Only You Can Prevent Wildfires

Jen and I spent this past weekend in the hills of Southeastern Ohio camping at Lake Hope State Park which occupies a portion of the Zaleski State Forrest. We had a great time and couldn't have asked for better weather. The evenings were cool which made sleeping pleasant and the days were sunny and dry. Our campsite was situated on a ridge line overlooking a heavily forested ravine about 200 feet to the bottom. This made peeing in the middle of the night a little nerve racking.



Friday night we setup our campsite, cooked burgers on the grill and enjoyed an evening by the fire. Saturday morning was chilly so I woke up and started another fire before our pancake breakfast. By late morning it warmed up and Jen decided to take a shower so she looked and smelled proper for the local forest inhabitants. Me on the other hand, well I didn't care. I was camping not preparing for a dinner party. So while she pampered herself in the shower house I went exploring on the nearest trail. I descended about 200 feet to Lake Hope. Took in the scenery and returned to the shower house. This took about half an hour. Apparently that wasn't enough time to prepare for the squirrels and birds.



When she finally finished we ate a quick lunch and then went on a hike all afternoon. We probably covered several miles on the hike. Besides the beautiful Southeastern Ohio scenery we also got to see an old cemetery from the 1850's occupied by the original settlers of the area and Hope Furnace which was used to melt iron ore mined from the surrounding area during the same time period. The original settlers nearly logged the entire forest in the 1800's and it has returned quite nicely. Saturday evening we relaxed and did some reading and then enjoyed some quiet time around the camp fire.




Sunday morning we packed up and headed to Jen's parents house to pick up the boys.

Not a bad way to spend your 27th birthday / upcoming anniversary. Jen and I talked about it and this may turn into an annual event. Of course we will include the boys as soon as they are old enough to know not to eat dirt.

On a side note, camping last year and especially this year has rekindled my interest for the outdoors. I have always loved camping but got away from it when I dropped out of Boy Scouts. Jen and I enjoyed the hike we were on and are talking about possibly doing a day hike on the Zaleski State Forest Backpack Trail. The trail itself totals 23.5 miles but there is a portion approximately 10 miles long for day hikers. If we get through that we may try the entire trail sometime in the future. This would require a whole new set of LIGHTER gear because the portion of the trail we were on probably wouldn't support the Korean Express.