Ohio - Day 2 - Serpent Mound

You are guardian of a treasure,
Oh, just like a sleeping serpent
And you shall see, I shall make you
Spin around like that sleepy snake.
Listen to me.

~Rumi

Exhausted from the previous day's hikes and heat, we were not off as early as we had planned. Two different school groups were already at the Serpent Mound when we arrived and we hurried along to see if we could avoid the crowds.


First I should explain that the Serpent Mound* is not attributed to the Hopewell Culture of yesterday's exploration, but to the Fort Ancient culture. Carbon dating at the site has provided conflicting data. Still, it is the largest snake effigy (I think maybe the largest effigy mound) in the world and quite an impressive construction. [There is also the "Alligator Mound" in Ohio, but it is probably not an alligator and not as widely known or visited as SM.]


We had been told about the viewing tower. It was only about 35 feet high and I had no trouble climbing the steps (slowly and surely). It gave a somewhat better view of the mound, but the stark green of the grass and recent mowing made it somewhat difficult to differentiate mound from surrounding. [Below I've provided a link to the Atlas Obscura post that has a good description and better photos.]

A sidewalk is provided so folks can walk all around the mound. And we did. Signs remind people not to climb on the mound** (and we did not climb on it - or any other mound or earthwork. But I did need to at least touch it and I gently placed my hand on the side of the serpent). The tail spirals around - reminding me of how popular spirals are in many cultures. The serpent appears to be attempting to swallow an egg.

Once again we headed wandered a trail to water - Ohio Brush Creek. This time the trail was long and rugged with a number of spots prime for a slip or fall. It was lovely. DH reminded me that altitude lost must be regained. We climbed out of the woods and headed back to the serpent for another look.

We were here!

It looks like and is a pretty easy climb. The steps had been recently replaced.

It was scarier from below. I climbed once. DH climbed twice.

The view from the top. This is looking at the spiraling tail. Some guy was in the way.

Looking beyond the undulating body towards the head of the snake.

Perhaps a better view of the mound without that guy in the way.

The panorama. It's extraordinary.

Kids arrived and walked along the serpent (towards the head) and down to the river. We would follow in a bit.

We walked towards the tail. I love spirals.

The undulating curves of the serpent.

The Serpent is depicted swallowing an "egg" or the "sun." This is the egg and you can just see the tip of the mouth on the right.

An overlook.

Pussy toes! I am not sure I have ever seen these. [This trip held daily observation of "new" plants - new to me anyway.]

Trillium - Ohio state wildflower. We saw many state symbols, but not the bug - the ladybug.

This was the largest patch of blooming trillium we saw - wildflowers past peak.

Larkspur

More violets.

There was discussion of whether we wanted to take this path as the kids were turning around due to mud.

It was a long way down.

Let's go.

White violet.

Star Chickweed - beautiful!

New-ish stairs on a steep part of the trail.

The creek

Larkspur

Moss covered tree.

A cave or overhang

A hollow tree at the end of this part of the path.

This was the point where we decided to turn around. A little further on there were a number of fallen trees blocking the trail.

DH wanted to climb the tower again.

I stayed below.

In the museum a diagram of the burials excavated.

Cross-section demonstration of the construction materials.

Having taken a short respite in the cool shop and museum where we started watching a film, we were surprised to be hustled out when a group of children came in for a lecture. It was clear the volunteers were not coordinating well (they were operating short staffed). We headed out for lunch in town.

Fields of yellow wildflowers.

Fort Hill Enclosure and Nature Preserve

Fort Hill*** is one of the most intact ancient enclosures attributed to the Hopewell Culture. It is located at the top of a flat topped ridge. This site is wild and secluded. We drove up and found the museum empty (it is only opened one day a week) and parking lot empty. Well, it was almost empty. First we saw the horse. Then we saw the cart.

The cart.

Yes, I got the cart before the horse here.

We had talked about the horse and cart warning signs on the road and so realized we were in an Amish or Mennonite area. I had expressed a little wistful wish that we would see them. I guess I called them to me.

At a picnic table far at the back side of the improved area there was a group of young women. I wondered how they had all arrived at the park because there was only one small cart. Then I saw the bicycles - many bicycles. We watched as one young women ride a bike to the card, removed a bag of feed, and began to feed the horse.

Then we started our hike.

It was a rigorous hike - quite a workout. We did see the earthworks twice. Once we grew frustrated with the trail and map and headed up to where we could see an opening in the enclosure wall. That was a bit of a mistake. We climbed back down to the trail and headed around the end of the hill, finding ourselves along the wall.

We wanted the green trail. We didn't have a map so I took a photo of the posted map. You can see by the contour lines that we would be gaining and losing altitude all through this hike.

It was a beautiful day, but getting pretty hot.

The humid rich woods were full of wildflowers.

The woods were lovely.

The trail

Virginia Spring Beauty

Trekking poles made a huge difference with the constant change in terrain.

Another autograph tree.

Detail of the autograph tree.

I would walk this trail again, but earlier in the day or cooler weather - or both

Fern

We did not see many creatures...a variety of insects.

Every now and then I would see a familiar wildflower - Spiderwort!

Wild Geranium

During the ill-planned climb up the side of the ridge I spied these broomrapes. I saw my first broomrape in Ireland. There are some 200 of them. They are parasitic plants. They grow from others. This was one that grows on the roots of oak trees. It has many names including Squawroot and Cancer-root. [BTW - STAY ON THE TRAIL. Trails protect wildlife and you. Sometimes one learns the hard way. We want there to continue to be preserves and sanctuaries. If we all beat down the plants "off trail" we do unknown damage.]

A new - to me - insect. Scarlet-bordered Assassin Bug

The path took us right to and along a section of the earthworks. You can see how the woods have taken over.

A woodsorrel

Heading back around the far side of ridge, the trail is winding and steep. Up and down we would go.

The tree trunks are not really black, but with little light filtering through they appear almost black.

While much of the path was wide and smooth, some of it was pretty rugged...trekking poles, folks!

I wear "trail runners." They are fairly thin-soled. I knew about every rock on this section of the path, but I continued to hike in them because they are light-weight. There are trade-offs in life.

We saw these umbrella shaped plants - sometimes covering large expanses of ground.

Fairly late I spied these lovely blooms under the leaves. They are Mayapples

See the Mayapple plants on both sides of the trail?

If we had been hiking early and fresh, we would have appreciated this place more. I will want to hike again here.

In every place we hiked we noticed a heavy tree-fall. Sometimes the trees had been removed or cut. But in many places we had to walk over, limbo under or walk around blockages in the path.

It's a PINK woodsorrel!

While we only hiked 4.4 miles this day we were credited with 23 floors - the most of any day of this trip. We might have saved this location for a different day had we know about the change in grade of this trail.

Still, it was lovely - worth every step.****

NOTES:


*https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-great-serpent-mound
**There has been some vandalism - burial of crystals and the like at some sites. People are strange.
***http://arcofappalachia.org/fort-hill-earthworks-2/
      https://www.ohiohistory.org/visit/museum-and-site-locator/fort-hill-earthworks
****And worth the tick I discovered on our way back to the hotel. Wear repellent. Seriously. And don't step off the trail. And check after the hike.