The Akron Beacon Journal from Akron, Ohio • Page 105

16 Akron Beacon Journal Sundav, November 19, 2000 www.Ohio.com In the Wild Indian stone carvinss in Ohio syjfoeiail I j. "FjjreaJ Memorial outside Leo in Jackson County features petroglyphs available for viewing By Bob Downing Beacon Journal staff writer LEO: Seeing an Indian petroglyph for the first time is a memorable event. It produces a special feeling to be able to experience a bit of unusual and distinctive history, as I first Jackson it A Pikes Peak near Colorado Springs is the most-visited mountain with a road to the top. Some 500,000 people a year travel up the 19-miie-long Pikes Peak Highway to the summit at 14,110 feet. The drive takes an hour, and the road turns to gravel after seven miles.

Bad weather and altitude sickness it's a very steep climb with a 7 percent grade can cause problems for some. A cog railroad also runs to the summit. North Carolina's Mount Mitchell is the highest mountain east ofthe Rockies at 6,684 feet. There's a restaurant and observation tower at the summit. Mount Washington, known for its high winds and brutal storms, gets 45,000 cars a year to its eight-mile-long summit highway.

It, too, has a cog railroad. Whiteface Mountain at 4,867 feet is two hours north of New York City and gets 85,000 visitors a year. Cadillac Mountain at 1,530 feet offers vistas overlooking Maine's Acadia National Park. An elevator takes visitors up the last 300 feet from the parking lot. High heaven Sun Mountain Lodge in Washington state is becoming a mecca for mountain bikers.

The mountain resort overlooking the old mining carved the pictures or how old they might be, but it is generally believed that the carvings were done by Indians now called Fort Ancients. That is based on spear and arrow points and bits of pottery uncovered near the petroglyph. The stone might have been carved by shamans or ancient priests as some part of a ceremony or they may be nothing more than prehistoric graffiti. They coula be tribal symbols or depiction of activities of an Indian group -no one knows for sure and it's unlikely that we will ever know. Named after earthworks in Ohio's Warren County, the Fort Ancients lived in southern Ohio for about 1,400 years from A.D.

100 to 1500. They lived in villages of several hundred people and grew corn, beans and squash. A major Indian trail ran northwest toward Chillicothe and southeast through Jackson, Gallipolis and into West Virginia. Not far from Leo is an ancient salt lick that drew ancient peoples. In addition, flint deposits in Vinton and Licking counties also attracted people.

The Leo stone is protected by an open-air pavilion, a sort of picnic shelter, but modern initials and names unfortunately have been added to the stone by unthinking people like Bob and Heather. The stone is surrounded by a six-sided fence and a viewing platform. The 12.3-acre site includes a half-mile loop trail into a very pretty hemlock-lined gorge, complete with 65-foot cliffs, caves, rocky outcroppings, ferns and moss. The rocky, up-and-down trail follows a small stream, climbs above the ravine and loops back to the pavilion through a forest of white oak, tulip trees and beeches. It's worth exploring.

You are pretty much on your own to explore the Leo Petroglyph. The site is pretty simple: There is one interpretive sign and there was a one-page brochure outlining what's known about the petroglyph thumbtacked to the inside ofthe pavilion when I visited. The memorial is open from dawn to dusk daily throughout Akron Beacon loimiiil The lodge area has 40 miles of single-track trails for novices, intermediates and experts. The scenic Methow Valley is filled with single-track trails and fire roads with riding that locals say match anything in Colorado or Utah. The 113-room lodge offers hot tubs for those sore muscles.

It also offers lots of possibilities for hikers and equestrians, as well as for more laid-back vacationers. For more information, write to Sun Mountain Lodge, P.O. Box 1000, Winthrop, WA 98862; 509-996-2211; http: sunmountainlodge.com on the World Wide Web. Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowningthebeaconjournal.com via e-mail. GREEKTOWN CASINO Day trips start November 13 Good things are always worth the wait.

