Hi Folks, I’m Back- – – – !!!

I’ve been busy for the last several months. The Stonewall Gallery is no more, and I now live in Sugarcreek, Ohio. I have a booth (Booth #37) at the Alley Cats Marketplace ( https://www.alleycatsmarketplace.com/ )in New Philadelphia, Ohio, and much of my art is being shown there.

However, that is for another day. My walking is now in and around Sugarcreek, and through the Amish Country surrounding it. There is some great places to hike, and at this point my favorite is the Ohio Erie Canal, starting just outside Zoar and ending at Fort Laurens a few miles away.  Check it out below.

Historic Fort Laurens
EXPLORE OHIO’S ROLE IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
Fort Laurens was built as a strategic location for staging an attack on the British at Fort Detroit during the American Revolution. From November 1778 to August 1779, there were many twists and turns to the story of Fort Laurens. Twenty one soldiers perished before the fort was abandoned.
Today’s visitors can walk the grounds and see the fort’s original outline. A small museum pays tribute to the “frontier soldier” through video and artifacts excavated onsite. Memorializing all unknown casualties of the Revolution, Fort Laurens’ Tomb of the Unknown Patriot is the final resting place of one of the fort’s soldiers who are unable to be identified.
Stop by to learn about the Fight for Independence on the Ohio frontier! We recommend planning about an hour for your visit.

Hopefully, I’ll be getting a bit more active with this blog, as I get a bit more organized. My new website is almost ready for primetime http://www.emerging–artist.com and I’m beginning to get a few sales at the Alley Cats.

 

My Birthday Hike

Hi Folks,

I just finished up my 80th year a couple of days ago, and decided to celebrate by taking a 20 mile hike through the Mohican State Forest near Loudonville, Ohio.

I started from home,

and hiked to “Campground A” in the Mohican State Forest

It’s October so there are a lot of “Ghosties and Ghoulies” at “Campground A.”

Then I walked along the “Clearfork”

to “Campground “B” and crossed the “Covered Bridge”.

Then down/up/over/through “Hog Hollow”,

until I arrived at the “Fire Tower”.

Wisdom is not really a strong suite in the Walker family, so I decided to climb the thing.

From the top—-

There was this way,

and that way,

but mostly—DOWN!!!

I had this map that I had found back in “Campground “B”

And the “Red Line” was the route I had followed up until now, however as I followed the arrow leaving the “Fire Tower”, I managed to lose the trail. I wandered around the woods somewhere along the south rim of the “Hemlock Gorge” for awhile, and found the “Gorge Overlook”.

Wandered a lot more, and finally found State Route 97, which borders the Mohican State Forest on the south side. I decided I’d had enough adventure  for one day, so I followed the highway back home, stopping at Trail’s End Pizza south of Loudonville on State Route 3 for their chicken basket and a beer.)

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

The whole hike was 18.6 miles, just a bit short of the 20 I was planning, but—- close enough,

 

 

October’s Here, and I Thought I’d Better Touch Base With You.

I’ve been working on “The Bear Tree”  for over a month now and it’s coming along fairly well, but on Saturday my wife and I decided we needed to get away for a day.

We went to Hocking Hills State Park, which is just south of Columbus, near the town of Logan.

We started walking at “Conkle’s Hollow”

The walk is easy, because you’re walking at the base of some really spectacular cliffs that rise up above you as you walk deeper into the hollow.

Here is a picture of my wife to give you some idea of the size of these cliffs.

We left Conkle’s Hollow at about noon and traveled 3 or 4 miles to “Rock House which is another stop on the trail.

The trail is a bit steeper, but if you’re up to the task it’d definitely worth the hike.

Perhaps Much Steeper!

However once you get to, and enter “Rock House”, you’re in for a spectacular experience.

 The ceilings are 50 or 60 feet high in some areas and the house is over a hundred feet long. There are several entrances coming in, so although it has the feel of a cave it is fairly well lighted. (No artificial light.)

It was late afternoon by the time we exited “Rock House” so we decided to travel about ten miles to “Lake Hope State Park” and had lunch in the Lodge.

The Lodge overlooks Lake Hope and there is a great view of the Lake from the balcony.

Judy and I both had a Grilled Veggie Salad, which was great, spent some time checking out the lake,

and headed for home.

We really had a great Day,

 

Late August And Having Fun With The Kids

I’ve still been walking, but have been staying in the campgrounds for the most part. (mostly due to a really bad tick season.) However the ticks have subsided for the most part, and I have been thinking about my youth. (back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth)

This time of year the Jewel Weed (Touch-Me-Nots) are blooming and give you the opportunity to amaze the kids. You know, let them have fun with some “Mother Nature Stuff” instead of their cell phones.

