Hocking Hills

Two big hiking trips already this spring - are we on a roll or what? I have seen so many positive reviews of Hocking Hills State Park, I decided that we must check it out.  We started with a visit to Old Man's Cave, which is the most popular of all the Hocking areas.

This location actually derives its name from a hermit who lived in the large recess cave of the gorge.  Richard Rowe lived out his life in the area and is buried beneath the ledge of the main recess cave.

We had packed some sandwiches for lunch, so we settled into a picnic table and had a quick meal.

Our next hiking location was Cedar Falls,  which has one of the largest waterfalls in the Hocking Hills region.

Our final and favorite hiking location was Cantwell Cliffs, which is known for its deep valleys, cliffs, and rock shelter. One of its most unique features is "fat woman's squeeze", a narrow passage visitors must access to reach the bottom of the gorge.

 We of course thought it would be a great idea to hike on the narrow ledge of this part of the cliffs.

Which led to a fair bit of rock scrambling. :-P

All in all, the scenery was spectacular and we had a very adventurous hike. We were there over Memorial Day weekend, so we probably could have done without some of the crowds, but it was mostly the parking areas that were difficult to navigate.

We decided to take the route home that would take us through Columbus...specifically so we could go to our favorite restaurant there: Melt Bar and Grilled.

We usually go to the location on Short North, but this time around, we tried the Easton location - parking was soooo much better here! And the food was just as amazing as it always is. I had a Chimera cocktail and The Sanchez, which was crazy: Cheese enchilada, refried beans, baked cheese tamale, diablo spiced crispy corn tortilla, shredded lettuce, cheddar cheese, fresh salsa, and cilantro lime sour cream - all toasted between two slices of bread! I also had some Mexican Street Corn, cuz' I loves that stuff, and Francisco and I shared the Mac and Cheese Bites. You never actually NEED an appetizer here, but we come here so rarely, we decided to splurge (and you know, take home leftovers to feed a small army).

Bam, just like that, all calories burned while hiking earned back - and then some! ;-)