Leaders

Schedule

Field Trips

A world of wonder! In June the greatest show on earth is performing in Eastern America’s unmowed fields, woodland edges, and canopied waterways. June is the peak of a dizzying diversity of fireflies that pursue their brief but dramatic lives beyond most people’s notice. This weekend we will be giving this spectacle the attention it deserves!

There is no better place to go. Scioto County is one of the most forested and pristine counties in Ohio and is home to the 63,000-acre Shawnee State Forest, two state nature preserves, and several Arc of Appalachia Preserves. This region of steeply, dissected hills – known as the Little Smokies – produces the dazzling light displays of many firefly species, including the synchronous fireflies. Many people are surprised to discover they don’t have travel all the way to the Smoky Mountains to see this enchanting species. We have carefully timed this event so that – based on past history – we have the best chance of catching the end of the synchronous fireflies and other early species, and the beginning of the most spectacular lightshows of our mid-season species such as the Chinese Lanterns and Lightbulbs.

Tuition: $250 for the weekend per person. Includes packed lunches on Saturday and Sunday. Full fee is required at the time of registration. Additional expenses include lodging, other meals & transportation. Lodging at Shawnee State Park Lodge is optional but recommended due to Shawnee Lodge being our event headquarters.

To Register: Please secure your lodging before registering. Once you have your lodging reservations, click on the registration button and follow the instructions When you are finished you will see the link that will take you to our payment center. You will not be registered until the registration fee is paid. Once we have your submitted form and a receipt of payment, you will be sent an emailed confirmation.

Cancellation Policy for Event Registration: Reservations are fully refundable up through May 15. After that time, unless there is a waiting list, cancellations cannot be processed. You can gift your registration to another or ask us to mark your fees as a tax-deductible donation to the Arc.

Questions? If you have any questions or problems of any kind, contact our Education Coordinator, Cassidy Drummond, at 937-794-3360 or info@arcofappalachia.org

Workshop Hub: The workshop hub is the Shawnee Lodge and Conference Center at Shawnee State Park, located near Portsmouth in Scioto County. The lodge is approximately 59 miles south of Chillicothe, 94 miles east of Cincinnati, It sits 8.2 miles NW of Highway 52 off of OH-125. The park is surrounded by the 63,000-acre Shawnee State Forest. We will be visiting several of the Arc’s splendid southernmost preserves over the weekend including Gladys Riley Golden Star Lily, Tremper Mound, Rock Run, Plum Run Prairie, Elf Ear Barrens, Kamama Prairie, and Quiverheart Gorge. These preserves are biological and scenic treasures, and we relish the opportunity to share them with you.

Transportation. Registrants will be providing their own car transportation to Shawnee State Park, as well as to the various field trip locations. Field trips destinations are between 8 and 30 miles away, and even the ones farthest away are well worth the drive. Carpooling can usually be arranged with other willing participants. Where destinations have limited parking, car sharing is encouraged. Be sure to bring some pocket money for snacks and meals. The lodge offers an ATM.

Lodging and Meals. Cabins and rooms have been set aside at Shawnee State Park for registrants. Lodge rooms are fully supplied with linens, sheets, AC, television, full bathroom and refrigerator. Cabins are fully supplied with linens, sheets, AC, television, full bathroom full kitchen, refrigerator and outdoor fire ring. Evening presentations will be held in the main conference room at Shawnee Lodge. Coffee is available to all lodge and cabin guests at the lodge.

To reserve Shawnee Lodge and Cabins. Call Shawnee Lodge at (740) 858-6621. Be sure to mention that you are a registrant for the firefly event. You will be offered a selection among the lodging options that remain available. A deposit will be required. Upon your arrival you will be asked to pay the remaining balance. Making special check-out plans - Check-in time is 4pm. Check-out time is 10am for cabins, and 11 am for rooms. However, to make it to the offered Sunday field trips, you will need to check out earlier. To prevent a long line during check-out on Sunday morning and possibly delaying your departure, we recommend you not add meals or other expenses to your room or cabin but pay as you go. That way you can just leave the keys in the room or cabin and skip the formal checkout procedure.

If you prefer alternative lodging: The City of Portsmouth (approximately 15 mi from Workshop Hub) has a number of lodges available which can easily be searched on your phone. The Holiday Inn on 711 2nd St, Portsmouth, Ohio 45662 is the closest large hotel to the park. There are also a few Airbnb’s in the region, some of which are quite special.

