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When you work full time and don’t have lots of time off, you take advantage of free weekends whenever you can!! I had a weekend where I didn’t have the kids and I had no other responsibilities. And to top it off, it was a gorgeous weekend! The temperatures are finally going up and the sun was out so I knew that I needed to plan something.
SATURDAY
I woke up Saturday morning, way too early. If you know me, you know that I like sleep. Even if I do happen to wake up at a decent time, it still takes me awhile to gather the energy to do much of anything. Coffee seems to be my only way to get a little bit of that energy. However, this morning, I was FULL of energy! I ran a couple of errands with my mom and by 10:30 I was at AC’s house to get him.
We stopped and picked up a few things, like water and snacks, and then made the short drive to Alum Creek. I’ve lived in Central Ohio most of my life and have never really been there. I believe we went when I was really little, going to the “beach,” but I honestly don’t really remember it. I did go do a hike at one of their trails several years ago, the one and only time I took Dakota with me. That was such a disaster and I ended up loosing a boot…but that’s a whole other story.
I was ready to get back to this park to see what it has to offer. I picked up one of those little passport books when I went to Mohican State Park (post coming soon) and am excited to try to get a stamp for all the parks! How long do you think it will take me? I doubt I could get them all done by the end of this year…
We parked at the dam, found a picnic table and enjoyed a quick lunch while people watching. I noticed people walking above the dam and decided I had to get up there to see the view. We made our way up the steps, which seemed to be never ending! There were a few people going up and down them multiple times, which I thought was crazy, since I could barely manage it the once!
Once we made it to the top, I was amazed by the view! How had I lived here for so long and never been up there?! We didn’t walk too far once we got up there, just found a bench and sat there, staring at the water.
After we sat up there for a little while, we came back down the steps and made our way back to the car. I checked my map to try to find the office and we made our way there; it was less than a mile away. My main reason for stopping there was to get my passport book stamped, but I also wanted to ask if they knew of a spot that had primitive camping. Unfortunately, the ranger wasn’t sure, because apparently the office is a part of the federal government while the rest of the park is state government. Interesting, I wasn’t at all aware of that!!
I did another Google search and found a campground a few miles up that have tent camping. We made our way to Cross Creek Camping Resort, right across the street from the water. We went in to see if they have any spaces available and they did. While we were filling out the paperwork, we were talking to the 2 women behind the desk, asking if there were any spots close to the water, since we wanted to do some fishing. They suggested we go across the street to the state campground, saying that there were spots right on the water, and even cheaper!! I was pretty impressed, since most people are only out to make money, but these women helped us out by making a different suggestion!
Since we were already in this campground, AC mentioned that he had some old friends who stayed there, so he reached out to them and we went and hung out with them for a little bit. We talked about their camper, all the work they’ve been putting into it and the new truck they found to pull it. They also gave us a tour of their camper. I love the combo washer and dryer, and they even made a little office space out of one of the pullouts, so cool!!
We made our way across the street to the state campground and went into the camp office to ask if there were any primitive spots available. The attendant let us know that all campsites were the same but, after handing us a map, told us we could look at the available spots to see which would be best for tent camping. We decided on spot J13 since it seemed the most level and was still close to the water.
After setting up camp, we grabbed our fishing poles and bait and made our way to a spot on the shore. We set up our chairs and AC baited my hook for me (still not ready for that grossness). He showed me again how to cast my line and then sat and waited for the anticipated tug. We fished for a couple of hours, and it that time, I managed to catch 2 Bluegills and 2 Sunfish!
After our fishing excursion, we went back to camp and made a quick dinner of Mountain House Beef Stroganoff and snacks. We made a beautiful fire and chilled for a while, enjoying it and talking to some of our neighbors.
SUNDAY
Sunday morning, we woke up pretty early, with the sun. A few others were up but most were still sleeping, so we started another small fire and enjoyed coffees relaxing for a bit. As others began waking up and moving, we decided to pack up our site and go fishing one more time. Didn’t last long, even though we thought the bites would be better since it was early. We each caught one and got bored so we left the campground after checking out.
We headed back to the park office to check out a small trail there. It’s been awhile since I’ve done any long trails and am having to work my way back up to that. We did Whitetail Run, which was only 3/4 mile, but it was all my body could handle. There wasn’t much to see back there, other than the cute little bridge.
This was definitely not the most exciting and fun-filled trip, but it was a great way to get me back out into the woods and moving. I also really enjoyed the fishing, even though it can be kinda boring waiting for the fish to bite. Can’t wait to get back out there and do even more!!