Nelson Kennedy Ledges

Wednesday
It was a few degrees cooler today, so we decided to head to Nelson Kennedy Ledges, a place I have been wanting to visit for a long time, having seen pictures online. It is only a relatively small area, and if you were driving past on the road, if it wasn’t for the car park on the other side of the road, you wouldn’t know they were there, surrounded as they are by trees.
The remarkable sandstone cliff formations have resulted from the forces of erosion--wind, water freezing and thawing--that wore away at the softer rock layers. As these soft layers eroded, large blocks of rock called slump blocks fell away leaving more resistant layers to form ledges above.
These rock formations are among the few outcrops in northern Ohio still exposed to view. The jumbled rocks and shaded rock faces are home to a wide variety of wildflowers, trees and ferns. Apparently the Spring flower display is quite a sight. The beech-maple forest harbors a few tree species that you would expect to see in cooler climates: yellow birch, Canadian hemlock and Canada yew are common here. As you can see in several of my photos, some of these trees cling to the sheer rock faces, their roots pushing into every available crevice. In the shelter of the roots and shaded by the leafy canopy above, ferns such as the Christmas and maidenhair fern grow in abundance, whilst others are more unusual for this part of the state. As well as the sheer cliffs and huge slump blocks, there are several really deep fissures and a couple of waterfalls. Amongst the trees and the rocks, hiking was tolerable even in the heat, and there was one area, named Devil’s Ice box, where there was a distinct lower temperature! The trails aren’t long, and we thought we had seen everything and drove back to the campground. However, I was mad with myself later, when looking at my phone, and realized we had missed a noticeable recent addition, which I had read about ,but then forgot about, and it wasn’t clearly signposted. Just a few months ago, they had completed a winding glass walkway over one of the fissures, providing you with a unique perspective! Oh well, another time!
After a drink and a snack to fortify us, we went out for another paddle, this time putting in at the campground boat dock, near which there are several quite long and peaceful inlets to explore. We stayed out for a little under two hours, as then we wanted to get back and shower before going into nearby Ravenna (see extra) to eat at a pizza place. After our pizza we had a little walk around the attractive town, before driving back to the campground. As we were driving back a beautiful sunset was forming, some asked R to stop by the lake and the boat dock so I could take a few pictures - another extra.