Not Peak Yet

 I haven't gotten out much since getting home to assess the color changes for this fall here. Some friends are saying it's not peak yet, and I tend to agree based on a short walk to town today, but a lot of leaves are dropping already. We may not get really good color. This was the best I could find on my little walk today. Sorry about the wires.

To compare, the trees were also just starting to turn in Kentucky. This is a nicer picture, but there were very few places where we saw this much color. This was at one of the overlooks on the Cumberland River.

Om and I are going to try to take a little color drive this coming week. Maybe we'll catch some good locations.

I managed to put away a few more things, but not everything yet. I walked to the post office and the library. Pretty much, I'm still a slug, although I had a little more energy today.

Miles walked in 2026: 660.8

To Scottville and back- 2.5 miles

See More Fall Finery

It's All I've Got

 Today has been a recovery and low-energy day. I've accomplished two things. But first, I'll show you how well Om took care of the Coleus I brought inside to root just before I left. They look great! It's very interesting that the 'Inferno' have developed green edges. Not sure what to make of that.

The two things I managed are to be sure I've signed up for a number of vendor events between now and Christmas. Here is my schedule:
Sat, Nov 14- Cedar Springs Library, 9:00 - 2:00
Sat & Sun, Nov 21-22- Onekama School, 10:00-3:00
Sat, Nov 28- Niles Library, 10:00-3:00
Sat, Dec 13- Kaleva, 11:00-3:00
MAYBE- Wed, Dec 16- Grand Rapids High Five Merry Little Market, Grand Rapids, 4:00-8:00

The other thing was to put away about half of the stuff I offloaded into the kitchen.

Mostly, I sat and read a book and didn't have to talk much to anyone. Just a little bit with Om.

See Home

Home

 Here we are- me and Ester- two buddies who have known each other since 1994 when we both worked at Matthaei Botanical Garden. We sure are older, but wrinkles don't define us.

She fed me a scrumptious breakfast of biscuits and sausage gravy. Now I have to start dialing back the food intake to real life, not hiking life! I left there around 11 am for the final leg of the journey home.

Stopped at the grocery store on the way to get my salad fixings and some other things and arrived home at about 2:30. I promised myself that I only had to accomplish one thing. I emptied the car into the kitchen and took care of the perishable food items.

I enjoyed a bowl of my ice cream. Since leaving home 6 weeks ago, I've only had two ice cream sandwiches and that one serving of hot fudge cake that had a ice cream layer. Yum.

And I fixed my usual salad for dinner. I've had quite a few salads on this trip since we were traveling with a cooler, and many places now sell packaged salads. Nevertheless, it was good to have my own selection of ingredients and my favorite dressing. Yum.

I plunked down in my chair and finished the book I started on the hike that really was in the category of "too good to put down," except on a hike I was too tired to do that! I'm sure it will be on my end-of-year best books list.

I'm less enthused about being back in my own bed. It needs some work to be comfortable. I really liked sleeping on a mat on the FLAT ground. I need to stiffen up the bed. Maybe that will happen this fall. I've been impressed with how happy my back has been with the ground and just a mat.

Tomorrow, I'll begin trying to get back to "real" life.

See ADT- Dovou to Anderson Ferry

American Discovery Trail- Devou to Anderson Ferry

 I finished all the miles of the American Discovery Trail that are in Kentucky today. I started from Devou Park where I ended yesterday. Once again Pat spotted me.

Just thought this was a nice example of how the Kentucky hills get all jumbled together.

A train was going across the trestle just as I was walking beneath it! I think it's now Norfolk Southern, but it started life as Cincinnati Southern.

You know I have to take pictures of sharks! This was at the Ludlow-Bromley Yacht Club.

Today was mostly road walk, which was not unpleasant, but there were fewer things to take pictures of. The Ohio River is pretty industrial for quite a distance west of Cincinnati and Covington (the Cincinnati riverfront has been converted to recreational space). When it became more attractive, there weren't places to get good pictures. But my goal was something on the river- the Anderson Ferry.

The ferry has been in operation since 1817, and is a National Historic Landmark. It runs continually most of the year. It can carry 12 cars but it doesn't wait to fill up. It just takes however many are waiting, and bikes, and pedestrians. Fees are reasonable. The mecanism is very simple- there is a hinged ramp on both ends and as the ferry bumps into the paved ramp on the road it self-adjusts for a smooth transition on or off the boat. Here it is coming in to shore.

The crossing takes about 5 minutes! Here we are coming to the Ohio side. My car is waiting up on the left.

This was a very fun ending to the hike.

Then I hopped in the car and drove to Ester's house for tonight.

Miles walked in 2026: 658.3

American Discovery Trail, Kentucky, Devou Park to Anderson Ferry- Ohio side. 6.8 miles

See ADT- Eden to Devou

American Discovery Trail- Eden to Devou

 Today, I did half of a little section of the American Discovery Trail that will get me a little bit of swag and just make a fun connection. The ADT is a coast-to-coast route that was created out of a walk done by a group of people in 1976 called Hike-a-Nation. My friend Lyle was on that walk as was another acquaintence, Susan "Butch" Henley.

This trail doesn't particularly call to me, but a large part of the Ohio section is concurrent with the Buckeye Trail, and so I've done a big piece of it in Ohio. I'm not taking time right now to figure out how much of Ohio I've done and/or how much I haven't done. Kentucky has 8 little miles. The ADT website doesn't even give Kentucky it's own link; it's just lumped with Ohio. But Pat Long, featured yesterday, has made a patch if you complete the ADT in Ohio. Tomorrow I'll finish that. Today I made the connection with the Buckeye Trail at Eden Park in Cincinnati and crossed into Kentucky. I took a LOT of pictures, but I've narrowed it down to a few to share.

The first picture is actually taken from the ending point of the hike at Devou Park, Covington, KY. But it has a great view of Cincinnati.

This is just to prove that I connected to the Buckeye Trail. Link at the end of this post is of that hike.

A lot of the walk down to the Ohio River level is on the steps of the Immaculata Church, sometimes called the "Church of the Steps." This is only part of them.

The entrance to Centennial Park has columns made to look like riverboat smokestacks with flying pigs on them. These were designed for the city's bicentennial by Andrew Leicester. They were meant to be a humorous nod to the pork industry, and all the pigs who gave their lives to make the city great, which built Cincinnati. At one time its nickname was Porkopolis. At first people didn't like the pigs, but soon they embraced the symbol and now there is flying pig art all over.

Here is a statue of Cincinnatus, the Roman soldier-farmer for whom the city is named. He lived about 450 BC. There was a society of Colonial officers named for him which celebrated the volunteer military model which was the backbone of the Revolutionary period. George Washington was a member (and its first president) and General Arthur St. Clair who became governor of Ohio named the city for him in 1790. (Its previous name was Losantiville).

Crossing the Ohio River was a lot of fun. There are a bunch of bridges, but the trail uses the John A. Roebling bridge built in 1867. If the name is familiar, he also designed the Brooklyn Bridge, and used this design as the prototype. It originally cost $1.8 million, and was the largest suspension bridge in the world when built.

I only went a short way into Kentucky today, and due to construction, there wasn't as much of interest as on the Ohio side. Best picture is the view shown in the first photo above.

I'm staying in luxury in a motel thanks to someone's generosity, so after the hike and a little nap, I went and swam a few laps in the pool!

Tomorrow, I'll finish this little quest.

Miles walked in 2026: 651.5

American Discovery Trail, Eden Park, Cincinnati, OH, to Dovou Park, Covington, KY. 5.7 miles

See Buckeye Trail Cincinatti Spur