Options for Meals (other than our provided packed lunches): Cabins at Shawnee have full kitchens where you can prepare your own food. You can choose to eat in Portsmouth (we will send recommendations to registrants closer to the event) which is 15 miles away. And you can take advantage of the full-service restaurant at the park lodge. If you choose to eat at the lodge and/or in town, be sure to plan enough time. We recommend setting aside 1.25 to 1.5 hours.

Catered Meals: To Be Announced.

Physical Condition Required: Participants should be able to withstand outdoor summer temperatures. There is very little hiking required to watch fireflies at night. Check the various trail difficulties mentioned for day field trips to determine if they are right for you.

Airports and Nearest City: Our two nearest airports are almost equidistant. Columbus is 2.25 hours of driving time away. Cincinnati is 1.75 hours away.

Cell Service & Wi-Fi: We will be located in very rural, isolated locations. Phone service is spotty for many servers, other than on and around major roads such US 52, parts of State Route 125 and in the Portsmouth area. You may find that you will catch an unexpected signal during your hikes on high elevations. Shawnee Lodge provides access to Wi-Fi.

A word about the weather: We will be spending most of our time in the field, so please pack clothing that will allow you to be comfortable for a variety of weather conditions. The program will go on rain or shine. Note: if we experience a rain downpour it will cease firefly activity. However, fireflies rebound quickly once the rain lightens up. The only unexpected weather condition that will seriously decrease firefly spectacles is a cold night. Below 65 degrees, firefly flashing decreases. Below 60 degrees flashing essentially stops. In southern Ohio, the low to mid-nineties are common daytime highs. Nights tend to cool off, usually dipping back into the seventies or high sixties. June’s rare hot nights produce the showiest light displays, so hot nights are good nights! If you work daily in an air-conditioned environment, it might be wise to prepare by taking mid-day walks so you can begin adjusting to outdoor temperatures and high humidity.

Recommended Books: If you wish to learn firefly species over the weekend and beyond, we highly recommend purchasing Fireflies, Glow-worms, and Lightning Bugs: Identification and Natural History of the Fireflies of the Eastern and Central United States and Canada by Lynn Faust. This is the first beginner-friendly identification book ever published and it is truly excellent. If you have this book in hand, you will be referring to it often during the weekend, and it is a good place to keep your observation notes. Cost is around $25.00. Another excellent firefly book is Silent Sparks: The Wondrous World of Fireflies by Sara Lewis. This book is in story telling format and presents the fascinating natural history of fireflies, including their poetic and inspiring impact on humanity over the ages.

RECOMMENDED PACK LIST

Please read this list in advance of the trip so that you have time to gather what you wish to bring.

o    Bring a folding chair! This is an essential piece of equipment. Watching fireflies is not a particularly active pastime - it is more like watching a theater or a dance performance. You will appreciate setting up your chair in front of a display and zoning out into” firefly time.” Smaller chairs are better than larger ones since we will be trying to rideshare.

o    Insect nets and collecting jars if you happen to have them.

o    Water bottle. Please carry a filled water bottle with you at all times. To minimize waste, we will not be supplying beverages for lunch (nor any of the catered meals), so carry your own water with you, especially for meals and on the trail.

o    A good quality set of binoculars if you have them. If they can focus near as well as far, that’s a plus.

o    Personal care items: soap, shampoo, etc. (towels, linens, and tissue are provided in the lodge).

o    Informal outdoor clothing for both wet and dry weather. Having light weight pants for nighttime walking is probably a good idea.

o    Both Sturdy hiking shoes and sandals so that you can switch off.

o   Daypack or satchel to carry water, snacks, flashlight, and reference books if you have them.

o    A plastic plate to eat your lunch upon that will be served to you in the field. Utensils not needed.

o    A small notepad to jot notes in.

o    Pen or pencil.

o    A first aid kit .

o    A Ball cap or sun hat appropriate to your personal needs.

o    Pocket money for snacks or gift shop purchases.

o    Insect Repellent. Please read the section on insects above. Plus a good friend to do a tick check at day’s end! Seriously… Lacking that, bring a mirror.

o    Firefly ID book if you have one, and any other nature reference books you desire.

o   Flashlight – Bright flashlights will ruin you and your group’s night vision. Even a cell phone is too bright. Bring a pencil flashlight if you can. A red light is useful if you have one, as it will have zero effect on your night vision. Some cell phones have a built-in red-light filter that you can activate in your settings. You will not be able to ID or catch fireflies without a tiny flashlight, so please come prepared.

