Dysart Woods

On Saturday, we went to Dysart Woods to hike. Dysart Woods is 50 acres of preserved old-growth forest. It's one of the only places where you can see what Ohio would have looked like before people got here. Ohio University takes care of it and uses it as a bio-lab. I had read enough to know that the hike would be challenging. They don't clear fallen trees and do everything they can to keep the forest undisturbed, so the trail is narrow and sometimes hard to follow.

 Matt is not a huge fan of toddler backpacks, but he agreed that it was a darn good thing we borrowed one for this hike! Thanks, Melissa! 

 There were tons of fallen trees to climb over. The red diamond on the log shows the trail. Sometimes, you really had to hunt for them. It was Luke's job to keep us on track.

 There were also quite a few scary bridges to cross. Yes, we crossed this bridge!

 To be honest, the ravine below was only a few feet deep, but it was still pretty cool!

It was a long 2 mile hike with very steep inclines and decline over tough terrain. By the last half, Michael was exhausted, so Matt ended up carrying two kids. When we finally reached the end, we were so hungry and exhausted that we just ate lunch right there in the parking lot rather than looking for a picnic spot. Hey, it was a grass parking lot anyway and we were the only people around.