Hocking Hills State Park:  Hocking Hills Winter Hike 01/18/2014

The activities committee (me) chose the Hocking Hills Winter Hike to start off the new year of a more active me.  It is a 6 mile hike that starts at Old Man's Cave, travels to Cedar Falls, and ends at Ash Cave.   The features of this area are carved out of the impressive Blackhand sandstone common in this area of Ohio.  It is a popular hike and attracts thousands of people each year.  This year it included me and my hiking buddy Melinda.

The start of the hike was slow and a cold twenty degree temperature.  I do not like cold.  The path was tight and with thousands of people bunched together, we could not get up enough energy to keep warm.  Melinda was a bit under dressed for the hike so I asked her if she wanted to continue.  She is a hearty soul and was determined to finish what she started.  She is a hiking buddy keeper.

We continued to the bottom of the gorge.  I am so glad that we did.  What a beautiful panorama.  It was a winter wonderland of water and snow and stone.

The hike continued through the gorge and across several scenic bridges.  Did I tell you that it is a popular hike?

The devil's bathtub.

We saw icicles that looked like frozen waterfalls.

We took in the beauty of the river.

We hiked on to the Old Man's cave.  It is a recessed cave that is carved out of the sandstone.

The view outside of Old Man's Cave.

We climbed out of the gorge.  There had been some land slide activity and it wasn't safe to continue hiking in the gorge.  We followed the path along the top of the gorge.  The path was wider there and we were able to pick up some speed.  We hiked on toward Cedar Falls.

We saw many scenes of manliness along the way.

We saw many scenes of not so manliness.  Me

My hiking buddy, Melinda.

One of the cute rescue workers we met along the way.  He looks fetch-ing in that vest.

We finally reach Cedar Falls and begin the hike back down into the gorge.  Half way down the stairs, we see the falls.  It was like the curtains opening on the best stage show you could imagine.  Breathtaking

The necessary hiking buddy picture in front of Cedar Falls.

It is at this time that the spray in the air starts to freeze on my camera lens.  There are no more pictures.

We traveled through the gorge.  We went past may beautiful sites that I wish I could have taken pictures of.

We climbed out of the gorge.  At the top we were treated to hot bean soup (the best I have ever had) made in iron kettles, cornbread, and hot chocolate.  I need to buy an iron kettle and get that recipe.

We ended our hike at the half way point and took the available shuttle bus back to our starting point and called it a day.  We may not have made it to the end, but we were off of the couch and active.  That is a win.

I will go back and finish the hike in the spring.

#hiking  #hockinghills

Time To Get Off The Couch And Get Moving

And So It Begins

Two years ago I started the journey toward a happier and healthier me.  It was a success!  I lost 70 pounds and kept it off for almost two years.  There were many goals met and many happy dances made.

I then started having some setbacks.

I know what some of the problems were.

• I had gall bladder issues that required surgery.  Add ten pounds from inactivity.
• My hiking buddy fell off a horse and broke her pelvis and cut back her activity.  Add ten pounds from reduced activity and stress.
• Christmas Cookies (Gawd they were good.)  Add ten pounds from glutenous goodness.

Some problems were not so identifiable.  I started having basic diet issues.  I just felt terrible after eating.

• Stomach issues
• Brain fog
• Asthma
• My head and face itched
• Random rashes
• Tired and unmotivated
• Holding water / inflammation

When I went back to the notes I kept when I started dieting two years ago, the response was not the same.  The weight was not coming off.  What the (blank) was going on?

The Light Bulb

A friend went on the Paleo diet and I went along to keep her company.  What the heck, right?

Two days after I started, my symptoms were gone.  GONE!  I went off of all allergy medication.  All of my allergy symptoms were gone.  Not just the recent symptoms, but also my "seasonal" allergies that never seem to go completely away in the winter.

Perhaps, I have food allergies.

After two weeks of Paleo, I started adding back foods.  I stayed off of the allergy medications.  I found out that I am allergic to milk and soy.  I really, really, really like ice cream.  Well....Crap.  When did that happen?

At least I'm saving money on allergy medications.  I am a healthier me.  That will make up for the lifetime of no dairy joy I will be living.  What am I saying?  No, it will not make up for becoming an instant dairy celibate.  A virtual dairy nun.  I am bitter.

My New Year's resolution was to start a blog, but what will be the theme?  What do I want to talk about.  What will...wait a minute.  I know what I want to blog about.

I have new found energy and want to get moving.  I want to lose 30 pounds.  I want to visit as many of our beautiful state nature preserves.  I want to improve my photography skills.

Time to get off of the couch and get moving.

I am going to spend the next year blogging about my journey back to health and my efforts to be a more active human.  There will be many beautiful pictures and discussion about the places I visit.  This should be fun.

GO ME!