Buckeye Trail- Medina Points 10-17

 
I'm back home and trying to settle into the daily routine. Not an easy transition.

I'll back up and take you through the hike day by day. I did finally get the phone working as a hot spot to get on line with the computer, but it was so late in the hike that I didn't want to try to deal with the time lag while we were still hiking.

We began June 7, on the Buckeye Trail Medina map, which sensibly enough is near Medina, Ohio. The first piece was a short segment of multi-use trail called the Lester Rail Trail, at point 10 (if you are a BT fan and want to locate us).



The day was cool and breezy and the skies were alternately blue and dark gray. We ate lunch on a park bench in the Medina Town Square. We thought for sure we were going to get wet, but we blew out of town to the northeast and the storm went a different direction!



The day was a patchwork of small trails, roads, and Medina County Parks.



That included a nice stroll around the berm of Lake Medina. We saw good-sized fish near the edges, and anglers trying to catch them. I couldn't get a picture at all, but we were entertained by a pair of hawks chasing an eagle away from (probably) their nest. The eagle was reprimanded in no uncertain terms.



The Lake is fed by the Rocky River. This was the first of several crossings we made. Most river crossings are on road bridges, but they are pretty anyway.



A late afternoon treat was a pond full of pink water lilies to cheer us on toward the car just past map point 17. Day one 10.0 miles.



The joke of the evening was some kids playing hide-and-go-seek at the campground. One of the kids counted, "8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, I don't know..."

The temperature was great for hiking, and we felt good about the beginning.

	See It's Map Time
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Four Days into Buckeye Trail Hike

 
As it turns out, I have not been able to get internet access except on my phone. Today I'm at the library, so you'll get a blog post. We have hiked a total of 49.6 miles so far. We did two 14-mile days in a row. That was a stretch, but we wanted to shorten up Monday, so we did it. The weather report for today was in the 90s and thunderstorms. So far no storms, but the temperature is brutal. We're glad we are taking today off even though it's a little earlier than we wanted. We've done laundry, cleaned up, eaten out (a yummy big salad we split and a local potato side dish called Jo-jos. Those are big potato wedges breaded and fried. I won't need to have any again, but we had to TRY them.) Now, we're at the library so I can blog and do some annoying real world things. Next stop... Ice Cream!

On this trip Marie and I are walking portions of the Medina and Bedford sections of the Buckeye Trail, and all of the Akron section. These three meet at a triple point which we passed the day before yesterday. (See "You Are Here" on the map) We'll come back to this place on Tuesday and hike south on the Akron section.



I'll just give you a taste in this post, and share more details when I get home. Don't want to spend all day at the library!

One thing that has been a nice surprise for us is that although these parts of the trail work their way through the very populated area between Cleveland and Akron, a lot of the trail has been in beautiful woods off road. There are a number of Metroparks and preserves and reservations (protected land) in the area, and the trail winds through many of them. There has been less roadwalk then on many Ohio hikes.

For example, yesterday we wove our way through a long greenway beside Tinker's Creek. There was also a paved multi-use trail, but I was impressed that the Buckeye Trail got permission for a real footpath mostly off the hot paved trail in open sun.



Another big surprise about northeastern Ohio is the amount of rock. It really seems more like southeastern Ohio. This area is at a place called The Ledges. You can see the scale with Marie in the picture. I'll show you more of this after we get home.



Today it's hot, but a couple of nights have been really chilly. (Fine with us since the following days were great hiking temperatures.) We were actually cold enough in the breeze to set up the table and eat inside the trailer. Yeah, I'm just having fun playing with my "new" toy.



Yesterday we crossed the Cuyahoga River on the old, low truss bridge, but the highway bridge that sails way above the river is pretty spectacular. We walked under it.



Are we having fun? You bet!

Tomorrow the temp is supposed to drop back to the 70s so we'll be back out on the trail again.



I haven't been able to get my phone working as a hot spot to blog from the campground, so unless I get that resolved I'll continue to just put a couple of pix a day on Facebook and blog when I can.

	See It's Map Time
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Parting Shots

 
I'm on the road, and look what gave me a full display before leaving. All three poppy buds opened. I don't think I've ever had three blooms at one time. Nice with the raindrops on them too.



All hitched up and ready to roll.



Two hours later I arrived at my first stop.



