As I mentioned, Johnny and Erin and the kids left Turkey Run Saturday afternoon, but we stayed another night. We took another hike on a new-to-us trail behind the inn and into some deep canyons Saturday evening, and we saw a whole tree full of cardinals on the way back.
Earlier in the week, I happened to read about Pine Hills State Nature Preserve, and I noted how close it was to Turkey Run, so Sunday morning, we decided to give it a shot.
We got there early, and it was quiet and snowing lightly. For most of our time there, we were the only ones on the trail, which is always a plus. The trail started in a fairly level forested area, but we quickly arrived at the first landmark, Turkey Backbone. As you might imagine, a backbone in this context is a sort of elevated path with steep drop-offs on either side. This one was high enough to be impressive, but still only gave us a hint of what was to come.
We followed the trail around to see the other landmarks, including Mill Cut Backbone (a cut in the side of the steep canyon where there was a water-powered mill in the 1870s), the Slide (pretty much just what it sounds like, a sharply angled rock face), and Honeycomb Rock (a very cool sandstone formation where prehistoric algae fossilized). But the real show-stopper was Devil's Backbone, which had no guard rails (gulp!) and 100-foot drop-offs on either side. We had to get creative with the climbing to get there, and also had to ford the creek (a development that Mike was NOT pleased about; that man really needs some waterproof hiking shoes!), getting pretty muddy in the process. But like they say, it's not really fun until it's a little dirty. Who are "they"? You decide. (Hint: It's me. I am they.)
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