main page   REGISTRATION form     fri/sat.field trips     sun.field.trips     leaders     maps.lodging

Dear Friends,

Our 2009 schedule will be published sometime in January of 2009. Until then, please see below to get some idea of what 2009 will look like. Thank you.

2008 Wildflower Pilgrimage
Schedule of Events & Prices for Registration

CLICK HERE TO PRINT OUT A CONDENSED SCHEDULE TO CARRY AROUND WITH YOU FOR THE WEEKEND.

Event Registration Options: Cost is  $65.00 per person for three days of field trips. Meals and evening programs are priced separately. If you wish to register for field trips by the day, costs are as follows: Thursday evening, no charge, $35.00 Friday only, $35 Saturday only, and $20 Sunday only.  CLICK HERE FOR REGISTRATION FORM.

IF IT RAINS. Field trips will go on rain or shine. However, in the case of extremely torrential rains, please come to the Visitor Center to check for notice of possible alternative activities or give us a call at 937-365-1935.

Pilgrimage Information during the event 937-365-1935
Questions before the event 937-365-0101

CHILDREN. For the same registration fees as above, Children 13 and over may register for the same field trips as adults, and children 6-12 may register for the specially offered children's programs on Saturday and Sunday ($55.00 total). All registered children 12 and under receive a 40% discount off of their dinner meal & evening event registration. Smaller portions will be served.

Check-in Hours

Thursday 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm; Friday - Sunday 8:00 - 5:00 Pilgrimage Information Center and Check-in at the Appalachian Forest Museum's registration desk at the Highlands Nature Sanctuary, headquarters for the Arc of Appalachia Preserve System and headquarters for the Wildflower Pilgrimage. Please check-in here to receive your nametag and a full package of printed information. We can answer your questions regarding directions to any field trip location at this time. If you can't formally check-in because of distances, be sure to 1) run off this schedule and all of your field trip directions for the weekend, and 2) look them over before you depart for the Pilgrimage to see if you have any questions, thus enabling you to independently find your way around. If you have questions in advance, call Nancy at 937-365-0101. If you have questions on or after April 17, 2008, call our manned information line at 937-365-1935. CARRY THESE NUMBERS WITH YOU, & YOUR CELL PHONE -- IN CASE YOU GET LOST. Links to directions will be provided separately to you by email. Sorry, we do not have a check-in office at Shawnee State Park for the Pilgrimage.

April 17, 2008 Thursday Evening

8:00 pm Program at Pilgrimage Headquarters. No extra charge. Unexpected Miracles -- The Remarkable Story of the Arc of Appalachia Preserve System at Appalachian Forest Museum Accompanied by award-winning photography, tells the story of how a small grass-roots effort went from one small cause to a large-scale preservation effort in just a few years. Here is a tale that will leave you with a sense of hope for the future, and one that will take you on a visual tour of the Arc of Appalachia's collection of botanically significant preserves. Presented by Nancy Stranahan, one of the two non-profit's founders.

The Eulett Center program at the Edge has been regretfully cancelled due to the building not being completed.

April 18, 2008 Friday

7:45 - 8:45 am Optional Breakfast, $7.00 per person, at the Appalachian Forest Museum headquarters. We are offering a bountiful breakfast buffet featuring griddle cakes and syrup, turkey sausage, eggs, homemade granolas with milk or soymilk, bananas, orange juice, an assortment of memorable coffee cakes, and yogurt.

Friday All-Day Field Trips. Beginning and ending times vary with trip chosen. Order or bring a packed lunch. Consider also bringing a square of plastic to sit upon if your trip (like most) is planning a picnic in the woods. Please report directly to trailhead or gathering point specified in your field trip description-- links to directions will be provided a few weeks ahead of the event. Please BE SURE to run these off and bring the maps with you. Consider running off a plant checklist  if you desire to keep track of what you have seen. For a list of past flower records for most of our destinations, click here. et us know your top field trip choices on your registration form. See above for links to field trip descriptions.

