It was cool and sunny on Saturday morning so we decided to take a look at fall foliage at Rock Stalls. Rock Stalls is a privately owned nature sanctuary run by Camp Akita. It is open to the public, and we last visited the site in February. It is a box canyon crisscrossed by small streams. There are also several, seasonal waterfalls along the rim.
We arrived early Saturday morning at the parking area which was completely empty. The descent to the floor of the canyon was colorful Read more ➜ Autumn Visit to Rock Stalls Natural Sanctuary
It was cool and sunny on Saturday morning so we decided to take a look at fall foliage at Rock Stalls. Rock Stalls is a privately owned nature sanctuary run by Camp Akita. It is open to the public, and we last visited the site in February. It is a box canyon crisscrossed by small streams. There are also several, seasonal waterfalls along the rim.
We arrived early Saturday morning at the parking area which was completely empty. The descent to the floor of the canyon was colorful Read more ➜ 
We've visited Burr Oak several times over the years. On our first trip to Burr Oak we had scheduled a week of camping. In our family, this became known as the "Rain Drenched Burr Oak Camping Trip". On the plus side, I learned to cook meals over a camp stove in the rain. (Hint: use flint and steel to ignite the burner. Works better than rain-soaked matches).
Our next trip, we stayed at the Burr Oak Lodge and then went hiking at Wildcat Hollow in Wayne National Forest. The Wildcat Hollow 
This past weekend we went back to our favorite spots for fall foliage in northeast Ohio: Mohican State Park and Malabar Farm. At Mohican we stopped at Pleasant Hill Dam. We photographed the foliage in the Clear Fork Gorge on one side of the dam and along Pleasant Hill Lake on the other. Lots of people were taking advantage of the wonderful weather to sight-see, hike, or boat on the lake. We then drove over to Mohican Lodge for lunch and a short walk from the lodge over to the lake.
We 
Topographic maps provide information on the geographic features and terrain contours of a given area. You can see where the lakes, streams, fields and forests are located. Brown lines depict changes in elevation and let you know where the ridges and hollows are located. As with a street map, roads, highways, towns, and villages, and political boundaries are also depicted.
With a compass and a good topographic map, you can travel cross-country through areas without trails and reach 
In May we stayed at Punderson Manor - an English Tudor style lodge located Punderson State Park. The lodge was comfortable and convenient to a variety of natural venues. Oh yes, and it is reputed to be haunted by a dozen ghosts.
Haunted Punderson
For those living outside Ohio, the following chart is a simple decision tree for determining if a given locale is haunted.
Punderson Manor is located next to Punderson Lake - a natural glacial kettle lake that is unusually deep. 
While attending the Ohio Pawpaw Festival in Athens, I got the opportunity to try out an ancient weapon — the atlatl. The atlatl is also known as a spear thrower; although, today the spear is referred to as a dart. Since the dart is fletched with feathers, it looks a like a really long arrow. The atlatl was used by the earliest Paleoindian cultures in Ohio. It continued to be the primary weapon of Native Americans in Ohio until it was displaced by the bow and arrow in the late woodland period.
To 
Walnut Woods is the newest Columbus area Metro Park. This 1,032 acre park is located southeast of Columbus near Groveport.
We visited the Metro Park in March and again at the end of summer. The park is divided into three sections. The middle section is currently unimproved, with no trails. It has several lakes and ponds and a segment of Big Run Creek. It will eventually have a trail and areas for bird watching. The other two sections - the Tall Pines Area and the Buckeye Area have 
We attended the 15th annual Pawpaw festival at Lake Snowden, Ohio. The pawpaw is a native Ohio fruit and was the main attraction of the festival.
We tried some cut-up raw pawpaw. The fruit is green and about the size of a potato. Inside it is either white or orangish with large brown or black seeds. The consistency is like custard, and I thought the taste (which can vary) was a mix of melon and papaya.
A variety of pawpaw derived foods were available, including pawpaw 
Kiser Lake Wetlands is a 51 acre state nature preserve in Champaign County. It is located in a corner of Kiser Lake State Park. We visited this preserve in mid-May. The preserve has a 0.6 mile boardwalk / trail system that interconnects with the 0.7 mile Red Oak trail in the park making a 1.3 mile loop.
The trailhead is near the southeast end of the lake on Kiser Lake Rd (CR-19), not far from the main campground. A kiosk marks the trailhead. Nearby is a sign for the park's Red 
We visited Kiser Lake State Park in Champaign County at the end of May. The park features a 396 acre lake man-made lake. Originally a moraine valley created during the ice age, the lake was formed when a dam was built on Mosquito Creek at one end of the valley.
The lake is 2.5 miles long with 5.3 miles of shoreline and five piers. Additionally, boats (motors prohibited) are available for rent at the park. Many people were fishing the weekend that we were there.