About
Welcome to Images of Clermont County online, produced in cooperation with the Clermont Chamber of Commerce.
Archives
Read past editions of Images of Clermont County magazine.
Local Advertisers
The Facts
Realtor.com
Search for a new home, get moving tips and more at the
National Association of Realtors’ Web site.
Go there...
Gardening
How does your garden grow? Get the dirt on regional gardening.
Read more...
Food
What's cookin'? Get a taste of regional cuisine.
Read more...
Education and school listings
Check out school districts, colleges and universities in the Clermont County area.
Read more...
More Information
or to request a copy of Images of Clermont County magazine, contact the Clermont Chamber of Commerce at 513-576-5000.
Contact Us
Feedback
Let us know your thoughts...
Advertising Info
Need more info? Looking for ad specifications?
Local Advertisers
Recreation
Celebrating in High Style
Walkers don’t need to climb Mount McKinley to get a workout at Rowe Woods; its mountain-climbing executive director inspired a Hike for Your Health program.Some people want to keep their 50th birthday to themselves. Others, like Bill Hopple, want the whole community to celebrate with them.
The executive director of the Rowe Woods Cincinnati Nature Center in Clermont County decided that the way to commemorate his milestone was to climb Alaska’s Mount McKinley, one of the seven highest mountains in the world. And while not one of his neighbors was going on the hike with him, his community was with him all the way.
He and his colleagues decided to use his personal ambition to benefit the nature center. They promoted the idea that one doesn’t have to climb North America’s highest peak; one can simply “Hike for Your Health.”
Walkers were invited to meet in downtown Cincinnati on Fridays in April and May 2006; Hopple mapped out appropriate hikes and dubbed them the “seven summits of Cincinnati.”
“We had several people show up with backpacks, training like I was,” Hopple says. “They were all walkers, all in pretty good shape, men, women, young, old.” Along the route, the participants handed out free passes to the nature center. About 1,500 were turned in.
Since people have asked for more, the nature center plans to continue the Hike for Your Health program, with public hikes, some in Clermont County. However, Hopple will not be training for a return to Mount McKinley.
His 20,320-foot climb to the summit was a personal success story, but his family gave mixed reviews. His daughter thought he was nuts, his son thought it was pretty cool, and his wife just tolerated it, he says.
“She was glad when I came back.”
Story by Catherine Darnell
Photo by Michael W. Bunch
Additional Recreation Articles
© Copyright 2007 Journal Communications Inc.
All rights reserved. No portion of this Web site may be reproduced in whole or in part without written consent.