Should I prepare for insects and poison ivy? The Shawnee region varies when it comes to flying biting insects and is dependent on the ecosystem you find yourself in. In lowlands there are moderate amounts of mosquitoes but no black flies. You may encounter a few ticks in the open fields, and chiggers in tall grass if you choose to wander off trail (which is a good reason not to). In the daytime you may experience deer flies in low moist areas sheltered from the sun. If any of these challenges are new for you, let us know and we will do our best to orient you to them, help mentor your adjustment, or minimize exposure. That said, no exposure to insects is not a realistic expectation for field studies.

Arc trails are narrow but well maintained. Unless you go off trail, which we don’t advise or encourage, you should not experience direct contact with poison ivy. If you suspect you’ve had contact, washing the exposed skin twice with water and heavy amounts of soap, while scrubbing vigorously with a washcloth, is proven to remove most of the oils so long as you get to the shower fast enough ( ½ hour to 2 hours, depending on your sensitivity). Interestingly, scientific experiments have demonstrated that scrubbing is even more effective than using soap, but both contribute to reducing or eliminating allergic reactions.

Some notes on ticks. During every field trip there will inevitably be a few ticks found crawling up some of our registrants’ legs. If you see them, they are not a problem. It’s the ones you don’t see that might pose a problem, and some of the larval stages are pretty small. Adjust your mind to look for small creatures.

It is important to minimize exposure to tick diseases which can be carried by specific tick species. Diseases spread by tick bites are an increasing concern in Ohio and are being reported to the Ohio Department of Health more frequently in the past decade, with Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) being the most common.

We recommend a good tick check at night before or after showering. If you have a partner, use him or her to do the ‘primate thing.” If you don’t, employ a mirror and don’t forget to check your hairline. If you find a tick that is not embedded, you have nothing to worry about. If you find a tick that is embedded, stay alert but don’t panic. It’s comforting to remember that most tick bites do not result in a disease. We aren’t minimizing the threat, we just want you to have realistic fear levels.

Prudent self-care involves being aware of the flu-like symptoms of tick-borne diseases and demanding diagnostic tests from your doctor if you suspect the disease. Because most of Ohio’s citizenry are not routinely exposed to ticks, urban doctors may not have a lot of experience with tick-borne disease. Being informed and proactive provides you with the highest level of safety.

Some notes on chiggers. Chigger bites are very annoying if numerous. They are very itchy but not dangerous. The best way to minimize or better yet, completely avoid, chigger exposure is to stay on the trail. Chiggers are tiny larval mites that cling to your skin and begin feeding on you relatively quickly. If you can do a visual chigger scan within an hour or two after picking them up as hitchhikers, and you have good close up vision, you can actually see them and remove them. This admittedly takes a bit of experience because they are the size of a very tiny period.

Here’s how it works. Chiggers insert chemicals into your skin to break it down for feeding. While they are about their business, they produce numbing chemicals to disguise their activity. But when they depart, the body soon realizes it has been abused and it reacts indignantly to the mite’s proteins, causing a very itchy red bump that lasts for a week or more, depending on your sensitivity. Our staff has found that open-toed sandals seem to attract less chiggers than socks and shoes because chiggers love to crawl between tight places, such as fabric against your skin, and also on any place on your body where skin touches skin. Bare legs, especially unshaven legs, can also deter ticks because you can more easily feel the larger ticks crawling up your legs, as well as visually see them and more easily send them on their way. We are not necessarily recommending shorts and sandals during the day, but if you enjoy wearing them, try it out.. You may fare better than your less scantily dressed colleagues.

Our favorite insect repellant. We highly recommend using rose geranium oil as an entirely natural and extremely good deterrent for ticks and chiggers. We haven’t tested it for mosquitos yet, but it probably works for them as well. We buy glass spray bottles online, and then fill them with nine parts rubbing alcohol and 1 part rose geranium oil. Spray liberally on exposed skin, feet, socks, and other clothes. Rose geranium oil (a plant extract) can be easily obtained online. If you think you have long-term use for the repellant, search among the advertised options to find the larger bottles. These are usually way more affordable. Rose geranium is our stewardship staff’s go-to insect repellant. We smell pretty good, too!