Hiking Day

On Sunday, I skipped a run and opted to go hiking at Highbanks instead with Scott, our friend Bob, and his boys.  We hiked the trail that took us out to the observation deck.  Despite the fact that we did have snow recently, we’ve also had lots of rain and warmer weather.  I fully expected the trails to be a total muddy mess and dressed accordingly.  Old running pants and old running shoes.

What I didn’t expect was that there would still be snow and ice covering the trails.  Whoops!

Had I known this I would have worn my YakTrax as well because the trails were really slick and you had to be careful when going up and down the hills.  I also would have doubled up on socks because my feet ended up getting soaked making me cold.  I would have liked to hike some more but sadly I was too chilly.

We were on our way to visit the eagle’s nest that you could see from the observation deck.  Two bald eagles have been living there at least for a year but it could be longer.  I was having trouble tracking down information.  Last year from what I could find, they did have two babies.

Eagles mate for life and now is the peak time for when they would be incubating eggs if they have them.  Both parents take turns incubating the eggs.  Apparently eagles used to be really common in Ohio and are currently making their way back.

We hiked out hoping to get a view of them.  I’ve never seen eagles before!

The nest is pretty substantial in size. Enough that from the observation deck you can see the dark mass nestled in the tree top.  I spoke with another couple that was there and they told me that the eagles had been switching positions in the nest all morning.  Roughly changing shifts about every 15 to 20 minutes.  Because of that, they believed there may be some eggs in the nest.  That behavior and the fact that this would be normal egg incubation season, it’s a high probability that there are some babies waiting to be born soon.

We waited and watched but didn’t get to see any eagles that day. Next time we go, we are bringing some nice binocs for sure to get a closer look.

Ohio Metro Parks will be creating a live cam for the eagles later this year.  They will announce the cam on their website.

On our loop back to the car, we passed some trees that look to have been scratched up.  Bits of bark were scraped off the trees and laying scattered all around the bottom of it.  Really strange!

Was that done on purpose, do you think? And if so what animal is scraping all the bark off the tree? It went all the way to the top!

The best part about the day though was that we got some sun!

Hooray!  As you know from me complaining, sun has been scarce this winter. I was definitely glad to be out in the fresh air and getting some sun on my face.

We had a lovely day and then Scott whisked me away and treated me to breakfast.

Have you ever seen eagles before (at a zoo doesn’t count!)? Do you ever go hiking?

5 thoughts on “Hiking Day

  1. Surprisingly, we have lots of bald eagles here in FL! There’s a preserve a few miles near my house where the eagles build a nest every year & lots of the park gets blocked off to give them “space”. The rangers sometimes set up binoculars that look right at the nest and the babies. It’s really amazing to see!

  2. My husband and I don’t run, but we love hiking and walking. We did the wagtail trail a week ago, and it was sunny, but the trail had a lot of trees, so the uphill portion was iced over and difficult to walk. My sister gave me something to use over my shoes but I didn’t know I’d need them.

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