4Jan2008

Spruce Hill Walk of Friday, 4Jan2008, 2.5 hours, temperature 17degrees, sunny, 10 - 20 mph wind. Three to four inches of snow had fallen in the last couple of days and with early morning temperatures still in the teens, I knew this would be a prime time to walk the hill and see what other creatures had had similar thoughts.

A pristine field of white snow cover is what I eagerly anticipated as I crossed over onto preserve property but unfortunately, I was greeted instead by ugly 4w scars and tracks that had been seared into the snow cover mere hours before. The tracks entered and exited at the same point on the east side of Spruce Hill, edged the entire field along its eastern length, crossed from the neck to the pond, across other property owners' parcels and then back down the eastern hillside towards Knockemstiff Valley.

As I continued my trek along the SE field edge in the woods, I distracted myself from the ugly 4w scars by listening to the wind building as it crossed the barren expanse of Mitchell Flats. The winds embrace the tall bare tree tops, which grab hold of it, translating it into a visual symphony for me, as they wave and sway and roar gently in unison. Snow cover, too, in a place like this, adds an entirely different dimension to a hike. In between gusts of wind, all is quiet---throbbingly quiet. Often the ground is hidden, so every step can be a surprise as far as where or how it ends up. Gone are the boring browns and grays of the long-fallen leaves; everything is alight with white and when the sun hits the snow at the right angle, the snow-covered, open field turns into a magical vista of sparkling diamonds.

Spruce Hill and its companion ridge are renowned for hosting their own microclimate. Often, when the hill will be blanketed in several inches of snow, the valley below will have received only a mere dusting in comparison. This was the case today. While the valley's thin snowcover melted away, Spruce Hill still retained its four inch deep insulating blanket of white. (That's why I like to think of Spruce Hill as our own little local version of Mount Kilimanjaro.) In the spring and fall, when fog settles in the valley and neighboring hollows, it will be perfectly sunny on the hill. Yet, at other times, especially when the spring thaw occurs, the hill remains cooler and as the day breaks, draping fog and clouds collude to totally obscure the ridgetop, and it is only by driving down into Paint Creek Valley and seeing no fog there, that one realizes that the entire world is not blanketed in white mist.

From tracks in the snow, I deduced that a pair of coyotes moved thru on the NE side of the field about 15 feet into the woods. They appeared to continue onto the footpath and down in the direction of the parking lot. One had scuffed up the leaves and marked his territory to the right of the footpath. I followed the tracks partway down the path, then veered off the trail and walked north to a tree-covered promontory--taking in Paint Creek Valley--virtually in its entirety. I also spied many, many wildflower markers--recent décor on that particular point. From this spot, one can see west all the way past the Jones Levee/Rt.50 junction, the entire hamlet of Bourneville, Twin Township Cemetery, as well as east towards Chillicothe and the Blain Highway/Rt. 50 junction, and even beyond that. The cars on US Route 50 look like 'Matchbox' cars, as I gaze down on them from almost a thousand foot elevation. What a view!!

As I finished up my trek along the southeast edge of the field, I used my binoculars to scan the landcape west along Paint Creek Valley, where Route 50 slithers across the foothills of the opposite ridge. As I got my bearings after a bit, I realized that that tiny, tiny, white, buttermint-shaped mound far, far off in the distance was Seip Mound! I had heard for many years that it was possible to see that mound from Spruce Hill. What a joy to finish my trek with that discovery and to actually sense that connectivity to those who had come before.

Wildlife sightings: American crow, red-bellied woodpecker, northern cardinal

31Dec2007

Spruce Hill Walk of Monday, 31Dec2007 for 4 hours, with the temperature in the high 40's, sunny, 10-20 mph winds. What a difference a year makes! Last year, I hiked Hocking Hills on New Year's Eve. Who would have believed that in a year, such wondrous events would occur that would allow myself and many others to finally consider Spruce Hill saved and available to share its magic with the world?!

Since I had not walked the property since early November, I felt compelled to take one more hike on Spruce Hill before year's end, making this my twentieth documented trek. At the SE corner of the isthmus, it was painfully apparent that the 4W had been through recently when it was wet, so the path was quite muddy and chewed up especially along the SE edge of the field. The heaviest traffic is obviously running between the Moose Racing entry point and the SE corner of the isthmus. All the other paths around the fields have not been used in months, and the only traffic evident there is from ungulates and canines. What an improvement!!!

Down from the field's eastern edge, at the end of the 2400 foot boundary line, on a smooth knoll overlooking Black Run Creek, rest the remains of an old collapsed wooden frame barn/house with rusted tin roof. Beside it is the hull of an old pickup truck and also several metal debris piles. There also rests another old 1920's era pickup truck in the same SE corner of this tract along with a tall, wooden-slatted shed. This is a lovely, protected spot as the knoll rises about 20-30 feet above the creek bed, and one can easily view much of the creek and fields northeast through the trees and even see all the way to Black Run Road. It is quite understandable that this would be a choice homesite for someone to settle long ago. I just wonder how it was accessed with Black Run Creek running so close to it---perhaps by way of a path that originally connected to Spruce Hill Rd.?

By 2p, I had completed the trek down and back up the boundary line(quite a steep little climb), so I took off along the eastern edge of the field, immediately noticing the absence of 4w tracks. The only tracks I saw on that section were deer, coyote, fox and perhaps a member of the weasel family. The track was small and had five toe prints, which I am unfamiliar with. The 20 mph wind was really picking up as I crossed the open field, and it blew steadily as I walked with nothing but clear sky and strong winds above me.

My hike finished by way of the pond, where I stopped to check the water level. There has been enough rain and snow recently to create standing water almost all the way north to the buttonbush group. Though the pond is far from full, it is certainly holding more water now than it did during the drought of the summer. So despite the drought, this can still be considered a "perennial" pond---at least for the year of 2007.

Wildlife sightings: Gray squirrel, northern cardinal, red bellied woodpecker, chickadee