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Ohio's hidden gem: The best hiking trail in America almost never was​

How Whispering Cave trail was brought back to life



The 5-mile Whispering Cave hike in Ohio’s Hocking Hills State Park claimed the top spot in the 2024 USA TODAY 10Best Readers' Choice Awards for Best Hiking Trail. This moderately challenging loop, comprised of two different trails, features a swinging bridge, a seasonal waterfall, and an impressive 105-foot-tall cave — all guaranteed to captivate visiting nature lovers.

Yet, this new hiker-favorite trail was only discovered in 2017, and its “rediscovery” is as interesting a tale as the cave itself.

Where is Whispering Cave?​

Whispering Cave is located in Hocking Hills State Park in Southeast Ohio, about 55 miles from Columbus. Although the park doesn’t have a gate count, as entry is free, the Hocking Hills Visitor’s Bureau figures that at least 4 million visitors worldwide come to hike, birdwatch, and enjoy the outdoors here every year.

Discovering Whispering Cave​

Anyone who experiences Whispering Cave can thank Jim Schaefer, a Shaker Heights resident and Ohio native who has visited the park with his wife, Joan, since the early 1980s.

While hiking in the gorges of the park's Old Man’s Cave trail, he found a faint unmarked path with a fallen sign marked Gulf Trail that led up along the cliffs to the back side of the park lodge. Schaefer traced the approximate location of this route on his map and kept it for subsequent family visits, always overwhelmed by its natural beauty.

Some 30 years later, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources issued a media release asking for suggestions on improving Ohio state parks. Schaefer responded, suggesting restoring both the old Hemlock Bridge Trail (the Gulf Trail) and the Whispering Cave spur trail just off it. While Schaefer’s suggestion reached the park superintendent, the idea was vetoed at the time, citing the staff, money, and resources necessary to bring the trails back to life.
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Put on your thinking caps and grab a drink, it's time for Friday Night Trivia.

Eleven Warriors is home to the most knowledgeable Buckeye fans on the planet. It is now time for you to prove it.

We’ll put together a 10-question quiz each week to test your knowledge of Ohio State football and its upcoming opponent. To start the 2024 season, we see how much you know about the Buckeyes' first opponent, Akron.

There are two simple rules: Please use your brain (not a search engine) and only play once.

Note: After you answer all of the questions, you must click on "Finish Quiz" to see your results.

ScriptOhio said:

CHIPOTLE TEAMS UP WITH THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY TO FUEL BUCKEYE ATHLETES WITH REAL FOOD

For the 2024-25 school year, every scholarship and walk-on student athlete at The Ohio State University will receive a customized card granting them free Chipotle for the entirety of their...

newsroom.chipotle.com

CHIPOTLE TEAMS UP WITH THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY TO FUEL BUCKEYE ATHLETES WITH REAL FOOD

• For the 2024-25 school year, every scholarship and walk-on student athlete at The Ohio State University will receive a customized card granting them free Chipotle for the entirety of their respective athletic seasons
• Chipotle has launched the second installment of an ad titled "THE" that features star football players TreVeyon Henderson, Denzel Burke, and Jeremiah Smith and is narrated by Buckeye legend Archie Griffin
• The company's nonprofit, The Chipotle Cultivate Foundation, will introduce a new scholarship for a student enrolled in OSU's College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) today announced a first-of-its-kind partnership with all student athletes at The Ohio State University that will grant them access to free Chipotle for their respective athletic seasons. For the 2024-25 school year, every scholarship and walk-on student athlete at The Ohio State University, approximately 1,000 in total, will receive a customized Chipotle card granting them one free entrée per week for 15 weeks.

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Great advertising for Chipotle!!

north dakota st at colorado north carolina vs minnesota enjoy

see how they tried to crossover on us by putting a couple Buckeyes in there with a hot hostess?

made Rams practice squad

released by NE

Don't know whether it's youthful exuberance, or dumb waste of time. Do like that Diebs was swinging for the fences. Unless one crosses a 5*'s palm with a bunch of NIL coin, hard to see them forgoing a UK, Kansas, Duke, NC etc for the likes of Ohio State. Always the chance that a couple of these VHT kids decide to go to a place, and take that program to the moon. At least it's good practice for Diebs to prepare for the Ohio kids that are coming up. Go Bucks!

sg86 said:

lol TSC is not starting immediately unless Sayin leaves or something. Sayin is QB1 next year and it isn’t going to be a particularly close battle.

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And a big-time Heisman candidate.

Ohio State Buckeyes Nike Air Max sneakers drop today​

You can’t really support your Ohio State Buckeyes from head to toe without some new kicks can you? Yeah, that’s what we thought. Luckily, Nike’s got you covered with the release of the Air Max today.

Just in time for football season.

This is a really limited drop - Nike is only releasing the shoes in colorways for 11 NCAA teams in 2024. They are:

Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Oregon, Oregon State, Penn State, Tennessee and Texas.
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Just sain': $109.99 plus shipping and tax

Cam Newton wants to hire former Ohio State punter for interesting role​

Former Ohio State punter Drue Chrisman has always been an outstanding storyteller. From his days of bottle-flipping with the Buckeyes to his quest to be an NFL punter, Chrisman has always drawn fans closer in unique ways.

