Hocking Hills State Park - OH

You know those state parks you grew up going to over and over again that hold a special place in your heart? This park is one of those places for me. So many fond memories I don’t even know where to start. From backpacking and camping with my family in my younger years, training hikes and outings with my Boy Scout Troop, to exploring and hanging out with friends I can’t tell you how many times I have been to this park. It truly is a gem in Ohio. Old Man’s Cave is a must see along with all the trails and primitive camping sites. For those that are wanting to visit, but maybe tent camping is not your bread and butter like me, there are cabins and Airbnb’s available to give you some proximity to the park, with some extra comforts of home. Will be updating this post the more and more I go back in the vault of memories to pull some stories and trips out for this blog. Below is the start of a couple from my youth that truly made me and taught me a thing or two early on about “embracing the suck” lol.

One of my earliest memories (and probably one of my earliest backpacking adventures) was in this park with my dad and my two brothers back in 2013. Now back then I was new to backpacking and so were my brothers, but boy were we excited. My dad was able to score some beginner backpacking supplies from the Wright Patterson Air Force Base commissary/BX and from some online sites. Loaded up with all our gear that probably weighed 35-40lbs (Mind you back then at that age I weighed a whopping 70lbs soaking wet if that) we planned to hike into the park and do some dispersed camping and orienteering in the state park. The evening we got there it was overcast and previously it didn’t look like it was going to rain (subtle forecasting warning). We were able to make some early headway onto the trail when it started. For the next 2 hours it down poured buckets of rain, and even with ponchos it throughly soaked all of us and made the packs weigh so much more. most of those two hours are a blur, but I do remember this one part of watching my dad sit on a log looking at the compass and map, and looking around, then at all of us boys and said something along the lines of “Well, this sure puts a damper on the plans” to which laughter than followed. Eventually we were able to trek around enough to find this beautiful cave like rock cropping that was big enough to sit under but not big enough for tents. Around that time we all decided that was going to be home base for the night, the only downside: The tents were set up on a 45 degree angle (I am not kidding) and so that night I remember we had to sleep with our shirts off so that we could “Stick” to the floor of the tent and not slide to the bottom curled up in a ball. Even with that precaution I remember waking up the following morning, at the bottom of the tent with my legs squished and clothes still soaked. The rest of the weekend went in out favor weather wise as it was sunny and humid. We had a blast even though we ran out of water halfway through the weekend and had to make a night excursion back to the car and grab the extra water that was left there. From this trip, a couple of lessons were learned: 1. Always, ALWAYS, pack rain gear no matter what the report says, it doesn’t hurt to have it and not need it. 2. Really think about the amount of food and water you pack, as we had brought way too much food and not enough water. 3. Learn to embrace discomfort and adversity when they arise. I can’t tell you how bad of a weekend that would have been if we had decided to complain about how wet, tired, and sore we were throughout. Instead, we embraced the fact that maybe everything wasn’t ideal, but that is okay, as embracing the discomfort helped to truly bring to life the importance of the moment. Looking back now, I would not change a thing about that trip, I feel like it was a such a good experience and helped to make me the adventurer I am today. So thank you dad if you are reading this, thank you for taking us out there and for your optimistic mentality, I believe I learned my grit and tenacity from you which I can’t even begin to say how it has shaped me.

Now jumping to about 2015?? The scout troop that I was a member of (shout out to Troop 329 from Riverside Ohio) had these monthly camping excursions. Usually every summer there was at least one backpacking outing that we would go on and this one was to backpack around the park trails that if I remember right was about 20-30 miles long for the weekend. Some of the members on the trip were prepared, and others were not so prepared, but what I do remember is that we all pitched in to help others when needed and offered support. I remember instances of members chaffing, feet that looked like they were going to be an example case of trench foot (so gross, don’t look it up) and typical dehydration. We were able to make it through and now a lot of those are fond memories for me. To this day that trip was very reassuring that I was in the right troop and with the right people. All around a good trip and I would not trade it for the world.