Halloween in January

You've heard of Christmas in July - our hike this week was Halloween in January! On Sunday, January 22, 2012 we headed out the door to Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum. It is a National Historic Landmark. We anticipated different weather than the day provided, however, the weird weather conditions added to the spooky ambiance. During the wee hours of Saturday morning there was an ice storm and by Sunday it was warming up slightly, so the air was foggy and the ice covered trees were dripping. Can you imagine any better conditions for hiking in a cemetery other than night time? The pictures say it all. It was 32 degrees when we started the hike (a far cry from the 50 degrees the local weather man predicted in the morning!) We hiked 3.63 miles in an hour and 42 minutes. The park covers 733 acres, of which 400 are landscaped and maintained. I am purposely choosing not to share how we did with our map reading. Not because there were any disasters, but because it was business as usual!

Due to the icy conditions over the weekend, there was a sign of caution at the beginning of the roadway into the cemetery. Cheryl practiced her acting skills to get the day going. There were some slushy spots along the walk, but the hike wasn't as treacherous as it could have been had we hiked the day before. The first site along our hike was the Civil War Section, where more than 1,000 soldier are buried. The cemetery was dedicated in 1845, so there were many old grave sites. This fascinated us as we walked along and got a very small snapshot into the people's lives buried there. As the melting ice dripped down on our heads, it sounded like it was raining. I spotted a hawk landing in a tree. There was such an interesting mixture of nature and man-made structures which made this hike so different than any of our previous hikes.  We all commented how this didn't feel quite as much like a "getting away" and "being a part of nature" experience, but we all thought it was a cool place that we'd like to go back to and explore again.

There were so many interesting grave sites and mausoleums. We didn't even put a dent in seeing that many of them. There were some very large structures all the way down to the smallest stones that you can't quite read any more. Because of the weather conditions, some of them had little icicles hanging off of them and frost covering some of their surfaces. One of our favorite headstones was for a 5 1/2 year old little girl. It was straight out of a spooky movie. We also got to see the Johnny Appleseed statue. The sculpture work was very cool and a great tribute to John Chapman who preached his way around Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Kentucky while planting apple trees.

It was shortly after this that Lorrie realized that her phone wasn't working. The screen was white and she couldn't get it to work. She even took the battery out a couple of times. I told her not to worry about it.  That a couple of spirits were probably using it to communicate while we were in the cemetery.  On the ride home, just when she thought it was time to get a new phone, it suddenly pinged and came back on, fully charged.  Hmmmm...maybe those spirits really were busy with that phone!

Overall, it was great to get outside on a paved surface this past weekend.  I can't begin to think what a regular trail in the woods would have been like.  Thanks to Morgan, Lorrie and Cheryl for enduring the damp and cold weather, joining in the fun, and trying to help read the soggy maps!

6 hikes down and 54 to go!!!!! This weekend's hike will be to Caldwell Park, just 20 minutes outside of downtown Cincinnati.  It's 2.78 miles and the difficulty level is moderate. The trail is a series of loops and looks really interesting.  Come join the fun if you're so inclined!