Saturday, April 30th

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Saturday, April 30th 2000
Colerain State Picnic Area - Ice Caves

The Colerain State Picnic Area was made famous by Jimmy Carter, since Spruce Creek is where he liked to fish for trout.

The main attraction here is a small trail that keeps very close to the shore. After about 2-300 yards, you'll find the first of about 7 or 8 "ice caves". While I wouldn't describe them as caves, they are certainly impressive.

Joe, Lori and I tried out this small adventure, and Joe had just purchased a CamelBack Blowfish for me, which tested out perfectly..

You first notice the caves by the blast of cold air you get as you approach them. Tiny holes in the ground, no bigger than 4 or 5 feet, they look like they were simply cracks in the rocks. People have apparently piled more rocks around them to make more of a pit.

Despite the 65 degree plus air temperature, the air coming out of these cracks was in the twenties or thirties. The larger ones actually did have ice in them.

I can imagine swinging on a hammock over these on a hot July afternoon, but I don't think that's allowed . . .

After a backtrack to the picnic area, the real hike began.

The trail is relentlessly uphill, and took us the better part of an hour to rise 1000 feet. The last switchback or two are a little scary compared to the other trails in the area, since the gully here is extremely steep--the steepest I've hiked after the West Rim Trail. Slippery leaves, needles and grass make it a place where you definitely want your walking sticks.

At the top of the hill, there is a knife edge that forms an overlook--a memorial nearby reminds that this is a long way down! The cliff juts out over a fall which I would say is about 100 feet straight down.

On the way back, we took a dirt road, which seemed to pound the feet much more than the hike up. A few kids drinking beer and leaving trash was something of an annoyance. Apparently, this is a popular place for underage drinkers to party.

On the long walk back, Joe and I formulated a plan to publish a "new" genre of hiking books . . . one based on military techniques and equipment. We would use Captain John "Bear" Kuhn as the author, my photographs, and Joe and Bear's know how. We should make our first million off of this in short order!

I couldn't fit at all :-)