The Ohio Visit Continues

After Thursday's ride, I met a few long time cycling friends in Dublin on Friday evening.  Prior to that, I spent the day in my woods.  20+ years ago this was a field before I planted 500 trees, mostly red oaks.  I have an emotional attachment to the land and enjoy cutting dead trees, splitting and stacking the wood to be burned by others in the winter.

Vegetation grows rapidly during the summer so it is also fun to clear the paths and burn the brush.  Stella is alerted to the sound of something scurrying in the brush.  On Saturday, I made a couple of visits to.....

….the Denison University Bio Reserve.  On these acres are many miles of trails through mature stands of various trees.  At the edge of a field, a few years ago......

….over 70 (I was sickened by it and counted them several times) very mature trees, some over 200 years old, were cut down to make room for a solar farm.  Had a fracking platform gone in the college students would have staked themselves to the trees but for a solar farm, just trees, no big deal.

The invasion of the Emerald Ash Borer, originally arrived from China in wooden pallets, has moved east and in its wake, practically every ash tree has died.  Plenty of evidence  of what once was but fortunately..... 

….the woods are full of other species like wonderful, old Beech and some of the....

…..largest red oaks I have seen.

There are also sections of pines and so the variety of the place is amazing.

It's easy to put in a 6 mile hike without repeating any trails while the hills will quicken your heart rate.  It was odd to hike or better yet, trail run, without having to look for rattlesnakes.  Granville, OH, check it out.