Autumnal Magic in Hocking Hills, Ohio

After several passes trying to find the cabin that we’ve been to countless times but will never make the right turn into, we arrive at our cozy weekend trip to Hocking Hills. Going back to a place habitually as we have done with the same cabin is a strange experience. There’s something special about walking into a place and immediately feeling at home but being acutely aware that so many other people have that same shared, but highly individual experience. When we were kids, there would be travel journals placed in the cabins where the other kids who had stayed before would invent games for us to play, or talk about their experiences, just by simply saying “hi, I was here too.” It’s interesting how as adults we’ve lost that. Part of the innate charm that we love about our cabin is just how individual it is. Maybe it's because we’re a family of introverts, maybe it’s because that’s the safest we feel in the current COVID19 era, but we all relish in the fact that in the cabin in Hocking Hills we are alone; we enter the cabin using a code sent to my mom’s phone, text a number if there happens to be an issue, and never make contact with another human being unless we purposely venture out to do so. The cabin experience is so different from the classic resort or hotel lobby experience that we are often greeted with on trips. Instead of passing by countless friendly people to do mundane tasks like getting a drink from the vending machine or leaving to go on a walk in a hotel, the only thing that we have in Hocking is the woods and the natural beauty that surrounds us.

When we do venture out to hike it's to hit old favorites: Ash Cave (the only place I’ve honestly seen natural sand in the state of Ohio), Rock House (when we are feeling adventurous), and Cedar Falls, as well as some new treasures. This time, we hiked Conkle's Hollow for the first time; the trail is comprised of a lower rim where we explore the red, orange, and brown woods, and an upper rim that is one of the prettiest and most terrifying trails I’ve ever been on. I do have to preface that I haven’t been on many trails. I love to get outdoors, but most of my activity would be categorized more as taking walks rather than straight-up hiking. The upper trail showcases the clusters of different colored trees from above and is made of a carved out stone path with drop offs as large as 100 feet below. The views were honestly breathtaking. We made it a little less than half-way on the trail before turning around as my mom has an acute fear of heights (no one else in the group was complaining about leaving).

Conkle's Hollow Upper Rim Trail View

We arrive back at the cabin, which is open concept, fairly modern, and equivalent to a 3-bedroom family home–except for the fact that nearly every possible surface is made of rich-grained wood. Upon entering the cabin, we are immediately greeted with the earthy smell encompassing us on all sides: the kitchen cabinets, walls, floors, and bunk-beds that my sister and I always end up sharing despite the fact that there are enough queen beds to go around, are all comprised of different tones of wood that seemed to be cut down right from the trees that surround the property. One of the first steps I take when entering the cabin is to the wrap around porch that puts you right in with the leaves of the trees.

With trips like Hocking, where habits have been crafted over many years, the same activities and meals pop up every visit. On our first night, we make our own pizzas using naan bread, vegetables (prepared the day before to minimize meal prep during the trip), and cheese/vegan cheese. When we never eat at the table at home, we find ourselves at the table in Hocking Hills and start making our plan of which games we will play and which movies and tv shows we will watch that evening; games and tv are an integral part of our trip, and oftentimes will comprise the vast majority of our time in Hocking, so we take it quite seriously. As expected, our normal games win out (Catan, Scrabble, and Apples to Apples), but movies and tv shows cycle more fluidly; this time we went with the anime Jujitsu Kaisen and Marvel movies because they are some of the few forms of media that Noah, Grace, and I can agree upon without further discussion.

But there were some new things on this trip: This trip was even more special because of the fact that it was in fall, (75% of the group’s favorite season). Every year for the past seven years, we went to Hocking Hills in the Summer. The Hocking Hills of my childhood quintessentially represented cold juice in the mornings, layers of sunscreen and bug spray, water balloon fights on arguably too rocky terrain, and time spent with family friends where we could easily pick up our relationship from the previous August promptly at the start of June. We had never been to Hocking in the fall, but with the fact that it aligned perfectly with the release weekend of Red (Taylor’s Version), it was fated that the perfect fall weekend would ensue. Outdoor fires in the evening were replaced with extra time under blankets, and every hour brought another drove of golden leaves down from the trees; by the time we left our two-night trip, almost all the leaves that were on the trees were composting into the earth.

Wrap Around Porch View