
away.
On a wildlife note, I saw more rabbits today thanks to
seeing them in the wild in a long time. It was nice to see the numbers I
did.
At the start of the hike, it was nearly 70 degrees. With the
amount of fog in the valley it was going to be humid and hot. I had three liters
of water today.
I was wearing shorts and long sleeves. I have found that in
the hottest conditions that 3 liters will work for me.
The morning weather was foggy, very foggy. The GoPro had
several issues as you can tell when I was under canopy. The pace was ok, I
truly could have gone faster, but I would have paid for it dearly on the return
loop. I backed off each time I found myself leaning into the hike and swinging
my arms.
I notified the NCT folks about the bear. I will do another section
of the NCT this week weather dependent.
Be well folks and drink water!
Sonder
Headed out for a 13 miler today
Stay tuned folks I am sure I will have plenty of videos to share.
Sonder
Saturday, June 14, 2025
Sunday, June 8, 2025
Beaver Creek State Park in Ohio
Aerial Photo |
I have been here before but only to fish. This was the first time I have ever visited this area.
This is part
of the Western Allegheny Plateau and shown here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegheny_Plateau
You will find
Calcutta, Ohio nestled in Columbiana County. This area is very rural and you
will need to plan accordingly because of the lack of infrastructure.
This is not
a bad thing and in fact it is a good thing from a visitors point of view. A person just needs to plan accordingly when
visiting the area.
I arrived on
Saturday the 7th of June to an almost empty parking lot. Beaver Creek was up and muddy and on the drop.
I laid out a
trek of 13 miles, but I would end up falling short because of how busy I saw
the park when I got back to the parking lot.
I started
with the Alltrails (alltrails.com) web site and downloaded a few trails. Then I
linked them all together using my Garmin Basecamp program.
During the 11.2-mile hike I would ascend and descend over 1200 feet.
I only saw a
few hikers out on this day. I was a
little surprised. I don’t know why it was not as busy on the trails. Most of
the people I saw were involved more with the park festivities.
There were a
lot of people attending the goings on at Pioneer Village. Here is a link for the
park. https://ohiodnr.gov/go-and-do/plan-a-visit/find-a-property/beaver-creek-state-park
I managed to
see two beautiful Barred Owls on this day. They were roosting and I happened to
catch them off guard. They flew away but you can clearly see a glimpse of them
on the video below. They come and go out of frame quickly.
The terrain
I would encounter would go from gravel, rocky, dirt, and spongy dirt under the
hemlock trees. This would be a great area in the fall to see wit the mixture of
hard woods and conifers.
The bathroom
facilities were extremely clean.
One note was
nice and never really had an opportunity to hike on single track trails. This
means when passing someone, they would need to step off and allow you to pass.
This was unique to me and likely another reason I did not see other people on
this day.
I hope you enjoy the artwork and the write up.
Be well,
Sonder
Thursday, June 5, 2025
A friend and I fly fished in Lake Erie
I can see your eyebrows raised already asking yourself “how can you fly fish Lake Erie?”.
My friend who took me out on Lake Eries is one of the
fishiest friends that I have. We fished forty miles on Lake Erie.
My friend’s boat has a lot of bells and whistles. This
includes side scan radar that I have never seen used before. The morning
started out as a chilly 47 degrees. The
winds were at 4-9 knots and the chop on the lake were at 1 foot.
Our targeting species on this day was to be freshwater
drum. These guys and gals are a hoot on
a fly rod. They fight hard and at times they pull drag. The rod setups for open
water Lake Erie can vary from 6 weights to 8 weights. The lines you will need to throw are 250 full
sinking lines and a sinking leader that sinks 5 inches / second. A word of warning is you need to have a
decent set of casting skills for this style of fishing. To know how to perform
a double haul is going to be key in reaching fish most of the time. Another
point about this type of fishing is the more stamina you have for casting 10
straight hours the better shot your going to have at hooking a fish.
The flies we used all had heavy lead dumbbell eyes on them.
The tippets we used were 15-pound test fluorocarbon. In this trip we fished
areas that he knew could possibly hold fish.
Depending on the wind, waves, and depth of water you will
need to switch it up to see which set up is allowing you to keep your fly the
deepest in the water column for the longest amount of time.
Other than trolling and one time in the ocean I have yet to
fly fish out of a boat all day. My good friend’s boat has more bells and
whistles along with being armed to the gills in tech. He had 22” screens with
radar this sonar that and then I was floored by the side scan radar he had on
the boat.
We departed the marina and headed out. He got up on the
plane and cut through the 1-foot swells like a knife. He has been a boat
captain for over 30 years, and I could tell him by his tactics.
We arrived at the first rock out cropping aka jetty and
would fish both sides. The water was 64 degrees here in this area. With my very buddy jigging fly I through it
five feet from shore.
I felt its ticking off the ballast and then when I thought I
was done a fish doubled over my TiCr 6-weight fly rod. At this moment I did not know it would be a
nearly seventeen-inch largemouth bass. I
was ecstatic as my six-weight doubled over in pain.
