Pat and I drove out route 42 towards Ashland and turned right onto Fleming Falls Road, then right into the driveway leading to the camp. This camp was the first Boy Scout Camp in the area and it is where Dad went camping. The Boy Scouts then sold the land to the Friendly House and it became Hidden Hollow Camp, and this is when Pat attended, also I believe either Mike and/or Scott attended here too. Eventually the Friendly House built another camp off of Possum Run Road and this area we are about to walk became a Church camp. Megan went camping here after this land became Camp Mowana.
We passed a small building that said office, where during camping days, people would stop and sign in. We were looking for the lodge/dining hall and pool because Pat remembered walking up from the pool to the lodge, which was wide open with a high ceiling and many windows. Soon we found it and what she described is what we experienced. We parked in front of the lodge and peeked into the windows. They had some ping pong tables in the corner and tables and chairs stacked in another corner. We spotted several workers around the site, tending to maintenance.
We walked to the left along a road which went through the woods with many cabins sitting empty for now. Pat remembered her cabin was “Zeta Rho” but now all the cabins had Indian names like, Uncas, Tecumseh, etc. We peeked into one of them and it had six double-deck beds with a single bed for the counselor. These cabins were in pretty good shape, compared to the ones we saw at Hidden Hollow.
We continued out of the woods and followed the road to the “Farm.” Here was a lot of open grassland and a newer barn was sitting next to a fenced area with two goats, who came bleating to the fence. We stopped and talked to them for a minute then followed the road to Mohican Lodge, which sat way back by itself. There were many trails through the property and we followed one along the ridge with a creek below. We noticed many of the trees were huge, including many Beech trees and it reminded me that here in this part of Ohio the climax forest was predominately Beech/Maple. A climax forest is what land reverts to when it is left to Mother Nature.
We followed the ridge trail back to the center of the campsite and followed another trail down some steps, across a wood bridge spanning the stream, and then up steps to another campsite which had an outdoor shelter where Pat remembered watching some skits. We followed a trail through a pine forest which was planted some time ago and it seemed as if we were in a cathedral. Rows and rows of tall giants - beautiful, silent, and serene.
Back out we saw a sign that said “Falls Trail” so we followed it along the high edge of the deep gorge down into the chasm where we heard water falling. Soon we turned a corner and saw the top of the falls in the near distance. I walked out onto the rocks just at the top of Fleming Falls and noticed how the water, over the millennia, carved grooves in the hard bedrock. Then the water cascaded down over the rock outcropping down about 25 feet into a pool of cool water below. We continued on and climbed out of the canyon till we reached one of the many outdoor theatres which had seats with a lectern and a cross.
We pondered when the first settlers happened on this gorge, would they be surprised how deep it was, nestled here within the magnificent forest? We returned the way we came and enjoyed our walk through this exquisite piece of land. Hopefully it will be here for other generations to enjoy, as we have.
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