It was a sunny, bright, skies of blue morning that 20 hikers gathered at the Tecumseh statue at Glen O. Jones lake, to be led by Chris Drone on the Crest trail. We took off about 1015 and headed in a westerly direction. Tree colors were still evident. We talked to hunters from upstate New York who were staying for the upcoming week to hunt deer. We didn’t have any ‘new’ to the Trail Society hikers, but, we had about 6 hikers that had not been with us in several years. Glad, as always, to see & chat with folks that had not been with us in quite a while. Items of interest were pointed out by the leader, such as various hollows to our left, or a short chat about the Cave Hill research area. Much of the time, we were in a “Natural area” as designated by the Forest Service, of which there are about 4-6 different types. Hikers only on this particular trail. It was noted that, along the trail there were various strips of Stilt grass, an invasive species. Several “windows” thru the trees with great views were pointed out, and then, at the “crest” of the Crest Trail, at 923 ft above sea level, we found the remnants of a “single pole” fire watch tower. A small glade, or exposed area of sandstone was noted. In a few spots the trail was difficult to discern, because of the low amount of traffic. We climbed a ridge, then found “Sunrise rock” to spread out and eat lunch/snacks, and took 1 of the 2 group pictures for the day. We then headed out and found Eagle Mountain road, went in a southeasterly direction on it for a few hundred yards, then turned South, and followed a wide vehicle trail. We saw a handful of jeeps navigating the various ‘holes’. It was noted that to the East of the lane we were hiking , that a few years ago, the FS had conducted a ‘controlled burn”, and the difference in vegetation from “burn vs. no burn” was pointed out. We then made it to the “powerline” cut, headed West, took a 2nd group picture where the powerline goes over the bluff, found Old Stoneface, and made it to the parking area. 2 vehicles had been left for the hikers to be caravanned back to the Tecumseh Statue starting point. Big, big Thank you to Marcus and Fred (who helped out Twice today) in moving people. In all , we hiked just over 5.5 miles.

Until next time, “See ya’ll, On the Trail”