First Time Solo Camping

I took a trip to Zaleski State Forest, the goal of the trip was to scout for squirrel. I was some what successful in that matter, yet I still feel my scouting trips are not as efficient as they could be. I was going to camp at the Horse Primitive Sight until I realized only people who have horses with them can camp there. Luckily the state park offers three backpacking camping grounds for backpackers to camp at. You first need to register (for free) at a state office. I would advise any trips here to be planned in advance, the connection and parking is sparse for on the fly decision-making.

Since I didn't plan on anything beforehand besides scouting I just drove straight into Zaleski State Forest headed in the Horse Campground direction still. As I was tumbling down State Route 278, the main road in the forest, I saw a bobcat rush across the road. At first, I thought it was a fawn, but as I got closer I realized it was a cat! Then I realized it was a bobcat! It looked like a cougar and a house cat combined, the size looked about twice as big as your typical house cat, maybe even three times as big. It was awesome to see! Since I thought it was a fawn at first I didn't have enough time to stop and take a picture, but I did get a couple quick glances.

As I continued down the road I pulled into the Lake Hope Campground where I got service and realized I couldn't camp at the Horse Camp Ground. So I had to make a detour. I found backpack campground #1 on the map and headed towards there, not realizing I was taking a dreadfully inefficient route.

After one hour of driving since entering the forest, I finally successfully arrived at Backpack Campground #1, this was before I knew you had to park at a designated parking area. I determine the campground is more than acceptable, so I start down a trail not knowing where I was even going. It ended up being Selinde Roosenburg Memorial Backpacking Trail which offers 29 miles of hiking. I started South-East towards point C, and the views were great. The amount of steep ridges that you could easily walk off and hurt or even kill yourself on is surprising, it makes me wonder of common it was back in the day while traveling off the beaten path.

After a hike starting around 5 pm, I ended up camping at Backpack Campground #1 using a Hammock setup, there was one other older camper there when I started to set up a 8 pm. He was a very nice person, I hope all other encounters are like this in the future! The wood was scarce around the campground as previous campers had already stripped the area dry, however, I was able to loot some previous campers' wood. I was able to setup and then make dinner took about an hour and a half later after the fire burned down. By that time I was tired and ready to get to sleep. This was my first time solo camping so while I got in my hammock around 12 am, I didn't get to sleep until it started to rain around 3:30 am when the rain was able to put me to sleep.

In the morning I woke up and got out of the hammock around 10 am to a slightly wet forest with the birds chirping. I didn't encounter any wildlife that I know of over the night, i.e. I didn't hear any raccoons. I did hang my food in a plastic bag because the other camper had done the same thing. He did say it was "mostly for the raccoons and mice, although I haven't seen any mice in camp". After packing up camp I headed to Lake Hope, fishing here looks promising, this might be a good spot to bring kayaks for a fishing/camping/hunting trip. I didn't get any bites but I wasn't using the best bait and I only tried one location, there was a trail that went around the lake giving shoreline access.

I then stopped at the Hope School House originally built in 1883 and rebuilt in 1932 after a fire the previous year. This is a good parking location for the Selinde Rossenburg Trail, this parking location also gives access to the Moonville Track Trail, an abandoned railroad track that connected Marietta to Cincinnati. I took a hike down this trail only to realize there was no access to the Moonville tunnel from the side I went down, disappointed I turned around and headed to my car. I got back in time just as a storm started, I also got to see a young buck with his antlers coming in, he alerted me and then I possibly heard others run too.

Lastly, on the way home I drove through Haydensville, Ohio, which has a unique architecture due to its history. The unique brick material and designs were due to the clay company that operated and produced glazed bricks primarily used for drainage. The incorporation of the Haydenville Mining and Manufacturing Company in 1882 called for a furnace to be created, which is how this location got its original name: Hocking Furnace. Haydensville was then sold to National Fireproofing Company (natco) in 1906 and remained company-owned until 1964. Truly lastly, the Hocking Canal which connected to the Erie Canal has an old lock right outside Haydensville

Mason Stein