Ohio Caves And Waterfalls - Part 1

Continuing my current road trip after passing through western Maryland and West Virginia, I went back to Ohio (apologies to Chrissie Hynde) to check out an area through which I had passed last summer.  During that trip, I stopped to see the Moonville Tunnel, which is on a then-under-construction rail trail.  A few miles east, along the same trail, is the King's Hollow Tunnel.  I first tried to see if I could reach this tunnel from Mineral, a small town at the intended east end of the Moonville Rail Trail, but I could only reach a creek that had no bridge.  If the old railroad had a bridge, it's now long gone.  Eventually I found a back road that took me west of the tunnel, from which I could walk several hundred yards to reach it.  It's a bit longer than the Moonville Tunnel, and has a different cross section.  This is the west end of the King's Hollow Tunnel.  I didn't try going all the way through, because it looked pretty wet.

While driving on Ohio Highway 56 last year, I passed by Ash Cave, but didn't bother to stop.  This time, I intended to visit the place, along with some other nearby attractions.  The walk from the parking lot was very east, about two tenths of mile.  My first pictures, sadly, weren't well focused.  The first one is of a large section of the cave, including a tree.

The second pic shows a waterfall in front of another part of the cave.

Here's the pool at the bottom of the waterfall.  I think I got a better focus with this one.

This shot looks outward from inside the cave.  The stream goes around a large rock.

Here's a shot into the cave from an overlook.  The man sitting on the rock gives you some idea of its size.  Looks like the woman to the right is taking his picture.

Ash cave is located about a mile from the intersection of Ohio Routes 56 and 374.  Going north from that intersection along OH 374 brings you to Cedar Falls.  This one took a bit of downward hiking, including some stone stairs.  Here are Cedar Falls and its rocky environs.

Here is a close-up of the falls.

This is a close-up of the alcove to the left of the falls.

For more on King's Hollow Tunnel, go to TrekOhio(dot)com, Ohio Exploration Society and Bridgehunter.

For more on Ash Cave, go to HockingHills(dot)com, Hocking Hills Travel Guide and Ohio History Central.

For more on Cedar Falls, go to Great Lakes Waterfalls and Hocking Hills State Park Travel Guide.

Casselman Bridge

To quote that noted travel guide Willie Nelson, I've gone out "on the road again".  The first place I stopped to see was Casselman Bridge in its namesake state park, in Grantsville, Maryland.  The bridge spans Casselman River, and is reached by turning off of U.S. Alternate 40, which goes through Grantsville.  Today, only pedestrians are allowed on the bridge.  In this picture, taken from an oblique angle, some idiots visitors sit or stand on the bridge's outer wall.

Here you can see bridge and the river, with the idiots visitors still on the wall.

Looking south from the Casselman Bridge, this is more of the river.  Alt-40 goes over the trestle bridge.

Here's a view from the east end of Casselman Bridge, looking westward.

Looking at this, can you guess when the bridge was built?

I later stopped in Ellenboro, West Virginia.  Here's a view of the North Bend Rail Trail going over West Virginia 16, just north of U.S. 50.

For more on Casselman Bridge, go to StateParks(dot)com, Spruce Forest Artisan Village, Bridge Browser, Bridgehunter(dot)com and WHILBR.

For more on the North Bend Rail Trail, go to TrailLink, Rails To Trails, Bike Washington and the trail's own website.

Van Hits Pedestrians On Bridge In London - Again

Different day, different bridge, same modus operandi.  Today on the London Bridge, a van plowed into about 20 pedestrians after mounting the bridge's curb.  There are also reports of a man, possibly someone other than the driver, leaving the van and attempting to stab people.  The incident has been called a terror attack.  There are no reports yet about how many people have been injured or killed.

Two months ago, pedestrians were struck buy a vehicle on the Westminster Bridge in London.  As with similar incidents, there will undoubtedly be updates as more information comes out.

Read more at the Express, the Mirror, BBC News, The Sun and the Daily Star.

UPDATE:  Depending on which story you read, there were either three or five attackers, two of whom were killed by police.  Up to seven victims of the attack may have been killed.  There are also reports of possibly related incidents in the areas of Borough Market and Vauxhall.  Let me add two more sources, the Daily Mail and The Telegraph.

UPDATE 2:  According to the Daily Mail and The Telegraph, the attackers shouted "This is for Allah."

