2010 hikes

The year of 2010 was an extra busy year for the ARC, so I only took 4 walks on Spruce Hill that year. As I review the four hikes I did get in, it gives me a sense of how the seasons change over time and how it affects the appearance of Spruce Hill. January comes with its brittle clarity and cold ice grottos. February follows with heavy, clinging wet snows. April explodes onto the preserve with its wildflower displays. Each season, month, day, hike has its treasures.

The 3rd of January was sunny, cold, highs only in the teens with a wind of 10-20mph. I crossed Baum Hill Rd, the orchard and the two farm fields to enter the preserve at the isthmus. Fifteen Canada geese passed overhead, honking gently as they winged their way southwest in search of more open waters. They are regular visitors to Paint Creek. The resident northern harrier cruises over the hilltop field. I visit the ice grotto on the southwest side, a regular feature this time of year. A small creek has sliced through the sandstone and dribbles and trickles over the edge of the hilltop; the ice sculptures along the steep streambed are awesome.

On the sixth of February, a heavy snow had fallen in the area, places up to 6 inches deep, the snow is always the deepest here on top of the hill. I hiked early just after the snow fell, and there was no wind, so the snow was piled up on the storm side of the tree trunks and on top of the branches 4-6 inches high. The winter wonderland did not last long, as the snow stacks were so fragile and delicate. They immediately started falling as soon as the breeze stirred. But pictures I took and the memories I have of that walk will stay with me forever.

In anticipation of the Wildflower Pilgrimage hike on Spruce Hill, I walked the preserve on the 14th of April. Everything looked in order; the wildflower bouquets and displays are all in place for the pilgrimage participants.

On the 18th of April, Mr. John Jaeger guided us as a group of twelve hikers on the Spruce Hill Preserve took part in the Arc of Appalachia’s Wildflower Pilgrimage hosted in April of each year in Highland County, Ohio.