Zaleski May 2023

 After changing our plans SEVERAL times, we decided to go to Zaleski in southeastern Ohio for the weekend.  Leaving Friday mid day and coming back Sunday.  Originally we'd planned to leave early Friday morning and go to Shawnee state park for some good hill climbing to wake up our winter legs.  But Brendan was stuck at work until 3:30AM and I didn't sleep either.  Sleep felt more urgent so we slept in a bit and reevaluated our options.  

The routes at Shawnee did not lend themselves well to a half day hike so we shifted for Zaleski.  Parking at the main lot by the schoolhouse we filled out the registry form and took off!

Day 1: 2.7 miles




Day 1 was SUPER short, just 2.7 miles to camp 1.  We go there plenty early and camp 2 was only another 4.3 miles but neither of us were feeling well from the night prior so we set up a nice little spot and just chilled.  I swear my favorite part of this is turning off my phone and just sitting.  Or in this case, laying in a hammock!
We were also excited to take our new tent out for her maiden voyage.  2 pounds lighter and nearly a foot larger than our last one, it was SOOOOO nice.  Down right palatial.  




We had a little fire and went to bed!
It got a little colder than I expected and I didn't sleep great for being a little too cold unfortunately.  (pack smarter, Nikki!!)

Day 2: 10.3 miles
We hiked the 4+ miles to camp 2 and arrived before lunch.  We looked at the maps and weather and debated what to do and decided just set up camp there and day hike down to Moonville tunnel.  So we had a nice lunch and relaxed for awhile and took off with mostly empty packs.  (That felt great)






We got back to camp around 3ish and both passed out for awhile.  A very large group of maybe 4 families had showed up and taken over a large part of camp 2 and more people just kept pouring in.  I was a bit worried we wouldn't all fit!  Later in the day a group of 3 younger folks waled by and we offered up some of the area we were in as there was plenty of room so they joined us.  Super cool trio from Toledo.
We had another little fire and great conversations before going back to sleep.


Day 3: 5.7 miles.
We slept in a little, before waking up for a leisurely breakfast and pack up and hit the trail before the giant group of families left.  (We're slow, but not that slow)  
We were REALLY sore from the day prior and took our sweet time hiking the last bit back to the car.  Although 5.7 miles is nothing to sneeze at.
We made killer time compared to what we were doing in Vermont which really says something about the terrain over there.  




We got back to the car around noonish and sluffed off our packs and yanked our boots off our stinky, aching feet.  Hit the outhouse by the school and hit the road!

After a stop at Dairy Queen for some ice cream we headed home to very anxious cat. 

Over all it was a lovely trip and we could not have asked for better weather. Half relaxing and half rough proved we're not quite ready for our trip back out to VT.  But we have 2 months yet!!

Comments

  1. SandyMay 29, 2023 at 5:35 AM

    Sounds like a good trip. Beautiful pictures. It's been years since we've camped there, but I can't remember if we back packed when there or just camped. I don't remember the school, so thinking we must have just camped. Also didn't know you blogged. I'll add you to my blog list.
    Traveling Suitcase

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TheonlynikkiMay 30, 2023 at 7:53 AM

      thanks! I really only use this blog for our backpacking adventures. I started it for our big trip to VT last year.

      Delete

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