Last August Steven and I continued our road trip of the Midwest from Columbus, Ohio toward West Virginia, a state that we'd only ever traveled through and never stopped to explore. About forty miles southeast of the Ohio capital city, we arrived in the vibrant historic town of Lancaster.
After Lancaster was settled in 1800 and designated as the county seat in 1806, the town grew even faster after 1836 when the Lancaster Lateral Canal connected with the Ohio and Erie Canal. The town became one of Ohio's manufacturing centers with the coming of the railroads and after the discovery of natural gas in 1867.
It was very heartwarming and patriotic to see so many banners along the town's main street proudly honoring its young people who had joined the military.
I noticed a large mural even proclaimed the importance of Lancaster's hometown heroes.
Zane Square in the middle of the historic district featured an exquisite, bronze, 130-year-old fountain. A sign noted that seven classical water babies, some holding shells and riding sea serpents, circled the fountain.
The fountain was topped by the water nymph Egeria, the divine consort to Rome's second king. If you're a romantic, you'd appreciate knowing that, upon the king's death, she was so distraught she melted in a pool of tears. Thereafter she was known as the goddess of fountains!
Even the 'butt out' or cigarette disposal feature was attractive!
Veterans' Park:
The monument honored General William Tecumseh Sherman, the famous Civil War general who was born in Lancaster in 1820. Sherman's brilliant military strategy was the major force to end the war and preserve the Union.
Some other buildings in town also caught my attention.
This was the first time I'd seen a sign telling drivers to pull ahead so they could 'actuate' the signal - as a former teacher of English as a second language, I pitied the non-English speakers trying to make sense of that one!
We then proceeded to the Wahkeena Nature Preserve located just six miles from Lancaster in the Ohio community of Sugar Grove. Dr. Frank Warner of Columbus gave his wife, Carmen, a tract of old farmland in 1931 as his wedding present to her. Over the next 20 years, the Warners built three ponds and expanded the property until it comprised 150 acres of tree-covered hills. They also planted more than 100,000 trees! Before their arrival, the hills in the preserve were relatively treeless and the land was suffering after a century of farming. When Carmen died in 1956, Wahkeena was bequeathed to the Ohio Historical Society so that it could be used "for nature study and as a Preserve for birds and other wildlife."
The Wahkeena name came from a Yakama (formerly Yakima until the mid-1990s) word meaning “most beautiful.” As the tribe is mostly found in Washington state, it was an unusual name for a place in Ohio. Carmen Warner named the site after being inspired by Wahkeena Falls in Oregon.
We would have liked to enter the Nature Center but it was only open to staff during the pandemic.
The Smoke House was an original structure from Wahkeena's early history.
Just past the smokehouse was what had been a hand-hewn hog house before it was converted into a rustic cabin for the Warners.
As we began walking on the Shelter Trail, we learned the evergreen branches with the tiny cones above us were Eastern Hemlocks, also referred to as Canada Hemlocks that thrive in deep, sheltered Ohio valleys. The Ice Age transplant remains green and vibrant all year even as native hardwoods release their foliage in the fall.
Wahkeena Nature Preserve was home to 33 species of ferns!
During the Warners' time, Carmen used a shelter that had a four-sided roof located on this spot as a relaxing place in the woods or to birdwatch. This one was constructed in 2019.
Right across the trail from the shelter was a Sweet Birch tree. Its horizontal lines were called lenticels. Anyone fancying a glass of cold root beer could learn from the pioneers who used to mix sap from the roots of the Sweet Birch and Sassafras trees to make the summer potion!
This plant was a Shining Club Moss, one of two club mosses in the Preserve. The non-flowering evergreen plants reproduce by making spores in the fall and the plant then spreads by an underground stem known as a rhizome.
The trails through the park were fairly rugged, which meant that we felt immersed in the great outdoors with little evidence of man's impact. We were incredibly fortunate that we almost had the entire Preserve to ourselves except for the on-site staff.
When we'd arrived at the Nature Center, we were given a pamphlet describing what we thought would be all the signs on the trail. It wasn't until we arrived at 'I,' that we realized we had been given the summer brochure that was valid for just July and August. Because the guide changed seasonally, some of the posts (like 'I'!) were not listed in the summer pamphlet. On the positive side, I don't think in all of our hiking all over the world have we ever seen a season-specific brochure!
At 'J' we learned that some of the sandstone rock in this stream bed was the bedrock throughout this area. About 330 million years ago, oceans covered the state, and a large river emptied into the sea about where the Preserve was located. After sand and gravel were deposited, they eventually compacted into rock.
The loud buzzing sound we heard in this area came from male Annual Cicadas, also referred to as Dog Day Cicadas because they make their presence known in the hot, dog days of summer in Ohio. Though mistaken often for locusts who chew and destroy vegetation, cicada species do little or no damage to plants. In case you were wondering, female cicadas keep silent.
The large evergreens in this area were White Pines that had been planted in the 1930s by the Warners. Did you know that white pines had been prized as the main mast on ocean-going ships? That was news to me.
Thanks to reading the pamphlet, we knew to stay well clear of the Poison Ivy growing up the pine tree even though many animals eat the plant and birds rely on its abundance of berries in the fall when food is beginning to become scarce. We looked but didn't see the 'telltale leaves of three, let it be.'
What had become totally overgrown used to be Carmen's Garden in which she grew annual and perennial flowers, gourds, and sunflowers for the birds. The trees in the center were Yellow Buckeyes that we'd first come across the day before at the Frankin Park Observatory in Columbus.
The trail ended at one of the ponds, called Lake Odonata although it was a mighty tiny lake, really nothing more than a pond! I know next to nothing about birds so couldn't, unfortunately, identify the one in the distance. If I were to hazard a wild guess, it may have been a Great Blue Heron because there were many at the Preserve according to the pamphlet! As there were more than 100 species of birds and 35 species of mammals, Wahkeena Nature Preserve was an ideal place to visit for any nature lover.
The Preserve's wetland areas were also home to more than 30 species of amphibians and reptiles.
It was tough to see the floating Boardwalk Trail because the plants were so wildly overgrown, they almost covered the trail!
I loved these bright purple flowers that bordered the path to the parking lot.
It would have been neat to look at the two permanently injured raptors, a Barred Owl and a Red-Shouldered Hawk, living at the Preserve. Because their injuries didn't allow them to hunt for themselves, Wahkeena's permits allowed them to be sheltered and used for educational programs.
The Preserve was truly a living museum, demonstrating the coexistence of man and nature in a serene landscape. I could see why it was an ideal location for schools, youth groups, and parents to immerse young people in nature. I couldn't help but think the Warners' heirs must delight at the enjoyment people of all ages get while wandering through the Preserve.
Next post: SE Ohio's Cantwell Cliffs, Rock House, Cedar Falls & then Parkersburg, West Virginia finally.
Posted on February 18th, 2021, from a sunny day in Denver where almost anywhere else the 30-degree temperature would be uncomfortably cold instead of not needing mitts at all. I hope wherever you are, you and your loved ones are warm and safe.
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