Ohio Backpacking Fall '07 - Zaleski or S hawnee?

“I'm planning a weekend backpacking trip at either Zaleski State Forest or Shawnee State Forest for early October.

Anyone interested? Reading through the threads, it looks like there was a Spring trip organized to Shawnee. How did that go?

I hiked the northern loop at Shawnee this past July with my dad who is 64 years old. He didn't do too well due to his age, conditioning, and the steep climbs. Consequently, I'm looking for a group of individuals with whom I can do some moderate-to-challenging backpacking here in Ohio.

Thanks.

TH
last edited: 8/24/07 2:23:59 PM”

“Post the trip and we will come. ;)
Not sure what Oct holds yet, but it's a strong maybe. My backpacking this year has pretty much sucked.

Actually, 2007 has pretty much sucked. Hoping to find some redeeming qualities.

It'd be nice to see the rest of Shawnee.
last edited: 8/24/07 2:35:27 PM”

“It's a possibility. I've never hiked in Ohio, and since it's right next door I figure I oughta get that off the list. If it's not too close to my Knobstone hike I would be a maybe.”

“Zaleski sucks. Vesuvius is the best area with Shawnee coming in second. And after hiking in Glacier last week I am convinced there is nothing challenging to backpack in Ohio.”

“Hey Dub, Have we met before? Were you at the hoosier mobfest last Dec.?”

“I'm not sure if we've met or not, I've been to tons of trips in IN, KY, OH, and WV. Could've been me!?”

“I've only been going to TT trips for about a year. Hmmm... Doesn't really matter. I just saw you post something the other day that looked familiar, and I had to stop and ask. You aren't IndyRob are you?”

“Dub wrote: "Vesuvius is the best area with Shawnee coming in second."

Dub, you're referring to the 16-mile backpacking trail, correct? While a great trail overall (especially in fall), I don't consider it a moderate-to-challenging trail. However, if enough people are interested in doing a weekend there, I'm up for it.

MsDoolittle, what part of Shawnee have you hiked before?

When I hiked the northern loop this summer, my dad and I hiked from the trail head to camp 1 on Friday, from camp 1 to camp 3 on Saturday, and from camp 3 back to the trail head on Sunday. Does anyone else have a suggestion on how best to backpack shawnee over the weekend (whether using the north loop or south loop)?”

“Shawnee has tons of options. You can do the north loop or the south loop or any part of the trail. Almost all the campsites are near roads so if you have more than one car you can shuttle people and park in different spots.

I don't think anything in Ohio is challenging since you drive a state in almost any direction and find mountains. I like Vesuvius because I think it's scenic. Zaleski is just crowded and full of puds (pointless up and downs).”

“By the way, the dates for the backpacking trip I have in mind are Oct 12-14th. If we decide on Shawnee, we can meet Friday morning at the trail head.”

“and full of puds (pointless up and downs).

Shawnee is the Meca of PUDs IMHO. Well and no views in anything but deep winter.

I have been planning on doing some bike touring down in the Shawnee for years now. The forest roads are nice and with the camps so close to roads you can camp there.”

“Count me out. We'll be burnin up the Knobstone trail starting the 14th.”

“I think we will take Dub's suggestion and backpack at Vesuvius. The fall colors are beautiful there in October, and because the trails are a lot less challenging than Shawnee I was able to talk my dad into coming along again.

With that being said, we'll move the trip to Oct 6-7th instead of the 13-14th because of scheduling conflicts.

I'll set up the trip on the main trip page, and provide more details there.

I hope you all can join us.”

“Click here for the trip info page Southern Ohio - Vesuvius Backpacking Trail: http://www.thebackpacker.com/trips/trip/1359.php”

“Hey guys,

Sorry to do this, but I found out last week that my aunt and uncle will be visiting from out of town on the weekend that I planned this trip (Oct 5-7). Consequently, I've decided to stick closer to home.

If you're interested, I'll be camping at John Bryan State Park instead during that weekend and hiking the trails there and at Glen Helen.”