I looked back at Roy. He was smiling.
By 2015, the creek had turned from lifeless to merely struggling. By 2018, the first wild hellbender nest in over thirty years was discovered under a slab of sandstone just downstream from campsite #7. hellbender campground ohio
“Folks come here expecting Bigfoot or a ghost story,” he said, leading me down to the creek. “They get disappointed when I tell ‘em the truth. Our monster is a two-foot-long, snot-slimy salamander that eats crayfish and can live for thirty years without moving much.” I looked back at Roy
“That’s Betsy,” he said. “She’s been under that rock for seven years. We tagged her in 2017. She’s a mother now, too. We found her guarding a clutch of eggs last fall.” ” he said