Posted in Links

Our website is now self-hosted

Posted on by Bob Platt

After several weeks of technical work we are happy to announce that our new site has launched. The new site looks similar to the old one, and our domain name and URL remain the same. One difference that visitors might notice is that our photos now reside on site (previously they were at Flickr). In the future we believe this will give us additional options in displaying them. However for now we look forward to resuming a more normal publication schedule.

© Deborah Platt, Robert Platt and TrekOhio.com 2012 to 2021


Posted in Links

Our website is about to move!

Posted on by Deb Platt

Until now TrekOhio.com has been hosted at WordPress.com. But in the very near future, our site will become self-hosted. Our domain name will continue to be TrekOhio.com, and all of the addresses for our posts and pages will remain the same. However if you are one of the 185 people who are following via WordPress, you will no longer be informed of our new posts after we’ve completed our move. But you can still follow us using the WordPress Reader as described below.

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Posted in Hiking

49th Annual Hocking Hills Winter Hike, January 2014

Posted on by Deb Platt

We participated in the 49th Annual Hocking Hills Winter Hike yesterday. This was our fifth 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 miles. A bus returns participants to the starting point.

Ash Cave, near the end of the hike

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Posted in Hiking, Park visit

The Lower Falls and Broken Rock Falls at Old Man’s Cave

Posted on by Bob Platt

We visited the Hocking Hills State Park in July to view a couple of the park’s waterfalls: Broken Rock Falls and the Lower Falls. We scheduled our hike on a sunny day following a rainy spell, so we hoped that lots of water would be flowing over the falls.

Lower Falls at Old Man’s Cave in the Hocking Hills State Park

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Posted in Links

TrekOhio Highlights for 2013

Posted on by Bob Platt

It’s the end of another year and time to reflect on Ohio parks and preserves we’ve visited and some of the interesting sights we’ve seen.

Best Hike of the Year

We’re going to give the annual Hocking Hills Winter Hike a lifetime achievement award. It’s a great hike and has been great fun for us every year we’ve participated. Beyond this annual hike, below are our favorites for this year.

Deb: I really enjoyed hiking within the maze-like crevasses at Nelson-Kennedy Ledges State Park

A mother and daughter exploring the labyrinth of passages at Nelson-Kennedy Ledges State Park.

Bob: Rock Stalls Natural Sanctuary – I really enjoyed our winter hike there – it’s quiet, peaceful, and the frozen waterfalls are beautiful.

Deb photographing one of the waterfalls at Rock Stalls Natural Sanctuary

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Posted in Ohio Industrial History, Park review, Southeastern Ohio

AEP ReCreation Land

Posted on by Bob Platt

Two months ago we visited the site of a former coal strip-mine in eastern Ohio. The area was the site of a massive surface mine that supplied 110 million tons of coal for electric power generation in the region. Big Muskie — one of the largest earth-moving machines in the world — operated in this area. The bucket of this leviathan was large enough to hold two full size buses.

Big Muskie in action

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Posted in Hiking, Northwestern Ohio, Park review

Augusta-Anne Olsen State Nature Preserve

Posted on by Deb Platt

The Augusta-Anne Olsen State Nature Preserve occupies 132 acres of Huron County. At one point it was named the Vermilion River Preserve, but it was renamed after the woman whose initial donation of land to the state made the preserve possible. Among other things the preserve is known for its large variety of spring wildflowers. We visited May 20th of this year with the hope of seeing some of the spring wildflowers.

Wild Hyacinth with the Vermilion River in the background

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Posted in Birds, Plants and trees

Cardinal eating poison ivy berries

Posted on by Deb Platt

In an earlier post on poison ivy, we noted that birds are untroubled by poison ivy. In fact the vine’s berries are an important food source during the cold, winter months. According to an article by Penn State University (linked at the end of this post), over 60 species of bird have been observed eating poison ivy berries. While out for a walk I recently noticed a northern cardinal feasting on them.

Cardinal snacking on poison ivy berries.

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