Yes, here I am at Chuck and Sylvia's for the night. It's pretty amazing how an internet friendship can turn into one of the best in one's life. We stumbled across each other's blogs about five years ago because of a common interest in rural living.



Of course I wanted a tour of the flower gardens!

Rose in bud- very fragrant



And a peony glowing in the late sunshine.

	See Trailer-ing
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Pretty Much Ready to Go!

 

I leave tomorrow to head for the Cuyahoga Valley section of the Buckeye Trail in Ohio. (and surrounding area). Marie is already on her way, making stops to visit relatives.

We decided to take the trailer. This will certainly be a new camping experience for us. The long range forecast shows a lot of rain in that area. Not necessarily constant, but a good chance of wetting things nearly every day. And since the affordable campground we found has electric hookups with sites close together, it seemed like the right choice to take advantage of the trailer to stay drier, have privacy and use the electricity.

By contrast, last year, we found a completely private site where no one came through all week except a ranger one time. It only rained a couple of nights. The tent was fine. I like to think this change doesn't mean I'm getting soft, but since I HAVE the trailer, why not use it?

This will also give us a good chance to spend enough time in the trailer to actually plan how I want to change the inside. I have a good feel for things I don't like, but no real plan for how to make it the way I would like.

Anyway, here's the last curtain done and the bed made. Cute enough for this time.



And, once again I trashed the living room getting all the gear sorted and ready. I'm really good at this part. (The stove unit in the back is the huge one I removed from the trailer. It will be sold.)



Last year, we ate out very little, but fixed fast hot meals in camp that I organized ahead of time so they would be quick. It takes a lot of time to spot the cars each day, so unless we eat out the food needs to be quick prep or we are too tired and the bugs too thick to pull it off. But it's a lot cheaper.

I did the same this year. Marie is bringing the breakfasts, but I did the cold meals (lunch while hiking), morning snacks, and hot meals.

Here are the hot meals.


This is different from backpacking food, although some people say I'm just as obsessive.

Very little is dehydrated. But, except for a couple of things we will use early, it's all shelf-stable (trying to stay away from over-processed ick). For example, one meal is tuna skillet and cheese crackers with cucumber salad. The tuna and milk are canned, the macaroni is in a package, and the other ingredients baggied together. The salad is made ahead and will be in the cooler, but it keeps well. So all I have to do is cook the macaroni, open the tuna and milk (yes I remembered the can opener), and mix together. Dinner ready in 15 minutes.

Each is in a marked bag. Pull a bag, read the tag. If it's the one you want, you've got everything either right there or in the cooler.

The snacks are bagged by day and marked too. When we base camp and day hike our lunches are peanut butter and cheese with crackers (or sometimes some special deli chip with salsa). Last year, we experimented with keeping finger food veggies in the cooler and packing some of those every day. It worked great, tasted wonderful on hot days, and we are veggie hounds! We'll do that again. Add an apple each, and a tiny dessert- Reissen candies travel well, or a cookie, or a granola bar to split, and that is lunch.

When backpacking, we usually had an afternoon snack too, but haven't really wanted one when day hiking. We carry a couple extra things in case someone gets a snack attack.


I leave tomorrow afternoon. I'm almost ready. It's a good thing, because after I woke up today I realized I had a migraine headache. Only the third one I've ever had, but today was not a day I was able to race around doing big projects. I finished a few things slowly, and am feeling some better now although I still am nauseous when I move.

Shouldn't have any trouble leaving on time (I know... don't faint). I'm spending tomorrow night with Chuck and Sylvia, and then heading for Ohio from their place on Monday morning.

	See The Food is Done- 77 pounds
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More Garden Goodies

 

I do get to enjoy a couple more pretties of my flowers before I leave tomorrow. You've seen this a couple of times before, but it blooms pretty consistently. This is the salmon-colored poppy that was a gift from Marie.



Near at hand is the Japanese painted fern. Much fuller now than a few weeks ago, and looking good.



The smile-producing surprise of the day is one of my red poppies that bloomed this year. I used to have 3 or 4 healthy plants. But the lilac hedge took over the area that used to be sunny, and the poppies didn't like it. Last year I moved a remnant up near where the house is now, but it's still too tiny to bloom. But deep in the shade, a ray of sun must have hit this spot and I got a red one!



Tomorrow: the traditional packing pictures. Stay tuned!

	See Two Salmon Sunbursts
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