MILL CREEK METROPARKS Hike with Your Loved Ones raises fans’ appreciation

February 15, 2016 at 12:05a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Darla Penza didn’t bring a loved one to a Valentine’s Day-themed hike, though she did bring with her a deeper love for Mill Creek MetroParks.

“I enjoyed the last hike and wanted to come again,” the Canfield woman said, referring to having taken part in the 21/2-mile Hike with Your Loved Ones walk Sunday, which got underway at the Pioneer Pavilion off Old Furnace Road on the South Side.

Penza, a receptionist for the Johnson & Johnson Law Office in Canfield, said she’s not a regular Mill Creek MetroParks visitor, but that the 90-minute hike heightened her appreciation for the park. Penza added that the Lily Pond and Fellows Riverside Gardens are two of her favorite attractions.

Penza joined about a dozen others and braved an 18-degree temperature and slight breeze for the walk around Lake Cohasset. The journey provided plenty of opportunities for participants to see some of the area’s winter offerings.

Conducting the hike was Marilyn Williams, a three-year park naturalist, who encouraged walkers to be alert for birds and signs of animal life.

Among the advantages of visiting during winter to what many people feel is one of the Mahoning Valley’s most-cherished treasures are the views that are normally obscured by leaves on the trees, Williams noted. One panoramic vista allowed people to see much of the 28-acre Lake Cohasset, which is the smallest and oldest of the park’s three main lakes, having been built in 1897, she explained.

Williams recalled that during its early years, Lake Cohasset was often used for swimming, social gatherings and other forms of recreation, adding that people rented towels and wool bathing suits for 10 cents and 25 cents, respectively.

The walkers also saw a variety of large icicles and ice formations that covered large rocks, as well as the steps adjacent to the lake’s dam. Just past the dam, they reached a cluster of hemlock trees abutting the lake, some of which had dropped what resembled small pine cones.

“Hemlocks are very important to wildlife, not only for food, but for shelter,” Williams told the group.

Many people reflexively associate seeing robins with the first sign of spring, but several were spotted in a sycamore tree. Some of the birds stay in flocks during the winter and feed off berries, Williams noted.

Other signs of bird activity included series of horizontal borings in trees, courtesy of several types of woodpeckers. Twenty-two types of woodpeckers live in the U.S., seven of which are in Northeast Ohio, she continued.

In addition, participants saw evidence of beaver activity such as clusters of sticks strewn near the lake and portions of bark missing from nearby trees.

Even though the park is blanketed in 3 inches of snow, that doesn’t mean it is devoid of green. That was evident in a patch of horsetails, which are bristly-looking perennials that usually grow near marshes, rivers, bogs and streams.

The hikers’ travels also took them across the Silver Bridge, formerly a suspension bridge that is perhaps one of the park’s most-recognizable points of interest. The bridge, which features tall spires and pronounced arches, was erected in 1895 and has about 39 nicknames, including the Cinderella Bridge, Williams explained.

So, what kind of an effect did all of this have on participants such as Darla Penza?

“I want to come to Mill Creek Park more often,” she said with pride.