My fingers created a brake while fighting the fish. Its bull
dogged me and turned out to be a decent fish. My fishing partner would be
gracious enough to net my fish. This
fish would remove my skunk, but I had no idea what was in store for me ½ mile
away.
I learned that in Lake Erie you have structure, humps,
troughs, ledges, rocks, and weed beds.
What I did not know that will also hold fish is where the clay (silt)
meets sand or other material.
For an example he went to a spot that had a gentle slope to
it that was loaded with small cobble and small stones aka river rock. This
would intersect the clay (silt) in the lakebed.
This would also hold fish and using the crab crawl technique
with the retrieving of the fly it’s an extremely deadly practice to hook fish.
When I arrived at the next spot, he was giving me directions
on the areas where I needed to cast. I covered the first 100 square foot area
he told me then we pushed out into 10 fow (feet of water).
Here is where with the height of th4e waves and the 8 knot
winds we switched over to a 250-grain full sinking line. I used his Scott rod
for this. I could have used my TFO TiCr 6 weight, and it would have been fine.
All the flies of choice were olive, buggy, some rattles, and
tied on jigging hooks. These flies were also max 3-inches long. Some of them
had rubber legs and some did not. The only time we switched patterns was where
we found a large pod of feeding white bass (WB). When we fished for WB it was a
chartreuse clouser over white.
Let’s get back to the freshwater drum adventure. These fish pull hard and the large ones over
10 pounds you will need to put on the reel IMHO. We hooked between the two of
us, I am guessing 30.
After hooking several in the area my friend took us too, I was looking to get a break. He knew I was a little worn down from all the hook ups we had. He said, “hey want to try and find some White Bass?”.
I of course said yes to give my harm and hands a break! So,
we headed off to another part of the area.
We arrived on the opposite side of a jetty to find birds
sitting on top of the water. I told my friend there is a lot of bait here. He
said, “how do you know that?”. I said the gulls are not resting on the jetty
that is fairly close, and they have decided to rest and float low around where
we are. This is just like saltwater when you see active birds it’s a potential
sign that something is about to happen.
Then the White Bass (WB) started to smash bait all around
us. It was a WB blitz! These 10-to-14-inch WB with a few larger ones
sprinkled in had their feed bag on.
Like most WB fishing when you find them it’s a good time.
One after another WB was caught, and it was a welcome relief for me. I have not
had a day on the water like this in a long time and never in a boat.
I told my friend over and over have grateful I was to have
this opportunity to do this with my friend because of his generosity. It was a blessed day all day.
Then my friend said “hey, want to take a trip and see some
of the other islands?”. I of course said
yes, and we put everything away and took a boat ride.
We made a pit stop and fished for one area that he had known
about. With the 250-grain sinking line
we drifted as slow as we could with his trolling motor to stay in out casting
lane.
The water looked so amazing this far north and as I started
to not think about fishing, I hooked a moped.
With the head shaking and then followed by coming out of the
water there he was. A Dark olive green with darker olive stripped smallmouth.
He wasn’t a big smallmouth, and it did not need to be. I just wanted the
opportunity to hook an open water smallmouth.
My friend was johnny on the spot with the net. We hooted and hollored and picked up stakes
and pressed on.
We visited North Bass Island and that’s a pretty place. We
saw a few gars and I attempted to sight fish to one. Instead of putting the fly
into his swimming lane I put it on its head lol. Needless to say, that
opportunity was blown I laughed, and we pressed onto a spot in the middle of no
wheresville!
My friend spot locked us into the spot, and we hooked a few
more freshwater drum and decided to start on our return leg back to the dock.
My friend would end up driving his boat 40 miles to put us
onto fish. The boat traffic was heavy
for a Monday, but we also saw a lot of boats far north fishing.
We arrived at the dock baked and ready to go home.
We unloaded our gear and loaded up our vehicles. I thanked my gracious host over and over because he did not have to do all this today. He could have made it a short day, but as good friends do, he made it into a trip of a lifetime for me.
I hope you enjoyed the adventure as much as I did. I hope
you also liked the artwork.
To my dear friend thank you for me this was a trip of a life
time thank you.
Be well,
Sonder
Monday, June 2, 2025
Cuyahoga Valley National Park 8 Mile hike loop
My good friend and I linked these two trails together for a longer hike. Yes, we had to do a little road work, but still worth it.
Monday, May 26, 2025
Ohio Tail Water Fishing
Today I found an extremely sexy little tail water. Well,
the fish are safe, no fish were harmed today. As you can see, the flows
are extremely fishable. I did see fish rise near the shoreline. The water was
up about a foot from normal. I had zero clues where the fish could be holding.
I brought the eggbeater also and had the same results as the
fly rod. I was using 2” flies and 3” curly tail grubs. The strikes I was getting
were only by the tail and they never got the hook.
I hope you enjoy the artwork!
Sonder
Sunday, May 25, 2025
Saturdays 13.6 Mile hike in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park
I took a longer route on a hike today in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP). I put together a 13.6 Mile route in Basecamp “this is the program that Garmin uses”.
