Zaleski State Park--Marching Into the Woods

Flyin Tuna organized a Saturday hike.  There were 5 of us and a dog.  A dog that seemed intent on wrapping it's leash around my legs whenever the opportunity arose.  It succeeded in bringing me down once, and almost did so several other times. 

Zaleski State Park, just west of Nelsonville, has two good loops, a north loop and a south loop.  We, Cindy, Mark C, Frank S, Jeff S and Eva, headed out on the south loop.  My intent was to spread my good cheer for a couple of miles and then do some running. 

It being the off-season, some of us have had some difficulty outrunning our spoons and forks.  With the bulky clothing it is hard to say for sure but it appears Mark C and Cindy B have been overtaken way too many times by utensils and that, that is carried in them.

We reached an overlook that had magnificent views of....well....a distant hill lined with dormant trees.  Just beyond this point, at about mile 4, I bid farewell to the group and began running....well, more like trotting or maybe fast feet shuffling but anyway, I left them behind.

I came to a lake that the trail skirted briefly and then headed.....

...into mile after mile of tree lined trail.  One of our group had observed that she thought this exciting stuff.  I thought it exceedingly boring but grateful for the opportunity to burn some calories as I too have been caught by the spoon and fork way too many times.

OK, there were a couple of neat places along the way.  The trail is marked by letters, "A", "B", etc but when I reached "K", I headed west and ......

..reached the parking lot, across from the very interesting Hope Furnace.  Finished with 9.5 miles while the remainder of the group went off trail to the Moonville Tunnel and then rejoined the route to finish with around 13 miles.