We participated in the 53rd Annual Hocking Hills Winter Hike on Saturday. This was our eighth time participating in this winter hike that runs from Old Man’s Cave to Rose Lake, Cedar Falls, and ends at Ash Cave for a total distance of 6.5 miles. A bus returns participants to the starting point.
The weather for the winter hike was perfect, there was a nice base of snow throughout the Hocking Hills. Weather for the prior few weeks had varied above and below freezing creating huge icicles. Read more ➜ 53rd Annual Hocking Hills Winter Hike, January 2018
We participated in the 53rd Annual Hocking Hills Winter Hike on Saturday. This was our eighth time participating in this winter hike that runs from Old Man’s Cave to Rose Lake, Cedar Falls, and ends at Ash Cave for a total distance of 6.5 miles. A bus returns participants to the starting point.
The weather for the winter hike was perfect, there was a nice base of snow throughout the Hocking Hills. Weather for the prior few weeks had varied above and below freezing creating huge icicles. Read more ➜ 
Sadly the computer that hosted TrekOhio was no longer getting security updates because its operating system had exceeded its shelf life. So we needed to move TrekOhio to a computer with an up-to-date operating system. While we were at it, we switched from a 32-bit computer to a 64-bit computer, and we selected a faster programming language and database server with the hope that this will mean faster downloads for our visitors. By the way, Bob wants me to inform our more technically minded readers 
Earlier this week we stopped by the Hoover Mudflats Boardwalk to view the osprey nesting platforms. We had been checking the platforms on and off for a few weeks, and they had been completely bare. But to our delight when we went to the boardwalk this week, both platforms had nests.
We weren't there long when the osprey on the nesting platform began calling to its mate. And soon after we spotted its mate flying back toward the nest with a fish in its talons.
We watched with 
On our recent trip to northwest Ohio, we visited the National Center for Nature Photography. The center is located in Secor Metropark near Toledo. The center features exhibits of the works of nature photographers and occasionally offers classes on nature photography. The center is a small building in the middle of the metropark. It generally shows the works of one artist with the exhibit changing every few months. Admission is free and open to the public.
The current exhibit 
The Biggest Week in American Birding is an annual event held in northwestern Ohio. This year it is being held from May 6 to May 15, 2016. Every spring many species of small birds in the warbler family migrate from South America to Canada. In order to store up energy for the flight across Lake Erie, the birds spend some time on the southwestern shore of Lake Erie fattening up on insects. While the birds look for insects, the people look for the birds. We've participated in two previous Biggest Weeks 
On the occasion of its fiftieth anniversary, the Annual Hocking Hills Winter Hike set an attendance record with over 5300 people attending. Five hundred lucky people received a commemorative hiking stick. Bob and I just hiked the Old Man's Cave portion of the hike this year.
Officially the hike begins at 9 a.m., but many hikers arrive early.
Staff members of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) were on hand to give 500 lucky individuals a commemorative hiking stick. 
This is describing a fair visit from 2014. The upcoming fair is being held July 26 – August 6, 2017.
Yesterday we went to the Ohio State Fair. The state fair is one of the largest in country and is held every year toward the end of July and the beginning of August at the 360 acre Ohio Expo Center in Columbus, Ohio. The original Ohio State Fair started in 1850 and today's fair retains much of the early fairs agricultural roots.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) has 
We happened to be at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium for the final day of a three-day pumpkin carving contest (it was held Sept. 20-22). On this last day the competitors were asked to carve a single, large, freestyle pumpkin. We enjoyed seeing the carvers at work and looking at pumpkins that were carved earlier in the contest, and it seemed like a nice topic to start of the month of October. Since the contest was being held at a zoo, many of the carvings explored the zoo and aquarium theme.
In 
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 
I am an aspiring birder; actually, I seem to be perpetually stuck at the "beginning birder" level. I enjoy and recognize the birds that frequent my backyard feeding station. And when hiking, I enjoy listening to birdsong and calls... but I rarely catch sight of those singing birds. Most of the time they seem to be perched high above me and hidden by the tree's foliage. However in Ohio there is an annual birding event called, The Biggest Week in American Birding, and this year I decided to give it