This loop took me into a few places I did not know existed and
it was a pleasure for sure. A few small creek crossings and a few goat up hill
climbs. I ascended 2012 feet and descended 1999 feet. I did this throughout the
hike today.
It has rained and rained a lot here in Buckeye state. So, it
surprised me today to see people in sneakers.
There were a lot of trail runners today. I also ran into a young man who was actually
using a small section of a USGS topo-map. I was shocked and thrilled to see
this.
IMHO if you start with the basics this will make you a better
person when it comes to mountaineering and hiking. I was approaching him after crossing
the creek. He asked me how far a road
was from where we stood together. I pulled out my Garmin 64sx and did a straight-line
distance measurement and told him.
You could tell he was young and was wearing a lightly used
backpack. He said thank you and that he
was doing the trail in small steps, so he does not get overwhelmed. I said
great idea and asked him if he had water. He said he did “I said be careful and
see you again” on the trail and bidded him a good day.
I ran into a lot of standing water north of Vaughn Road along
the Cuyahoga River.
I have high attention to detail when I create my content. I
am still learning about my GoPro pros and cons. I have realized that GoPro 13 does a super job
when the sun is out in full force and you’re not in the middle of the forest.
It has issues with dimly lit areas.
When used in an environment such as this you get distortion
in the video sometimes it is subtle and sometimes it looks awful.
Well through some other social media outlets I have learned
a few tricks. The one option when turned off is the hypersmooth. When I to this you see my head ditty boppin
down the path and to be honest its hard to watch and far to distracting.
I am not producing film quality for professional films, but it’s
hard to watch. With I don’t have any
video to share from the hike.
I will do a short hike on Memorial Day and tweak my setting
yet again.
I am thinking I am willing to lose some detail in the videos
I take. It will not detract from the big picture what I am trying to show the
viewer I believe. There will be some
motion blur and some pixelation. These issues have been visible, but at this
point they have been minor. For me it
does not detract from the over experience that my videos are attempting to show.
I will keep doing it this way and keep learning as I go. Be
well folks and until next time.
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
Sundays Hike in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park for 10.8 Miles
I had to wait for Sunday to do any hiking. We had some heavy rainstorms hit us.
I wanted to hike for 10 miles. I like this distance in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP).
One issue with a trail that long it’s tough to get away from
others. There are trails a person can join that will allow you to do
this.
I took two routes and joined them to make a 10.3 mile hike
through Garmin Basecamp.
I would first have to utilize All Trails to down the two
trails.
I connected them with one mile of roadway. The temperature
was balmy 51 degrees. The wind gusts that were over 20 mph made it chilly
throughout the hike.
I saw very view people when I originally started at
0800.
Part of my route was on a bridal trail. I never saw any
pasture puppies. I was kind of hoping to see a few on this day. Instead, I saw
tons of spring flowers, red squirrels, fox squirrels, and a few
dogs.
I am still learning about my GoPro and the low light
conditions this morning and how in some areas the videos look great and some
they look like dirt lol.
Friday, May 16, 2025
Hell Hollow Wilderness Area- Lake County Ohio
I relearned that just because it’s called Wilderness and it’s
not in Montana, Maine, or Michigan it should not be discounted.
I have seen Hell Hollow a few times on an Ohio Map, but again I discounted it. I never gave it a fair shake. Information for the park can be found here and here
I strapped on my waders and unlike the last time I was here
in February Paine Creek was flowing with no ice jambs.
I arrived and people were at the pavilion having a little
family picnic celebrating graduation.
I hiked in my waders and wading boots to the high falls that
be found here N41° 40.953' W81° 06.915'. This is a double waterfall. This has
two waterfalls that have been created through water erosion done differently.
A lot of the shale was covered in brown algae. This stuff grew where the water was not constantly moving over it. This stuff was slick so slick I fell once while not really paying attention to where my feet were going.
I walked back 1.2 miles in the creek to the main falls that
everyone sees and the bottom of the stairs after you walk through the woods, I
am guessing 300 yards.
This creek was primarily a exposed limestone bed and extremely smooth. It has several smooth potholes in the creek bottom from water erosion.
I remembered seeing other waterfalls downstream from the aerial
photos I have seen. I continued my creek
hiking downstream. I saw two more
waterfalls after this one and I could hear another. This waterfall can be found here N41° 41.880'
W81° 07.483'
I looked downstream and the riverbed looked to had dropped
15 feet vertically downstream. I could also
hear another waterfall. This waterfall
was higher than the other one at the north most end of my hike.
This southern waterfall can be found here N41° 41.919' W81°
07.461'
This waterfall, like the more northerly one, has a great
swimming hole at the bottom of it.
I climbed out of the creek and jumped onto the trail. The
trail was established but it was hard to follow them as you get closer to the
bottom of stairs to climb out of the gorge.
I ended my hike after climbing out of the gorge. Hell Hollow Wilderness is an amazing little
gem. This area would be great to watch birds.
The other time of year that would be great would be fall. All the hardwood
trees with a mix of hemlock trees would be a great mix of fall colors and
greens.
Here is my mapping program overall hike path.