Optional Packed Lunch for $7.00 each. Ordered lunches will be given to the leader and distributed to you at the trailhead. Please bring your own water and a daypack to carry your lunch. Choices for Sandwiches are 1) Turkey & Muenster; 2) Ham & Swiss; or 3) Today's Vegetarian Option: Spring Hummus (chickpeas, carrots, tahini, & red bell peppers). Accompanied by carrot sticks and a nut & fruit gorp.

6:30 pm Dinner & Program at Paint Valley High School $16.00 for dinner and program. Located just east of Bainbridge on Rt. 50. Select vegetarian or local grass-fed beef:  bean enchiladas with guacamole, sour cream and melted cheeses; baby lettuce salad, taco chips and salsa. Strawberry shortcake for dessert. Directions from the west: From Cave Road, turn right on Hwy 50. Go through Bainbridge. Paint Valley High will be 3.0 miles further east. Go past Seip Mound State Memorial. The high school will be shortly thereafter on your right.  From the East: Paint Valley High is  west of the outskirts of Chillicothe on Rt. 50. When coming west, watch for the traffic light on Veteran's Parkway Road outside town. The school is 19.4 miles further west.  After you pass the parkway, you will go through Slate Mills and then the little town of Bourneville. The School will be shortly thereafter on your left. To get to the cafeteria, drive in the main entrance, veer to the right and park near the second flagpole. Walk through the breezeway between the high school on your left, and the elementary school on your right. Straight across the courtyard will be a single glass door. Enter here.
    After dinner program: Silent Witness -- the photographic artistry of Arc founder, Larry Henry. Appalachian Forest Museum.  Larry Henry has an eye for beauty in nature that most people don't slow down long enough in nature to notice. Whether it's a soft bird feather floating on the edge of the water at dawn, the downy bud scales falling off the irrepressible unfolding of a wood poppy in the spring, or the ghostly twinflower caught in a ray of light - Larry's photography is all about light -- both the outer light that all of us can see, or the inner light that requires the eye of a poet to be revealed. The presentation will be of pictures never before seen, set to music and poetry. Prepare to be transported!

--OR--

8:00 pm Satellite Program for folks staying at Shawnee Region Introduction to the Little Smokies of Ohio by Jenny Richards at Shawnee State Park Lodge, Raven Rock Room. $4.00 for dessert and the program. Save room after dinner for dessert! Jenny, Shawee State Park's naturalist, will take you on a virtual photographic tour of Ohio's largest state forest, introducing you to the region's remarkable natural history. From pink ladyslippers, spotted mandarin, and birdsfoot violets to yellow fringed orchis, baby bobcats, and timber rattlesnakes -- Shawnee is a naturalist's paradise throughout the year.

April 19, 2008 Saturday

7:45 - 8:45 am Optional Breakfast, $7.00 per person, at the Appalachian Forest Museum, We are offering a bountiful breakfast buffet featuring griddle cakes and syrup, turkey sausage, eggs, homemade granolas with milk or soymilk, bananas, orange juice, an assortment of memorable coffee cakes, and yogurt.

Saturday All-Day Field Trip. Beginning and ending times vary with trip chosen. Order or bring a packed lunch. Consider also bringing a square of plastic to sit upon if your trip (like most) is planning a picnic in the woods. Please report directly to trailhead or gathering point specified in your field trip description-- links to directions will be provided a few weeks ahead of the event. Please BE SURE to run these off and bring the maps with you. Consider running off a plant checklist  if you desire to keep track of what you have seen. For a list of past flower records for most of our destinations, click here. Be sure to tell us your top field trip choices on your registration form. See above for links to field trip descriptions.

Optional Packed Lunch for $7.00 each. Ordered lunches will be given to the leader and distributed to you at the trailhead. Please bring your own water and a daypack to carry your lunch. Choices for Sandwiches are 1) Turkey & Muenster; 2) Ham & Swiss; or 3) Today's Vegetarian Options: Bagels & Herbed Cream Cheese with Ground Nuts and Veggies, and 4) Gourmet Peanut Butter and Jelly! All lunches accompanied by an apple and oatmeal walnut cookies.