UPDATE 3:  The links now indicate seven victims killed and 48 injured.  There were three attackers, all of whom were shot dead by police.  The terrorists reportedly wore fake bombs or gas canisters.

Saturday Links

Here are some things going on out there, during the first weekend of June:

From the Express, she misspoke.  (No, this is not about Hillary Clinton.)

From The Guardian, Bill Maher did more than misspeak.

From The Blaze, did Utah's new DUI legislation go too far?

From the Daily News, Kathy Griffin gets a new defender.

From Sky News, explosions go off at a funeral in Kabul.  (via Fox News)

From Military(dot)com, a Naval officer gets a six-year sentence for leaking military secrets.  (via The Daily Caller).

From American Thinker, despite their country's economic turmoil, Venezuela's elite are doing well.

From the Twitter feed of Jack Posobiec, CNN gets some harsh criticism.  (From where would the critic get such an idea?)

From Townhall, some negative reaction to President Trump's pullout from Paris.

From The New York Times, the Manchester suicide bomber allegedly met with ISIS in Libya.

From Breitbart London, police have made their 17th arrest in connection with the Manchester bombing.  (This fact might become useful the next time someone uses the term "lone wolf" to describe a terrorist.)

From Twitchy, some scenes from the #MarchForTruth.

From Bizpac Review, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Cal), like many politicians on both sides of the aisle, uses the Bible when it suits her.

From Fox News, Defense Secretary Mattis calls North Korea a "clear and present danger".

From PopZette, 10 surprising things about Marilyn Monroe.

From Yahoo News, Toyota cuts their ties with Tesla.

From The Daily Caller, meet the "Ottoman snowflake".

From CampusReform, students at the University of Maryland want stricter "hate speech" rules.

In National Review, Jonah Goldberg discusses the "lifestylization" of politics.

And from FoxSanAntonio, flag thieves wear fur.

Why Paris Won't Work

As everyone not living under a carbon-dioxide-heated rock knows, President Trump has pulled the United States out of the Paris climate agreement.  For some reaction, go to FrontpageMag and National Review.  But back in January, before The Donald took office, YouTube user PragerU came out with their reasons for opposing Paris.  Their message is basically "big cost, small result".

The video may also be viewed directly on YouTube.

UPDATE:  There's more positive reaction to Trump's decision from The Daily Signal.

Links For The End Of May

As May draws to a close, here are some things in the news:

Move over, Kek, Kermit and Hoppity Hooper, Nature World News presents a new species of frog.

From LifeNews, CNN has fired decapitation simulator Kathy Griffin.

As The American Mirror points out, Griffin's stunt was too much even for Satan worshipers.

On the other hand, an opinion writer in the Washington Examiner defends Griffin's right to do what she did.

It's very hard to get to what the New York Post calls "Mexico's most Instagrammed beach".

From the Daily Record, a Muslim convert flees Scotland while wondering why Muslims should care about Manchester.

As pointed out in FrontpageMag, sometimes revolutions eat their own.

Gatestone Institute asks, "Fleeing tyranny or bringing it with them?"

As National Review reports, Hillary keeps trying to be relevant.

According to an opinion writer in The Week, if you want universal health care, first look across the Pond.

According to an opinion writer from The Heritage Foundation, the real enemy of farmers is not capitalism.

From AhlulBayt News Agency, Israel is well aware of Hezbollah's missiles.

From CNN, a truck bomb in Kabul kills 90 people.

From Reuters, China and the EU will support the Paris climate agreement.

From the Independent, President Trump reportedly won't keep the U.S.in the Paris agreement.

Despite what we may have heard, according to The Daily Caller, the German ambassador to the U.S. says that President Trump and Chancellor Merkel get along quite well.

From ABC News, at the Orlando airport, police take into custody a man who was brandishing a fake gun.  (Pop quiz:  When are cops most likely able to determine whether a gun is real or fake?  Answer:  After they arrest the person with the gun.)

And from Fox News, please pass the covfefe.

Links For Memorial Day

Today is Memorial Day and the 100th anniversary of the birth of President Kennedy.  Here are some things going on out there:

Memorial Day in a divided nation.

In combat, "political adversaries are brothers".

Macron meets Putin.

What is Kekistan?

In one writer's opinion, President Trump should say non to the Paris agreement.

Trump visits Arlington Cemetery's Section 60.

Trump allegedly accused Abbas of tricking him.

A famous golfer gets arrested in Jupiter.  (Perhaps he should have turned left at the Great Red Spot.)

