Fort Hill Hike 1/20/2008

Overlook point near the earthworks.


Looking down at one of the rock formations.


The fisrt stream crossing. Check out the tunnel on the other side!



This was a challenging hike for me. I grew up in one of the flattest areas of Ohio (the Till Plain of Northwest Ohio). The Fort Hill Nature Preserve has a challenging climb of over 400 ft up a decnt switchback trail to the top of the old Indian ruins.

I went with the Tri State Hiking Club, and we had a group of about 20 people or so. It was nice to be able to hike with a group to have the extra support.

We started out on the trail about 1:00 PM, and the temperature was probably around 15 degrees Fahrenheit. It was very cold. I actually got a little warm toward the end of the hike from all of the heat I was generating from hiking.

I had never been to this trail before, and I was under the impression that when we had completed the first big 400+ foot climb, the hard part was over. I was mistaken.

We had to make several other climbs, and the trail had many ups and downs. The temperature made it a little dificult for me. I almost felt like I was having cold weather induced asthma. It felt like I was hiking with half of one lung most of the time. It was hard to catch my breath a few times.

We had to make a couple of crossings of the main creek that runs through the area. I beleive it is called Baker Creek. There were logs across the stream for both crossings, but the water was still flowing and higher than the tops of my Rocky boots that I was wearing. I had spare socks in my backpack, but I did not want to test how waterproof my boots were in 15 degree weather.

The first crossing was the easier of the two. It was right before an area where there is a rock tunnel on the other side. I stuck my Lekis into the cold water and slowly walked across the log to make it to the other side.

The second crossing came much later in the hike when I was tired, out of air, and a little dizzy and dehydrated. My tube had frozen long ago on my Camelback. I had to take it out of my ULA Conduit pack and unscrew the lid to drink right from the bladder. I emptied it out before the second stream crossing. The log was high in the air and required walking across it without the aid of my Lekis in the water. I was so dizzy, I decided to scoot across the log on my rear. This was tough, since my fleece pants did not want to slide along the log. I made it across with a lessened sense of pride, but I stayed dry.

When we got to the end of the loop to the parking area, I would guess that we had hiked 7 or 8 miles. I really do not know the exact distance. Much of the trail we followed was part of the Buckeye Trail, and it was well blazed.

One of the neatest parts of the trail was the restored log cabin that we walked through. The Gorge Trail goes right through the cabin!

I think we finished up around 5:00 or 5:30 PM. Fortunately we made it back before it got dark. Overall, it was a good workout and made me realize that I need to hike some more hills and get used to that type of hiking. I hiked about 50 miles of the Buckeye Trail last year, but it was mostly flat. My legs are not used to climbing.

We ate at the Ponderosa in Hillsboro. I had the dinner buffet. It was not all that great, but I was so hungry, tired and thirsty I did not care. The Tri State Hiking Club is a great group, and I look forward to going on a lot more hikes with the group in the future.