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Exploring Happy Hollow Creek...by Mark Birkle |
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For those familiar with the Cincinnati, Ohio area, this creek drains the area bordered by St Rt. 28 on the North, Pleasant Hill Rd. to the East, St. Rt. 131, to the South and Interstate 275 to the West. This watershed drops from an elevation of about 800 feet in the area behind Milford High School, to an elevation of 600 feet where it crosses under Interstate 275. That section of the creek is approximately 1.5 miles long. There is another mile of creek on the downstream side of Interstate 275 that eventually empties out into the East Fork of the Little Miami. These photos are from the area that is upstream from I-275. Happy Hollow Rd. parallels the bottom end of the creek and in the past continued to Rt. 131, but the construction of I-275 in the mid-seventies divided the road. The "hundred-year rain" that happened on July 17th, 2001, washed out the end of the road just prior to I-275. That section of road remains abandoned. The creek becomes quite rough at an elevation of about 650 feet. Of course, that is just the topography that I am looking for! Several pretty falls are hiding in this valley! You can access the biggest set of falls easily from St Rt. 28. Turn onto Happy Hollow Rd., next to Key Bank, drop into the valley and bear right at the bottom of the hill. When you cross the bridge you are at the top of the falls. If you do visit this area, you won’t want to miss the ninth wonder of the world, "The Great Wall of Milford!" I’m not sure if you can see this wall from outer space but it is worth driving to the back of Lowe’s and taking a look. This wall retains the whole land fill that Lowe’s sits on. It is built up of interlocking concrete blocks. Typically, I see these used only in small landscaping applications. This wall is forty feet tall at its highest point and a quarter-mile long! It would be an interesting contest to guess how many blocks were used to construct this wall. The photos in this set were taken through several seasons in 2004. The first trip was in the late winter (early 2004). I walked the length of the creek to understand the land. On the second visit I road my bicycle into the valley. It was an early spring evening and I gambled that the storm just
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to the west would
not cross my path. I lost the bet and road home in a hellish
thunderstorm! A few of the lightening strikes were a little too close
for comfort! I had to keep my head down in the rain but that just caused
me to catch a face full of water off of the front tire. What ever
happened to bicycle fenders? My third trip was a mid-summer morning
after a heavy nighttime rain. I couldn’t miss a chance to see the
creek in full fury. The power of a full creek must be respected. My final
trip was on a late fall evening. The sun was about gone. This is usually
my best time for waterfall photography. The low light allows me to use
long shutter speeds that artistically reveal the motion of the water.
The light finally faded ending my photography. The cold had thoroughly saturated me and my empty stomach had me thinking about the dinner table. I didn’t realize how peaceful this forgotten valley was until I drove out, returning to the bustle of Rt. 28. I don’t know how the name Happy Hollow was chosen for this valley but it is appropriate.
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