The wait is now over! Detroit's newest casino is waiting for you! C'mon out and play for the day. Round Trip Motorcoach $15 cash back Bus service departures Monday thru Friday 8:00 AM Maumee Returns 5:30 PM 8:30 AM Westgate Returns 5:00 PM 8:30 AM Northwood Returns 5:30 PM 8:45 AM Manhattan Returns 5:00 PM $25 Per Person Casinos, Cruises Dreams Travel BOB I KtUNIXGAkron Ik-accm lournal his is one of the 37 carvings of humans and animals and footprints of humans and animals in the slab of sandstone. JA www.ohiohistory.org on the World Wide Web. Car climbing Hiking is one way to reach the top ofthe mountain. On some mountains, you can simply drive to the top.

That includes Pikes Peak and Mount Evans in Colorado, Whiteface Mountain in New York, Mount Mitchell in North Carolina, Cadillac Mountain in Maine and Mount Washington in New Hampshire. Mount Evans, 50 miles west of Denver, is the highest at 14,130 feet. The road to the top is clear of snow perhaps 40 days a year, mostly in July and August. It is billed as the highest paved road in the world. town of Winthrop lies at the edge ofthe rugged and scenic North Cascades.

It is flanked by the High Country desert that covers two-thirds of eastern Washington. It is hot, dry and sunny in the summer and cold, dry and sunny all winter. r.t& si 1MJ tin 4 lfl 1POST TOURS TP209 fWADSWORTH DEPARTURES 330-334-3440 own island writes. "The main pavilion, which seems to grow out ofthe hill, was built on a soaring scale with spare-no-expense Baunese decor." An adjoining wing houses 10 of the Bali-style guest rooms. Two other one-bedroom suites in a pair of pavilions have a private plunge pool.

discovered years ago in seeing Nez Perce drawings up close on rocks in Hells Canyon on the Snake River in Idaho. 1 BOB DOWNING You can see genuine Indian stone carvings much closer to home: on a ridge in southern Ohio. The name of the site is a fooler the Leo Petroglyph State Memorial but the ancient human art by unknown Eeoples is the real thing. It is illed as one of the finest examples of prehistoric carved writings in Ohio. There are 37 rock picture drawings of humans and animals and footprints of humans and animals carved into a 20-foot-by-16-foot slab of fine-grained Blackhand sandstone at the site operated by the Ohio Historical Society in northern Jackson County.

They include snakes, fish, birds, human effigies and footprints carved into the rock; some are more clearly visible and less faded than others. One of the most distinctive is a picture of a striking buffalolike animal or mask. There is also a birdlike creature that looks more spiritual than real. There are three human feet and a human head wearing a ceremonial headdress. The fish are fairly easy to pick out.

The carving was done on a flat rock on the surface next to the small parking lot, not on the side of rock or cliff in a nearby gorge. Experts don't know who Renting your Get away from it all, while ringed by beaches Associated Press Get this for a getaway. There are more than 30 small private islands around the world available for rent, with or without staff, from the Caribbean to the Seychelles to Fiji, ranging in size from mere dots to 850-acre estates. So reports Worth magazine in its November issue. "Hoisting the drawbridge and shutting out the world can be deeply satisfying in these days of thumping music, televisions in elevators, and cell phones on the tennis court," writes Ian Keown.

"But since even the most exclusive resorts on the smallest islands can't promise the kind of quiet and privacy you need, the answer my be leasing your own private island." Keown, who has personally checked out some of these islands, reports that the most luxurious of all is perhaps Necker Island in the British West Indies, the fiefdom of Virgin Atlantic's Sir Richard Branson. "His scepter'd isle set in a turquoise sea is 74 acres of unprepossessing scrub and cactus that just happen to be ringed by stunningly beautiful beaches and reefs," Keown LAKEFRONT TOURS BALU'S PARK CASINO PREVIEW 2001 JAN. 15-17, FEB. 5-7, I FEB. lUNE RUN DEC.

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9-10, MAR. 13-14 PRICE S1 90 PER PERSON 08L. OCCUPANCY P.O. Box 81172 Cleveland, Ohio 44181 1-800-638-6338 17, I the year. To get to the Leo Petroglyph State Memorial, head south from Chillicothe toward Jackson on U.S.

35. Turn left and head northeast on county Road 28 (Sour Gum and Coalton roads) for three miles to the hamlet of Leo in Jackson Township. Turn left on county Road 29 (Raysville Road) and an immediate left on township Road 224 (Park Road). The state memorial will on your left about one mile down the road. For more information, contact the Ohio Historical Society, 1982 Velma Columbus OH 43211; 614-297-2300 or 1-888-909-6446.

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