This weekend marked my first visit to Cantwell Cliffs in Hocking Hills. I was dumbstruck by the beauty I saw as I walked down a steep and narrow stairway cut through the rock face and came across this beautiful vista below.


Directly behind me at this point, I turned to view this ancient rock face looming.



Back on the top of the cliffs, I took this shot looking across a gorge at another cliff face on the other side.



Looking down on the lower trail that runs through the gorge itself, I saw this bridge and stairway. This gives you some idea of how tall the cliffs are at Cantwell Cliffs!



I'll be posting more pictures from Cantwell Cliffs as well as other places of interest around Hocking Hills later on and throughout the week.

peace, wayf

One of my favorite areas to visit in Ohio is the Hocking Hills region. This ancient system of huge hills, waterfalls, gorges, hollows and caves is truly a magnificent and breathtaking area. The region got its name from the First Nations name for the Hockhocking River (now known as simply the Hocking River) which runs through the area. It means “Bottle River” and is derived from the bottle shaped valley that was formed by blockage from glacial ice. There has been evidence found within the recesses and caves in the area that the first human inhabitants were the Adena culture, more than 7,000 years ago. Many of the First Nations also made this place home, including the Wyandot, Shawnee, and Delaware.

 

The bedrock for this area was deposited some 350 million years ago as a delta of the shallow sea which covered Ohio at the time. Sandstone and shale are the major components involved in the beautiful formations that have cropped up from millions of years of erosion and uplift.

 

I find myself feeling very in touch with the ancient earth when I walk these gorges and cliffs. This place tells a story of how the earth was and the dramatic and violent changes it has gone through over its existence. When you stand at the bottom of one of these towering cliffs looking up at a sheer rock face you can feel the immensity of it all very clearly. The ancient forests that surround the area seem to still carry the voices of those who dwelled here at one time, and you catch yourself wondering what it must have looked like when it was still densely forested. I am in love with the beauty of this place, and am very pleased that it lies essentially right in my backyard.

 

I will post some pictures of our trip to Hocking Hills from this weekend as well as pictures from past visits. However, pictures can not really convey the majesty of this beautiful and ancient place. Hocking Hills has become a holy place for me, and I hope you all enjoy the grandeur of it through these pictures. If you ever get to South Eastern Ohio, this would be one of the first places I suggested you visit. It is a wonderful place.

 

For more information, you can visit http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/parks/parks/hocking.htm.

 

Peace, wayf

Well, on Friday, we decided to head up north to see Lake Erie, since neither of us had ever seen it before. I never imagined that it would be so awe inspiring! As I stood there on the shore looking out at it, I thought about the good fate of someone who is born and lives their lives with such a magnificent view in their backyard. Of course they view it as commonplace, by now, I'm sure.

This picture is from a roadside park in North Western Ohio.

Lake Erie. Pictures will never do it justice!


Jesse wanted to get a closer look!


The geese were just chilling out on the shoreline. There was a cold front moving in just as we arrived at Shoreline Park in Sandusky. Most of the day, the sun had shone and it was pretty nice. The drizzling rain started falling and the temperatures dropped as soon as we got to the lake. I don't know if I would have wanted my first viewing of Lake Erie to have been any different.

peace, wayf

This is beauty and light,

Ugliness and dark

Peace and upheaval in my room

Staring at a blank wall

Meditating not relaxing

Fighting always my urges

 

The hardest way to live is the easy way out

The easiest way is the most difficult to find

No anger or pain, no sadness or joy

Just a face staring at a blank wall

Mindful of where it is at

 

 

Like a mountain in the mist

Cloud hidden and alone

I sit in reflection and silence

Thoughts pass through my head

Like clouds passed the mountain

But I can not let them move me

 

For the good of man is my own good

And the downfall of man, so too is mine

 

 

Wayf '06 

A country road that twists and winds

Its way through enchanted forests

Old and haggard with the wear of the years

Surrounded by trees that watch

Every move of the wayward traveler

Making his way along the thoroughfare

As if expecting him to veer off the beaten path

And into those dark places

They reach out their arms toward the wayfarer

As if trying to pull him in

Welcoming him into the magical realm

Of the timeless woodlands he travels

Sorcery seeps from the ground the traveler walks

Covering his weary feet

And once downtrodden steps become spirited again

In these mystical woods

The farer finds his step back in pace

And no longer lacking the skip

As onward deeper into the darkness

The rocky way takes him, he is charmed

By the magic of the wood siren’s song

That draws him on passed the grasp

Of the outstretched trees wanting to pull him

Into the cool dampness of

Their very enchanted world

Beyond the craggy roadside

 

 

wayf 2006