Arrogant illegal aliens set forth their demands.

Israel will soon have an earthquake early warning system.

Meanwhile, California gets a very mild quake.

In Kashmir, Ramadan celebrators defy curfew.

Islam was present in America at its Founding, but was not part of it.  (intermediate source)

The Portland stabbing suspect doesn't like Muslims, Christians or Jews.

I'll just recite the title: "Sharia down under".

A Jewish family on a British beach are pelted with stones.

A controversial Mosque in Switzerland will be closed down.

Liberals, we're starting to reciprocate your hate.

Egypt transfers the security chief of the area where terrorists killed 29 Christians.

And to finish, a tight end texts his quarterback.

I Am The Hippo

Via Chicks On The Right and Pirate's Cove, from The Daily Caller:

A PhD student explained his "transpecies" hippopotamus identity and why he prefers being "transpecies" to transgender in a peer-reviewed paper published in May.

Florentin Félix Morin, a French PhD student who studied at the University of Arizona in the spring 2017 semester, published a paper discovered Saturday entitled "EGO HIPPO: The subject as metaphor," in which he explained "how his metaphorical hippo-self is collectively produced and performed."

John Lennon sang I Am The Walrus, but this guy opted for another large water-loving mammal.  Thankfully, Mr. (perhaps soon-to-be-Dr.) Morin has the sense to admit that his "hippo-self" is "metaphorical".  Read the full story.

Gregg Allman 1947-2017

Gregg Allman, lead singer and keyboardist of the Allman Brothers Band, and one of the pioneers of southern rock, died earlier today at his home in Savannah, Georgia.  He was 69.  He had previously contracted Hepatitis C and had undergone a liver transplant.

Gregory LeNoir Allman was born in 1947 in Nashville, Tennessee.  Along with his guitarist brother Duane, he moved to Florida during the mid-1960's and played in a band named after themselves, the Allman Joys.  They later relocated to Los Angeles and formed a band called the Hour Glass, and still later moved to Macon, Georgia to form the Allman Brothers Band.  The original lineup also included guitarist/singer Richard Betts, bassist Berry Oakley and two drummers, Butch Trucks and Jai Johanny Johanson, known as Jaimoe.  After the band put out two successful albums, Duane Allman and Oakley were each killed in a motorcycle accident.  They regrouped with Lamar Williams on bass and Chuck Leavell on piano.  The band, in various incarnations, would continue until 2014.  Its members have included guitarists such as Dan Toler, Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks (Butch's nephew), bassists such as Allen Woody and Oteil Burbridge, drummer David Toler (Dan's brother, who briefly replaced Johanson), and percussionist Marc Quiñones.  Besides organ, Gregg Allman would occasionally play piano and guitar.  He also had a side project called the Gregg Allman Band.

Allman had five children, including singer-guitarist Elijah Blue Allman, whose mother is pop singer Cher.  Read more at Billboard, CNN, Rolling Stone, Ultimate Classic Rock and TMZ.

Jim Bunning 1931-2017

Former Senator and Major League baseball pitcher Jim Bunning died yesterday at the age of 85.  He had suffered a stroke this past October.  He was the only person ever to be elected to both the Baseball Hall of Fame and the U.S. Senate.

James Paul David Bunning was born in Southgate, Kentucky, but attended St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati.  He also graduated from Xavier University before playing minor league baseball.  He was called up to the Detroit Tigers in July, 1955.  He pitched a no-hitter in 1958 against the Boston Red Sox.  After the 1963 season, Bunning was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies.  He pitched a perfect game against the New York Mets in 1964, the first by a National League pitcher in 84 years.  He would later play for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Los Angeles Dodgers before returning to the Phillies, retiring from baseball after the 1971 season.

Bunning served as a city councilman in Fort Thomas, Kentucky, and then ran successfully for State Senator as a Republican.  In 1983, he ran for governor, but lost to Democrat Martha Layne Collins.  In 1986, he won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, in which he served for six terms.  In 1998, he successfully ran for U.S. Senator, and was re-elected in 2004.  He declined to run again in 2010, supporting his eventual successor Rand Paul.

Bunning died in a hospital in the same town where he was born.  He is survived by his wife, the former Mary Catherine Theis, and their nine children, 35 grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren.

Read more at WKYT, Politico, Cincinnati(dot)com, ESPN and Sports Illustrated.  For his baseball career stats, go to Baseball Reference.