15 August 2019 Wintergarden

I was on my way home from an Indiana trip and wanted to take a break on the trails.  Wintergarden in Bowling Green offers some very nice trails through woods and open fields.  I was happy to stop for a visit before the current year's caches were archived.  The wildflowers were nearing the end, but still pleasant to see.  The hider at the park is a good hider and managed to leave me with a dnf as I made my way through the park.

It's the end of the season for baneberry.  The spring wildflowers are long gone with just the dolls eyes and leaves remaining on the plant.

There's not a lot of areas in the park are wet enough to support cardinals, but one stretch by a small footbridge and stream was filled with these hummingbird favorites.

11 August 2019 Frog Pond

It doesn't take much to keep a bunch of frogs happy in a summer pond.

We stopped in South Chagrin to perform maintenance on one of our hides.  The hide is really near a slowly drying pond which is usually a frog and turtle palace.  There were no visible turtles, but many frogs were happily hanging out in the vegetation.

10 August 2019 Caching Knox

Our weekend away had not worked out as planned. We were back in Knox County to finish the county's geotrail and hopefully spot some wildlife. Our adventure started at Bat Nest Park. The park includes a walk through a field and ends at at bat house. We were treated to a show of butterflies in the fields with the wildflowers.

Our next stop was at Honey Run Park. The walk included a nice mix of mowed path with a walk through the woods and a flat prairie area at the top of a hill.

A large tree gave us plenty of shade to rest and sign the log before our return walk.

Phin looked great posing in a pair of Hairy Potter sunglasses found in the cache.

Our last Knox find was at the waterfalls section of Honey Run.  This shaded side of the park was really popular on a warm summer day.

4 August 2019 Playing in the Allegheny

We returned to a spot along the Allegheny River to place a new geocache in a location I had visited during my recent bike ride.  On that visit the river was too high to get near the water.  Today the water was at normal levels and begging for a visit from us after placing the cache.

3 August 2019 Wildflowers in the Bean Field

Since the National Forest Service cleared and replanted the bean field with native wildflowers, the area has been a summer treat.  We stopped today as we were passing by.

2 August 2019 Osborn Park Sunset

Speaking from being there before, the person in that boat is in one of the most peaceful places you can be.  The gentle waves lapping against the hull as the sun gloriously sets.

You never know when you are watching your last sunset.  Watch as many as you can and make each one special.

There was no green flash tonight.

30 July 2019 Rogers Road

I stopped by Rogers Road in North Chagrin to see how the summer wildflowers were progressing.  It was a short but rewarding walk.

Butterflies were absent on my walk, but there was a significant gathering of goldfinches spending a lot of time with the thistle.

28 July 2019 Dublin (Ohio) to Home

We were both ready to head home after the weekend of oak mites.  Ali hadn't slept much while I was less than happy with the leftovers from the Friday bites.  We stopped at a Tim Hortons on the way to a park to grab donuts for breakfast.  The park had a couple caches so after breakfast at a picnic table watching a father drilling his two kids over an over on the tennis court, we made our way for a walk.  This park had serious community garden plots in raised beds.

I was feeling completely inadequate with my meager garden efforts when we left and made our way to Centerburg, the Geographical Center of Ohio.  Yes, the large rock is it.  I was hoping for at least a bench mark to log.  At least the nearby water tower took care of spotting a benchmark.  The old railroad grade beyond the rock and parking area has been converted into a very nice bike trail with a few fun cache finds.

With a stop or two between, we eventually reached Knox County and the park system's geotrail.  Thayer Ridge was our first stop.  The park is a horse park with trails that have been rutted and muddied by horse traffic.  We did spot a few nice wildflowers along a small stream.

By Wolf Run Park we both knew the mission of finishing this geotrail today wasn't going to happen.  Ali was dragging and the driving from park-to-park was an example of there's no easy way.  We left woods caches at Wolf Run which is something we would normally never do at a place with good trails.  Maybe we can make a return visit later.

We stopped st Indianfield Bluffs before making a last visit at Hellbender Preserve.  The cache was accessed with a walk down a bike trail.  I liked the area and enjoyed the walk, but Ali was clearly exhausted from lack of sleep.  It was the last walk of the weekend for us.