"Slump block"

Today was a typical summer day in southern Ohio - around 90F and humid. So far this year fortunately there haven't been many of them. We still decided to brave the heat and humidity and take a picnic up to John Bryan State Park near Dayton and then go for a hike along the Little Miami River. At different times in the past, this area was once covered by warm, shallow seas or was a part of a muddy river delta or was scoured by tons of slow-moving glacial ice. Entering the area at Clifton, at 980 feet above sea level, the Little Miami drops 130 feet in the area through layer upon layer of bedrock. Each layer has its own characteristics - some of the shale layers are easily worn away by the forces of erosion, causing undercutting in the cliff face. The more erosion-resistant dolomite or limestone rocks above are weakened by this undercutting and large "slump blocks" fall away, creating unusual rock formations.

After our hot, sweaty and tiring walk, we decided we had deserved an ice cream from Youngs Jersey Dairy in nearby Yellow Springs - its a working dairy farm, which has become a well known and popular destination especially with families with young children, as besides their excellent ice cream and restaurant, they have a petting zoo, mini-golf and seasonal activities such as a corn maze and pumpkin patch.

One year ago: Art in the making