Sat, Jan 5 2019 - West Palisades with Some Off Trail Exploration (View Original Event Details) Trip Leader(s): Holt Ward Participants: Holt Ward, Bob G, Dan C, Shirley N, Linda H, Janet G, Kerry, Jennifer H., Neil, Jennifer W, Jay H., Bobby, Debbie W, Meg H, Evy

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What a beautiful day for a hike at West Palisades.  Finally a sunny morning but the trails definitely showed the results of all the recent rains.  Water everywhere and not just in the Hooch.  We hiked down near the river first before climbing up to the ridge trail.  For this hike we did a bit of off-trail bushwhacking to reach a high ridge overlooking the river which was a treat.  On the way back towards the cars we took a detour, taking an unofficial trail down to view the ruins of the actual Akers Mill  across Rottonwood Creek.  We saw ruins of the mill itself, the mill race and the dam.  After a climb back out of the Rottonwood gorge, we took our last detour through the woods across formally terraced farmland from decades before the park was created.  

We welcomed two relatively new AOC members to the hike today.  Kerry was on her 6th club event and Megan was on her very first.  We look forward to seeing you both on future AOC events.  ~ Holt