Dave Miller's Adventures – wordpress.com

Hiking Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: Sunday, September 10, 2023

We hiked a 1.1-mile boardwalk trail (which must have cost a fortune to build) through this nature preserve that has several wetlands, a cedar forest and savanna. A mucky, dense bog and a fen appeared along the trail area while the west branch and east branch of Cedar Run flowed by. Along the trail were wildflowers, rare orchids, carnivorous plants, dangerous poison sumac trees, and signs warning us to beware eastern massasauga rattlesnakes. Most of the time I felt like I was in a boggy but pretty cedar swamp. The Cedar Bog Nature Preserve is 446 acres and owned by the Ohio Historical Connection and is designated a National Natural Landmark.

Hiking Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller, Elizabeth Kelly

Date: June 12, 2023

In the 1820’s during a hike from Urbana to Cincinnati, John “Johnny Appleseed” Chapman planted a grove of apples trees just west of Dorf Drive in German Village.

On September 23, 2010, honoring the 236^th birthday of John Chapman, the City of Moraine rededicated a plaque and planted four second generation apple trees, descendants of the original apple trees planted by Johnny Appleseed. I planned and organized the event and hired Hank Fincken, living history performer who portrayed Johhny Appleseed and spoke at an assembly at the nearby elementary school and at the tree dedication ceremony. He joined school kids and Moraine officials planting the trees. Photos of the event are under the “Moraine Historical Markers and Moraine History” section of my website.

Down in a small gorge, the main .6-mile yellow trail winds through the thick trees and ascends north from the dedication site to Pinnacle Park.  A blue spur trail ascends to the Pinnacle Park Tot Lot and a red spur trail leads northeast. Most of the yellow trail meanders parallel to a creek where I found rocks with many fossils and small newts. I often see deer, squirrels and there have been rare coyote sightings. I held trail cleanups annually through the Moraine Volunteer Program and added trailhead signs and footbridges across three creek crossings.

My family have hiked this trail at least thirty times over the past 25 years but on June 12^th our two-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter hiked the trail for the first time. She was so excited to discover and announce whenever she saw the yellow or blue trail markings on the trees. I found a large deer skull just off the blue trail that day. Recently, three deer came walking out of the north trailhead area.

Running Team: Rosie Miller, Dave Miller, Jacque Miller, Matt Miller, Holly Miller, Shane Miller

Date: 1978-2020

The four-mile section of the GMRT that runs through Moraine has been well used by the Miller family for biking and running for four decades. The bike path runs parallel to the Great Miami River and one section had a “tunnel of trees” which made temperatures cooler on hot summer days. The Moraine section was a short drive from our house and was always the starting point for recreational jogs while pushing two kids in the double stroller, one child in the single stroller while Jacque would bike. Jacque would count groundhogs and we saw deer, beaver, snakes, and other critters along the bike path. As a tradition after running, we would stop at the large pond along East River Road and feed the ducks and geese.

The Moraine section was also the launching pad for serious training runs. I would run a 2-mile section back and forth several times when training for a half marathon. Rosie and I would also begin here or just south of here and bike north or south on 14-to-25-mile bicycle treks. My running days seem to be over due to cancer, but we still enjoy the scenery biking along this section of the bike trail as well of the memories when the kids were with us.