Dew Disaster in Hocking Hills

We met at 10:00am, pulled on our day packs and headed up the slope, off trail.  Sometimes we cheated and walked along deer trails but mostly it was just scrabbling along the slopes, into hollows until we came to the inevitable rock face signaling the end of that hollow's trek.  Then we would either head back down hollow or if able climb up and out of the hollow and drop into another. Each hollow produced spectacular rock and ice formations. 

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Into the wild we go.  Not much snow on the ground but lots of ice.  Each of us fell a few times but nothing serious. 

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We had to squeeze through some crevices on our way out, searching for a break in the rock face so we could climb out.

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We were about 3/4 up this steepish area but had to take an alternative when too much of the space was covered with ice.  A fall here would certainly cause a broken ankle at least. This was at the base of Airplane Rock and when we reached the top...

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...we paused to drink water, Mountain Dew for Mark.

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Lots of neat areas under rock overhangs.  Somewhere along here we took a break and I drank water and Mark had another Dew. Mark was in good spirits because we had made such good time on our hike, he was able to

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After hiking about 3 hours, we paused and I drank some more water and Mark discovered his 3rd can of Mountain Dew had a hole in it and its contents had leaked, soaking the backpack.  Mark grabbed Dew #4 and guzzled it while a tear was visible streaming down his face because of the defective can.  We decided there was nothing to do but push on and after 4+ hours, we arrived back at the parking lot.  Good workout for sure.

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