It had been six weeks since we had been on a hike due to the photographer’s Achilles injury, so when our eldest daughter volunteered to be the stand-in photographer for an outing, I jumped at the chance. I had Chalet Nivale on my radar for some time, and given the description of the terrain, I knew that it would be a while before the Achilles weakened photographer could venture there. I also thought that with the Ohio River Valley’s week of temperatures in the mid-nineties, that the shade of the wooded creek valleys would give us some respite. I was not accounting for the humidity however. While our home had not had any significant rain for a couple of weeks, the preserve, about 75 miles away, apparently had been experiencing a lot of rain and a mist filled its valleys.
The setting for the outing was announced as we pulled into the parking area off the one lane rural road. We found ourselves in a dolomite limestone amphitheater with a canopy of tall Pawpaw trees and an arching American Elm.
Chalet Nivale is part of the Arc of Appalachia Preserve System, which suggested to me that the habitat of the preserve has unique qualities making it worthy of protection. In this case it is the botanical diversity.
To give you an idea of the impact that these trails had on the stand-in photographer and I, there were over 800 photos to review for this article. Some photos were taken to capture features of the preserve or to define the terrain. Others were taken to document the unique species that we were seeing. Finally, many were taken so I could educate myself and become more familiar with the many species that were new to me.
This 106 acre preserve envelops a pair of creeks and a large part of their surrounding watershed. The clear creeks are considered pristine and have scored remarkably high on water quality testing.
The two trails of the preserve, the Crawdad Trail and the Early Buttercup Trail, weave through exposed limestone bluffs, slump rocks, sink holes and springs, all features of a Karst geology landscape.
The trails wind across the terrain, sometimes along the streams, and other times atop the 40 foot bluffs. In addition, on several occasions, the trails cross the streams on unimproved paths.
This streamside grotto was typical of the proximity of the streams and trails to the limestone outcroppings.
The streams are the centerpieces of the preserve, providing a gentle background music. Perhaps it was the gorge geography or the exposed stone, but even the slightest fall or a small volume of water rushing over stones made a disproportionately loud sound.
The stream beds themselves were stone with minimal to no sediment, allowing for viewing the wildlife as it darted through the shallows.
At one of the crossings we noted the black objects on the stream bottom that numbered in the hundreds if not thousands.
They were small aquatic snails. A healthy mollusk population generally attests to the purity of the water.
The stones and bluffs are also the substrate for many plants themselves:
Wild Columbine – one of my favorite wildflowers, would have featured red flowers in June.
Walking Fern – it can reproduce by spores, as noted on the underside of the leaves, or when the tip of the arrow shaped leaf comes in contact with soil and develops roots, to become a new plant, allowing it to “walk” across across the terrain.
Bulbet Fern – these typically grow in crevices on slump rocks or on the rock walls of the bluffs.
Stonewort – a native sedum or succulent.
The limestone bedrock causes an alkaline soil pH that results in a diverse and unique plant community. Many of the plants that we saw were new to us, while others were familiar but are considered rare.
American Columbo – it is a large plant that is hard to miss, often measuring 2 foot or more in diameter. It lives for five to fifteen years before it flowers, when it will send up a flower stalk that is 3 to 8 feet tall. In the preserve there was a section that hosted a large number of these plants. My field guides says that it flowers in May to July, but we saw no evidence of flowering in the colonies that we observed in early July.
Black Cohash – the elongated flower head was held 4 to 5 feet above the forest floor. It has a secondary name of Bugbane, under the premise that its foul odor is a repellent to insects. We did not notice the reported strong odor but the flowers were just opening.
Wild Hydrangea – was a small and leggy shrub that typically clung to the top of the stone outcroppings or arose from slump rocks.
Climbing Milk Vine – a member of the milkweed family. Kudos to the stand-in photographer who found this isolated plant on the forest floor in dappled sunshine. This is considered a rare plant and it was the only specimen that we noted that day.
Lop Seed – this was again a first observation for us. Diminutive but striking flowers.
Hairy Wood Mint – to my recall this was a first identification for us, but with an unusual flower formation that should make it easy to remember. The layered, whorled flower head is distinctive. The flowers can range from white, as noted here, to a deep pink. It grows from 12 to 48 inches in height and at Chalet Nivale it was at the top of that range. We noted several large collections of it. The species is considered rare or endangered in some of its native range.
As we worked our way through the landscape we were amazed by the density of the plants, especially on the forest floor. With the heat and humidity, it had a rain forest feel. We felt that this photo captured that feeling best, with an absolute myriad of plant species.
If you looked closely at the above photo you will note the tiniest of flowers – Shining Bedstraw. Despite its small size, the plant was used to stuff mattresses.
We found this fellow on the trail alongside the stream. He appears to be a juvenile Eastern American Toad, and given his size he may have just emerged from the stream that hosted his tadpole stage.
Another interesting animal species that we observed were the Ebony Jewelwing Damselflies. The female has the white mark on her wing, while the male has a glowing teal body. They had a flight pattern more similar to butterflies than other damselflies.
We tend to associate the Milkweed family with Monarch Butterflies. But in a woodland opening we noted this Common Milkweed covered by 6 Daddy Longlegs. More precisely these are Harvestmen and are not true spiders as they lack venom and fangs. They can be easily confused with Cellar Spiders who are also referred to as Daddy Longlegs, but are true spiders. The Harvestmen have one body segment while the Cellar Spiders have two. Interestingly, the literature does not associate Harvestmen with Milkweed but we may suspect that they were there to prey on small insects such as aphids which are common on Milkweed.
The stand-in photographer and I looked at this item on a plant leaf for sometime and did not have a feel for what it represented.
It wasn’t until we got home and studied our photos did we have an answer – a random Cicada head. The circle of life indeed.
Lastly, the humid environment was host to fungi as would be expected. We offer these up to the photographer, the official Footpaths mycophile, in her absence.
In summary, our outing to Chalet Nivale was terrific. It was great to be on the trail again and the limestone filled landscape offered surprise upon surprise. The botanical diversity and the number of new plants that we saw was outstanding. My observations tell me that this will be a great place for spring ephemeral wildflowers, but I also look forward to hiking at Chalet Nivale in the winter to have better visualization of the karst rock formations. Arc of Appalachia’s literature reports that the rare Snow Trillium is endemic at Chalet Nivale, making a March outing worthwhile as well.
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Photo credits to Caroline Burns Grizzle.
Overview:
Location – 1272 Bacon Flat Road, Peebles, Ohio, 73 miles from downtown Cincinnati.
Parking – gravel lot for 12 cars.
Trail Conditions – generally bare dirt with some exposed stone. Grades are mild overall. Good chance that your shoes will get wet.
Print Map Link – https://static1.squarespace.com/static/640b875d14fa1852d6031793/t/68470848944b9e604e611240/1749485642595/Chalet+Nivale+Hiking+Guide.pdf
Facilities – none.
Benches – none noted.
Picnic Tables – none.
Kids – I would suggest 6 and over.
Dogs – prohibited.
Suggested Paired Hikes – Nearby is Quiverheart Gorge, another Arc of Appalachia preserve. Footpaths will be hiking there soon.
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