6:30 pm Dinner & Program at Paint Valley High School. $16.00 for dinner and program. Located just east of Bainbridge on Rt. 50. Select Broasted Chicken Breast or Vegetarian Earth-Nut Balls, the latter a tasty combination of toasted ground walnuts, breadcrumbs, red bell peppers, parsley and spices. Accompanied with broccoli raisin salad, biscuits and butter, garlic mustard pesto on pasta (yes, the real wild herb collected locally!), sweet potato casserole (dates, yams, coconut, pecans), and warm apple dumplings served with ice cream. Directions from the west: From Cave Road, turn right on Hwy 50. Go through Bainbridge. Paint Valley High will be 3.0 miles further east. Go past Seip Mound State Memorial. The high school will be shortly thereafter on your right.  From the East: Paint Valley High is  west of the outskirts of Chillicothe on Rt. 50. When coming west, watch for the traffic light on Veteran's Parkway Road outside town. The school is 19.4 miles further west.  After you pass the parkway, you will go through Slate Mills and then the little town of Bourneville. The School will be shortly thereafter on your left. To get to the cafeteria, drive in the main entrance, veer to the right and park near the second flagpole. Walk through the breezeway between the high school on your left, and the elementary school on your right. Straight across the courtyard will be a single glass door. Enter here.
    After dinner, A Sweeping View of Ohio's Rich Natural History by Guy Denny  No extra fee but does require pre-registration as seating is limited. Somebody had to tell this story! With Ohio's rich collection of physiographic areas, its long complex geologic biography, its epochs of glacial advances and warm retreats, one simply cannot grasp Ohio's rich natural history without understanding the immense, transformation forces of its past. Guy Denny, a dedicated naturalist, retired Chief of Natural Areas and Preserves, retired Director of Ohio Biological Survey, and active non-profit conservationist, has been a life long explorer of Ohio. He knows its waving prairies, sand barrens, dissected hill country, and peat-filled bogs as good or better than anyone else living in Ohio today. Fortunately he has condensed his wisdom into a powerpoint presentation that, combined with his time-honored teaching skills, gives the participant an introduction to Ohio's natural history that is as educational as an academic course, as beautiful as an art gallery, and as fun as a field outing -- all in the amount of time a crow could fly from Barrier Ridge to Buzzard's Roost!

Hey, folks! For those of you staying at the southern tip of the Arc region, come up north on Saturday night and we can all be together!! We will not be offering any programs down at Shawnee Saturday evening.

April 20, 2008 Sunday

8:15 - 9:15 am Optional Breakfast, $7.00 per person, at the Appalachian Forest Museum, We are offering a bountiful breakfast buffet featuring griddle cakes and syrup, turkey sausage, eggs, homemade granolas with milk or soymilk, bananas, orange juice, an assortment of memorable coffee cakes, and yogurt.

Sunday Half-Day Field Trip. Beginning and ending times vary with trip chosen, but most trips end just after lunch. It is recommended you order or bring a packed lunch. Consider also bringing a square of plastic to sit upon if your trip (like most) is planning a picnic in the woods. Please report directly to trailhead or gathering point specified in your field trip description-- links to directions will be provided a few weeks ahead of the event. Please BE SURE to run these off and bring the maps with you. Consider running off a plant checklist  (word doc) if you desire to keep track of what you have seen. For a list of past flower records for most of our destinations, click here.

Optional Packed Lunch for $7.00 each. Ordered lunches will be given to the leader and distributed to you at the trailhead. Please bring your own water and a daypack to carry your lunch. Choices for Sandwiches are 1) Turkey & Muenster; 2) Beef & Swiss; and Vegetarian Options: 3)  Egg salad sandwich 4) Gourmet Peanut Butter and Jelly. Accompanied by a banana and a homemade peanut butter cookie. Be sure to tell us your top field trip choices on your registration form.
 

main page   reservation form  fri/sat.field trips   sun.field.trips   leaders  maps&lodging