Here you are
teasing us about temperatures we have not had in months. You’re making us feel secure in your web of
lies lol. We all know you are going to snow one or two more significant times
between now and April.
I went to an
extremely small tertiary stream that discharged into the Grand River. The
elevation at the top of the gorge is about 847.4 feet and at the toe of the
falls it was 760.6 feet.
The gorge
was 86 feet deep and extremely narrow as you can see from the videos. I was
smart to hold off after the snow melt and after ice out.
I have
attached the videos below for your enjoyment.
So, before the prespring thaw I thought I would see
Brandywine Falls from the bottom of the gorge. She never disappoints. The hike
was extremely icy, but it could have been worse. The flow was a little higher
than I would have anticipated, but again it has been over 33 degrees for two
days.
This hike raised my blood pressure more than yesterday!
Unknown variables
can get a person hurt and possibly worse depending on the situation. I have
been creek crawling in the winter time because I love the solitude.
I know there
are a belligerent of variables that can go wrong in a heartbeat.
I have spent
my entire life in the woods, on a body of water, or somewhere in between.
It’s up to
you to stay safe and constantly remember every time you venture outside you run
the risk of getting hurt.
I have
chosen Paine Creek here in Leroy Township, Ohio for several reason. When its at
normal flow her deepest hole is 5 feet deep, but those are at the shale waterfalls.
Every where else its 2 to 3 feet max depth.
This is not
to say you can’t get hurt, but it is to say you would have to be doing
something really stupid to do so.
I used my hiking
sticks as probes looking for hollow ice and of thin ice. I looked for pockets of
air in the ice as I hiked. I found most of them, but as you can see in one video
my foot went down 24” through the first layer of ice. Then as it traveled
through the 24” deep air pocket my foot then landed on the other layer of ice.
I could hear
the water running under my foot and I did not know how deep the water was. I
saw this as a major issue. I did not go much farther because until this moment
I had not had this problem.
I gathered my
composure looked at the ice falls then turned around and retraced my steps to
call it a day! It was an arduous 2.4 miles in the deep snow and the ice was
well ice lol.
I was hoping the center channel was open in the creek then I ws going to hike 6 miles. I get-er done another time.
I am going to head out today to see if I can catch some
water falls at peak flow. Now they are most likely muddy, but I hope the creek
is wadable. Well, we will see. I am back packing my waders in and changing out
in the field. The footing is going to be a mess because of all the snow melting
and rain.
I was out here about a month ago and I could hear the water
fall or falls. We will see how this works out.The Grand River right now is approximately up two feet from where she
was last night.
Her tertiary streams are running hard, but they should be
wadable. The snow melt will still be fully affected. The rain has stopped and
that will help.
These waterfalls I am looking for are always there, but you
need a runoff event to show them in full glory.
I am going to make breakfast here shortly and head out.
I just popped my head out of the house, and everything was
frozen. Now I will need to delay my departure from the house.
My footing while traversing the slopes will be tougher than
I would have anticipated with this overnight freeze fest.
Stay tuned folks,
Sonder
I have returned from the hike. My goal was to find the creek
that is in the park. With all the rain we had received over the past few days I
was hopeful it would allow for the ice to push downstream.
I hiked into the park with my 120-liter Sealine backpack
loaded. I had my waders, boots, wading belt, and camera equipment.
The morning temperatures were in the 20’s. I could hear the
water moving in the creek, but it still had a lot of ice in it.I looked at the falls on my way down and it
was heavy with ice. All the work I would
have needed to do to make it to the falls would have been epic.
I also needed to worry about safety. Being down in a small
ravine there would have been no escape if the water began to rise and all the
debris came with it.I would be caught
in a littoral human washing machine.
The more I thought about it the worse my thoughts became lol
so needless to say I chose to hump my pack and me along the shoreline of the
Grand River.
As I ventured into the swampy abyss of the lowlands, I realized
the beavers had been very busy. They had created huge beaver ponds.
Some of the depths I measure with my walking sticks being
over 3 feet deep.Beavers always surprise
me with their engineering feats.
On a side note, I don’t know what the name of the thorn
ridden plants I always see in these types of areas, but they were so thick you
needed a flame thrower. Side note I will not be here in the summer because the
thorns would be so bad so bad!
It was a short hike and making it through the field snow with a heavy pack it was time it call it a day.
On 1.25.2025
it was supposed to get up to 30 degrees! Lol if it was 30 degrees it wasn’t after
I got out of the woods today.
I went to
finish my second leg of the winter hike of Paine Creek there in Leroy Township,
Ohio.
I made
breakfast and headed to the creek around 8 am.I was curious to see how easy this access would be.I know the main road was closed and their
would be a hill to contend with going in and coming out.
I saw a
jogger with his dog right off the bat.
Then once I
got past I-90 it was all coyote tracks and deer scrapes looking for acorns.
The creek
was flowing normally this time of year. The shale creek is mostly featureless,
but you need to be wary, and I will show you why later.
It was nice
to get out and make coffee on the bank of the creek.
Overall, I
hiked 5 miles and slowly I will get in better shape.
It’s been a minute,
and my body was telling me we needed some to get some exercise. I decided
to take a hike along Paine Creek in Ohio. I was hoping the center channel was
open, but as you will see in the videos in some places it was open and some
places well it was closed.
The field snow was all fluff and about 10
inches deep. The daytime high was supposed to be 30 degrees. The sun would poke
its head out from time to time. It was a great day to be out, and the Park was
void of ppl.