Recently, Chrisman documented his tryout with the Washington Commanders which unfortunately didn’t end with a spot on the team. Much to the chagrin of the Commanders, Chrisman posted his journey to social media where the Commanders asked him to take the short documentary down. To this date, the video is still on Chrisman’s X (formerly Twitter) account.

Former NFL quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton caught wind of Chrisman’s talents. After checking out the documentary for himself, he gave a shout-out to the former Buckeye and invited him to come work for him at his production company Iconic Saga saying “You don’t need to punt anymore.”

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Bier Stube to Cease Operations September 21 Weekend As Plans to Replace the Bar With Apartments Finalize​

Old life. New life.

After almost 60 years on Ohio State's campus, the Bier Stube will cease operations the weekend of Sept. 21, the bar announced in a Facebook post on Monday. According to Shahid Meighan of The Columbus Dispatch, a Chicago-based company named Harbor Bay Ventures plans to replace the Stube with America's second-largest wood-framed structure in 2025.
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Just sayin': The Varsity Club and The Library may be the only 2 bars left from when I was a student.

brodybuck21 said:

Dirty rotten cheater and maybe a rat too....

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my message to Denard, the rat:

Can certainly see why TSC is working this guy. Refer to the Dan Jenkins book, where the QB says, "WRs keep my name in the headlines. The OL keeps my name out of the obituaries". Believe that we all support that. Having said that, I am of the opinion that this season the OL will be substantially better, and meet expectations (which are always unreasonably high at tOSU). tOSU is set to lose four (?) OL to the draft or exhaustion of eligibility. The kids coming up seem to be solid players, but won't know if they're exceptional, until they show out on the field (or not). tOSU would certainly be a place for DeBose to grow and shine, whether he's blocking for Sayin, TSC, or ? Anyone remember who Pace leap-frogged to start, back in the day? Go Bucks!

RB07OSU said:

Well Week 0 got off to a fantastic start, the F$U GT game was really fun to watch from start to finish. Plus I hate F$U, so it is awesome to see them go down in a game they were heavily favored in and in dramatic fashion. I had a fantasy draft after that game where we BBQ and drink like the world is ending, so I didn't really catch most of the other games.

On to Week 1 after my hangover from the draft goes away. Looking forward to Minnesota vs UNC on Thursday night. Then Saturday we have quite a few good ones (obviously excited for our game). UGA vs Clemson should be very entertaining (wish it wasn't a 10am MT game but whatever). PSU vs West Virginia could be a good one. Miami vs Florida. ND vs A&M. Then USC vs LSU on Sunday. Damn good slate for the first week.

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Too much of a good thing.

Lake Mary walks off Chinese Taipei to win Florida's first-ever Little League World Series championship​

Florida teams were previously 0-8 in Little League World Series title games all-time​

The boys from Lake Mary, Florida walked it off against Chinese Taipei in extra innings to win the Little League World Series, 2-1, in thrilling fashion on Sunday night.

A Florida team was 0-8 in LLWS title games all-time, but Lake Mary had been fighting tooth and nail throughout this series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, facing four elimination games just to reach the final against the squad from Taoyuan, Taiwan – a squad that didn't lose any of the five games they've played since hitting the States.

After Lathan Norton finished his 3.2 innings with a scare, as Taoyuan's Hu Yen-Chun flew out to the warning track in the top of the eighth inning, he went to second base to begin the bottom of the eighth in a 1-1 game.

The last hitter in Lake Mary's lineup, Hunter Alexander, came up in a clear bunt scenario, where he was only thinking about moving Norton over to third base.

But Taoyuan, perhaps the team with the best fundamentals in the tournament, didn't have someone covering first base when Alexander laid down his bunt to the right side.

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The ball was thrown away, and Lake Mary celebrated immediately as Norton came around third base for the winning run.
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RhodeIslandBuck said:

Don't know a thing about this recruit but that quote makes no sense.

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Translation, “Bagmen.”

exciting game

Now playing RB for SMU

not a good person

Mikel Stephen lands an offer from the Buckeyes​

Myles wasn’t the only prospect that landed an offer from Ohio State on Thursday. OSU running backs coach Carlos Locklyn offered 2027 Mississippi running back Mikel Stephen, giving the talented tailback just his fourth Division I offer.

Other schools that have offered Stephen include Georgia, Florida State and Georgia State. Stephen worked out with Locklyn in June at an Ohio State recruiting camp and impressed him in individual drills and one-on-one competition. About a month later, Locklyn decided to pull the trigger and offer the 5-foot-11, 185-pound prospect.

Stephen is the sixth running back OSU has offered in the 2027 class.

Deshonne Redeaux puts OSU in top 12​

A top-100 running back in the 2026 class is getting closer to making a decision. Four-star 2026 tailback Deshonne Redeaux released a top 12 on Monday consisting of Ohio State, Oklahoma, Michigan, Notre Dame, Texas, Texas A&M, Georgia, Alabama, Oregon, Washington, UCLA and USC.

Redeaux is considered the No. 73 prospect and No. 7 running back in 2026. He’s had a longstanding relationship with Locklyn, as OSU’s running backs coach offered him while he was coaching at Oregon.

In six games as a sophomore, Redeaux ran for 439 yards on 49 carries with five rushing touchdowns. He added six catches for 40 yards in the passing game and served as the team’s kick returner.