Sunday, Sweetie and I drove up to Yellow Springs, Ohio. It's a funky, quirky, fun little town just east of Dayton. It is the home of Antioch College, a liberal liberal arts college that closed down in 2008 due to board members malfeasance with the funds - then opened again in fall 2012, I think. Small group of students (35 started back when the college reopened - all on full scholarship) and few faculty (I think less than 25). But what a pretty place! Great ginko trees in the campus lawn and old buildings - plus just across the street is the Glen Helen Nature Park/Preserve, a 1,000 acre wooded site that belongs to Antioch Collage. Sweetie and I walked the trails and saw some lovely sights - plus got a lot of exercise going up and down the many stone steps, carefully using the stone stepping stones over the creek, hiking all around (we took a wrong turn and was glad another hiker pointed us in the right direction because my feet were getting sore).
Here's what we saw:
Pompey's Pillar, a large rock column which has broken away from the cliffs and is slowing creeping down the slope of the hill. Can you see Sweetie at the base, adjusting his camera for photos?
Travertine Grotto, the small waterfall coming off the top of the travertine mound forms the grotto; and the reddish travertine is the calcium carbonate stained by iron. The Yellow Springs (for which the town is named) is farther up up up...
The Yellow Spring. The famous spring carries 60 gallons of iron-rich water to the surface every minute. Prior to 1948, the spring flowed into a large pool. Visitors once bathed in its "healing" waters.
I love the colors of this, with the dark green growth mixed in with the reddish rock.
Much farther on the trail we came to the bottom of the Cascades on Birch Creek. We sat on a wooden bench at the bottom and had a breakfast bar for a snack before climing up more stone steps and crossing a bridge, heading to the Raptor Center to see their hawks and owls (and one bald eagle). All but the bald eagle were in wooden-slatted cages enforced with wire, making it difficult to see the birds and even more difficult to take photos.
It was a great hike, a nice trip (the view of the trees in full autumn glory along the roadsides was beautiful!!), and I think we'll return some time in the future, perhaps even staying the night in the Grinnell Mill (built in 1821 and renovated in 2005-2006) B & B for a long weekend trip.
Here's what we saw:
Pompey's Pillar, a large rock column which has broken away from the cliffs and is slowing creeping down the slope of the hill. Can you see Sweetie at the base, adjusting his camera for photos?
Travertine Grotto, the small waterfall coming off the top of the travertine mound forms the grotto; and the reddish travertine is the calcium carbonate stained by iron. The Yellow Springs (for which the town is named) is farther up up up...
The Yellow Spring. The famous spring carries 60 gallons of iron-rich water to the surface every minute. Prior to 1948, the spring flowed into a large pool. Visitors once bathed in its "healing" waters.
I love the colors of this, with the dark green growth mixed in with the reddish rock.
Much farther on the trail we came to the bottom of the Cascades on Birch Creek. We sat on a wooden bench at the bottom and had a breakfast bar for a snack before climing up more stone steps and crossing a bridge, heading to the Raptor Center to see their hawks and owls (and one bald eagle). All but the bald eagle were in wooden-slatted cages enforced with wire, making it difficult to see the birds and even more difficult to take photos.
It was a great hike, a nice trip (the view of the trees in full autumn glory along the roadsides was beautiful!!), and I think we'll return some time in the future, perhaps even staying the night in the Grinnell Mill (built in 1821 and renovated in 2005-2006) B & B for a long weekend trip.
8 comments:
Oh my, that is such a beautiful place! I can picture you both having fun all around. Just gorgeous, thanks for sharing
Gorgeous place and glorious photos, Rhonda! These are my kind of day trips!
Rhonda - this looks like my kind of place to hike. Never heard of this town. Just goes to show that one may live in the same state and be missing some wonderful places to visit that are close by. Thanks for sharing. Hope you are having a great day.
I love this place! It is so nice for you to share these lovely photographs. It appears that you and d/h had a very renewing day. It is such a good time to visit there.
Hi, Teresa! So good to hear from you!
Thanks, Sherry, Debbie, and Barb. I'm glad you enjoyed the little peek at the long hike. It is a beautiful place. The leaves were not outstanding within the park - except for a couple Sweetie captured - but the waterfalls and cliffs were beautiful. Debbie, as we were leaving town, we stopped and ate at Young's Jersey Dairy, a working dairy farm with a few petting animals for the kids, and a large restaurant with homemade pies and breads and ice cream. Yum.
Never been, keep wanting to go, now I know it is definitely worth the drive - thanks for the photos!
Hey Rhonda, what`s up with that red behind the waterfall? I could so paint that! Red is to be cherished wherever it appears in a landscape!
Deb, might be getting too cold now but plan for a trip in the spring - I bet it would be beautiful with wild flowers blooming.
Randall, that's the iron-rich deposits causing the rocks to look red. I like the red and green color, too! If you want me to send you a larger version, let me know and I'll do that so you can have a go at a painting.
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