Ohio - Day 4 - Seip Earthworks and Highlands Nature Sanctuary

The sun just touched the morning; 

The morning, happy thing,

Supposed that he had come to dwell, 

And life would be all spring. 

~ Emily Dickinson

We left Chillicothe (somewhat reluctantly) after raiding breakfast for plastic ware and napkins and headed towards Seip Earthworks.*  At Seip we found a huge open field with a large mound and indications of where other earthworks and structures were located. There are TREES here for much appreciated shade.

We walked to and around the large mound, debated further exploration, and decided (after a few photos and observation of a Red-winged Blackbird) that we would move on down the road to the next hike.

Seip Earthworks. I thought the mound appeared very like the shape of the hill to the right. The path goes directly to the mound.

Around the close-cut path was grass mowed a bit higher. Then there was higher grass - almost prairie further along.

I love these Virginia Spring Beauties.

A better look at the mound.

An idea of the building of the mounds and what was found inside.

 Highlands Nature Sanctuary

During research for this trip we stumbled on the Highlands Nature Sanctuary as a place to stay because it is one of the places managed by Arc of Appalachia. Arc of Appalachia also plays a role at the Serpent Mound.  [There is an interesting web of preserves/sanctuaries/parks in Ohio and we got caught up in it - gladly.] Arc has only a few places to stay in the sanctuary itself and we were lucky one was open for us.

The Eyrie Suite at the Hermitage would be our home for the next 3 days and two nights - no phone service, no TV, and no WiFi. At least it was advertised as having no connectivity. Come to find out I would often receive text messages (and once a phone call) while sitting on the deck. I was rarely able to respond without wandering around a bit and watching until a second bar popped up. It was only a problem on Mothers' Day when I am usually available and one of the children worried when I did not answer the phone. We must have been hiking where there is no, nada, nothing by way of service.

Our arrival was too early for "check in" and a volunteer at the Forest Museum and visitor center for Highlands recommended we try lunch at JR's, a large grocery/dry goods/general store (with a bakery down the road). Owned and operated by members of the local Mennonite community, there was everything you might want and more at JR's. There were horses and carts parked in the lot along with the Fords and Toyotas - and our little rented Nissan.

The parking lot at JR's

Whoopee Pies on display in the bakery.

JR's was a madhouse inside as some people were doing their normal marketing for the week, some locals were grabbing lunch, and tourists/travelers/wanderers stared open-mouthed at the chaos (and got in the way). DH started pacing - never a good sign. We figured out how to order sandwiches, picked up a few other things and headed to the car where we dined in peace.


DH announced I'd be shopping the bakery (located in another building) "on your own." But we somehow arrived during a lull at the bakery and were able to pick up some bread, fresh butter, a "no sugar added" pie, and some other "unnecessaries." We planned a return trip on Monday - when the crowd should be smaller.

We were a little smug as we headed back to the Preserve and wandered down Cave** Road to the Hermitage. Now well fed, we had all the supplies we needed and more.  And then we saw it. The Eyrie turned out to be a simple one bedroom suite at the edge of a cliff overlooking a gorge. The creek below gurgled. The birds sang. The wind rustled in the giant (80 to 100 foot tall) trees. Another suite is part of The Hermitage, but the way they are designed, we only briefly saw and/or heard our neighbors (first a young couple who shared the birds they had seen and then an older couple).

The view off the deck. Wow!

I researched the hiking trails.

DH spent some time reading

I didn't take photos inside the house much, but I did notice my pots, Farberware, in the cabinet. Yes. We were home.

There are a couple of hikes that start near the museum. Mid-afternoon we decided to hike the Valley of the Ancients trail - a short quarter mile. There were a couple of young people ahead of us. By and large they were good hikers except they disturbed a bat in one of the caves. There was much up and down and lovely wildflowers.

We fell in love with this place on the first hike.

Here's what we saw:

The wildlife was large and small. These ants were tending aphids.

We were heading down towards the creek.

Celandine Poppy

One of the caves

The plants are lush along this trail.

We would come upon this crazy tree growing out of the cliff from the opposite direction.

Red Columbine among the ferns

Red Columbine

Large White Trillium

Mayapple

Evidence of beavers in the area.

Wild Geranium

The first Jack-in-the-pulpet I saw. I would see many more before our trip was over.

At the bottom of the gorge we crossed streams flowing into the creek.

A small waterfall

A final Jack-in-the-pulpit

Ready to climb out

NOTES:

* Seip Earthworks -  https://www.nps.gov/hocu/learn/historyculture/seip-earthworks.htm

**Highlands was once called Seven Caves because of large caves on the property. And I asked if we would see the caves on our hikes. These caves are allegedly off limits due to the bats and bat studies. We did see a number of small caves on the sanctuary property, but we stayed clear. I suspect Cave Road received it's name because of the large number of caves in the area.