This is Jewel Weed and the little dingies there are the seed pods.

          

The neat part is, if you touch a mature seed pod (it will have darker stripes like the ones shown), it will explode and throw it’s seeds to the winds.

The Kids Love It!!!

Meanwhile, I’ve been chainsaw carving what’s left of a one hundred year old Maple tree that used to live in front of my home. I’m tracking the progress of the carving on my Western Artist Newsletter website. This project will continue well into next year, so if your interested in “Checking Out” my progress, you can subscribe on the Western Artist Newsletter site (It’s Free) and you will receive a email every time I post something.

It should be fun if the tree don’t fall on me,

 

Rotary Presentation

Hi Folks,

This is the first time that I have tried to do this, but the PowerPoint presentation shown below, is the what I presented to the Loudonville Rotary yesterday (July 13th 2017).

To view the slide show, Click on the “Forward” or “Back” arrows located below the PowerPoint window.

If you are interested in my educational process in PowerPoint, please let me know if you have issues with the “Slideshow”. Maybe I can fix it.

One more thing, there is no audio with this presentation.

Thanks to all of you that attended yesterday’s Rotary Meeting,

 

 

A New Challenge- – – -Messing with the Rotarians

I’ve been asked to share my experiences on the Appalachian Trail with the Loudonville Rotary Club. I tried to tell the fellow that invited me to speak that I “mumble, only tell the truth half the time, and distort it the other half, but he seemed to think that I would fit right in.

So I assembled my first “PowerPoint Presentation”, tested it at the Loudonville Library today, and I’m going to Rotary this Thursday, July 13th, to present it. If it goes well I’ll try to publish it here on my Walker’s Walk-Abouts Newsletter, but I don’t know if that is even possible.

We’ll See How This Works Out,

 

I-R-A-DOCTER-.COM

 I have been dealing with what I believe to be a case of “Sciatica”, based on information I got from the online source listed above. (yesterday I didn’t kno’ how to spell docter, now I R 1) So as a result I have not been walking as much.

However, today, I was back in the Mohican Forest and took some of the following photos:

This picture of a Tulip Tree in bloom was taken in mid-May. The blooms have now been replaced with this.

These are the beginnings of seed pods. I’m interested to see how they mature.

I also photographed the following:

Buckeye Bloom

Royal Sumac

It Looks Like A Good Year For Chestnuts!!!

All-in-all it was a Great Walk,

The Tree

In late April this year, while I was on the AT in Georgia, there was a storm in Loudonville that split a one hundred and twenty year old tree that is in the front of my house.

That trunk to the right of this picture was once about fifteen feet higher up on the trunk to the left.

Here are a couple of other photos of the same tree taken after the storm by our local photographer, “Flash Byerly”

  

This has created a situation that requires that the rest of the tree be removed.

However- – – – -, if I have only the upper branches removed, along with the upper section of the trunk, (I believe that the upper section might be hollow) I think that there might be a sculpture inside the remaining 10 or 12 feet of the trunk.

So – – – – -,

All I will need is a chainsaw, my “Swiss Army Knife”, and a bit of sandpaper.

This might be a long Summer,

I’ll Be Showing My Sculptures at the Mill

Hi Folks,

Just a heads-up!!! I’ll be displaying some of my Sculptures inside the Wolf Creek Grist Mill on June 10th 2017.

See You At The Mill,

Look What I Found!!!

I was wandering around the North Rim in the Mohican Forest the other day and came across this site on the cliffs overlooking the river

Beyond the edge of the rocks in the lower left corner of the picture, the cliff drops off at least another 100 feet down to the river. The rock outcropping on the right of the picture rises upwards another 30 feet or so to the top of the hill. There is only one way onto this “ledge” and that is from the point of view of this picture. (Assuming you aren’t into climbing the cliff.)

I have been looking for a place to check out the stars and this could be it. The lights of Loudonville will be behind the outcropping, and the lights of Columbus will be eighty miles away and to the left.           So- – – – , , ,

if I camp here during a “new moon”, don’t have a campfire, sit with my back against the tree to the right, and look to the south-west, I should see a lot of stars.

The only issue will be I’ll need to wait until the leaves are off the trees. So now picture this same area with no leaves on the trees, a cold wind blowing in from the south-west, and a night in November.

I probably will need to dress a little warmer,