WELCOME to Creeping along the Blue Blazes!

We’re back! Not that we haven’t been hiking- visiting the Redwoods on west coast and Rockies around Denver- just breathtaking and beautiful! After a busy summer we are back in Ohio and trying to stay on track to finish the ‘Little Loop’ of the BT by years end…lets see how it goes. Gotta admit, feet and bones feel kinda refreshed 🙂 Today we are still trying to finish parts in CVNP that Wendy (out backpacking) has already done. We managed to get two friends, Karen and Ed, to join us with dog Bailey, for hike today on Blue Hen Falls trail. Got a late (noon-ish) start, weather was threatening to rain and parking by Blue Hen was SUPER crowded, so not encouraging to begin. But we started hike at Jaite and walked back south toward crowded falls area, so ran into very few people along trail. Hiking is a great way to catch-up with friends and get in some good exercise as well! Hike starts with a stiff climb up ‘stairs’ but then rides the ridge a long way. Trail was VERY well maintained and often used nearby rocks and small tree trunks to cleverly raise trail bed or divert water. Did rain a little but rarely felt under tree canopy. Very quiet in woods today- a few bird calls and chipmunk sightings. Ran across two guys ‘panning’ for gold in stream- they had no luck other than getting wet, which was probably nice considering how humid it was. At end, crowds at falls put us off from exploring them further and old blacktop trail down from parking area was also not great. Still turned out to be a great hike, good to get back at it and a BIG thanks to our friends for the company! Hope you can join us again!

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April and I are tried to fill in gaps that we hadn’t yet hiked in Bedford section while Wendy is away. We knew we didn’t pass Look-about-Lodge yet so decided to start around there. First drove to Squaw Rock PA and realized we were there in deep winter. Then drove to Sulfur Springs and this seemed new, so took to trail and headed north toward Lodge. Picnic areas were real busy today since a beautiful day and we got late start in afternoon. Trail took off up an immediate climb after foot bridge to get heart going but was really a pretty hike overall. Passed less hikers (more like dog walkers) as got further from picnic area. This was definitely new territory and came to Lodge shortly. Was not open so we kept walking to see if we could remember any previous hiking scenery and sure enough quickly realized were back on familiar ground around Chagrin and Miles. So we headed back to car and walked trail south toward Squaw Rock PA- this was new for the first part but then turned familiar again. Long story short, we had hiked most of these sections except around Lodge, and we were generally confused our first time around and ‘lost’ the Buckeye trail with Wendy. It was still nice to get out for a ‘stroll’.

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Trying to make it to the lake today! Figures to be our longest hike yet, 8+ miles, and a hot, humid day on top of that. Met up at 7:30 again! A lot of road work today- even though section map says ‘off-road’ for majority of hike it was the MINORity of hike. A bike path along road should not count as ‘off-road’! Only sections that were really ‘off-road’ were along Lakefront trail after marina and along Mentor marsh on Zimmerman trail after Morton Park. Had a ‘sun shower’ within first 30 min of walk- just enough to make us put on rain gear and take off 15 min later- annoying. That was it for the day though! Crossed paths and walked with Mel for a bit, who was rehabbing his hip, and walks 10 mi a day as part of it- amazing. He walked with us through Mentor Lagoons marina, which was hopping with activity. Took a snack break here since were about 4 mi in, then started up Lakefront trail and saw our FIRST deer in the wild…that is, our first deer that was not in someones backyard. It could care less about us. Walk along lake was refreshing, breezy and very nice- only vaguely remembered being there once before- mostly bikers on trail, very few people on beach- not sure if swimming was allowed. Came out into neighborhood of small lakefront cottages- quaint and quiet for most part. ‘Trail’ ran through neighborhood streets- was nearing noon and sun was beating us all down- started dragging along just hoping for a change and then a mirage appeared as if in a desert…Morton Park…and it had benches under trees and a kiddie water park! Went straight to water fountains and drenched my head (luckily or strangely only one kid there)- life saving! April joined me but Wendy was shy. Took a longer lunch break here under shade and restored our energy levels for finishing out hike. Zimmerman trail started at park and ran along Mentor marsh- felt nice to be on ‘dirt’ for the first time of day. Trail was mostly shade and a mix of high-ground woods and low-ground mud and thickets closer to swamp….and mosquitoes- couldn’t stop or would be eaten alive. Didn’t get a real good look at marsh anywhere. We were all glad to be done with hike when we arrived suddenly at car- sweaty and slimy. Our treat to finishing was a stop at a soft-serve on the way home, Ice Cream on the Greens, BEST malted shake in greater Cleveland!

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Hot and humid, thunder and lightening…not a good weather forecast but we set out anyway because it was not supposed to hit us directly AND we started out super early, 7:30 am! We tempted our luck by parking right under high voltage electric lines- you know, the ones that reach into the clouds begging to be struck by lightening? This was going to be an all-road hike today, but we can usually travel pretty fast on these now and go farther- so Wendy planned a 6.5 mile hike. The beginning was nice back roads until you hit Johnnycake, about two thirds through, then it was not that great. A few sights along the way; our first ‘TRAIL TOWN’ sign, I guess for Mentor, some nice estates, and at least a sidewalk when road traffic became busier. We lucked out weather-wise, only rained for about 5 min when we were within a mile of the end! Post hike meal was BOB EVANS- we all remarked that we hadn’t been to one in years, decades, not even when our kids were small and begged us to go- was great to sit in A.C. and have a substantial breakfast with good service. When we went to get Wendy’s car back at Penitentiary Glen, we explored the Nature Center there- very nice- wish we had brought the kids there when they were small. April and I are getting the feeling that we may have deprived them of local sites while playing ALL those soccer games or painting the house…oh well.

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Its a beautiful day in the neighborhood! Before starting we TRIPLE-CHECKED that we had all car keys to avoid a repeat of our last mishap. Started in Chapin Forest by big chairs and walked through park. There was a nice scenic overlook about halfway through park where you could see the lake and downtown Cleveland off in the distance. Several graduation parties going on in covered park pavilions. Lucky to have such a nice day to celebrate. Stopped for a snack break by a scum pond vibrant with croaking frogs, then passed an old quarry in the creek bed that was used to build half of Kirkland I guess. Shortly after, BT came onto the road directly across from a century home antique store having a super sale- of course some of us had to go in and shop. Turns out the house was owned by the same family who owned the quarry in the park and the woman proprietor was part of the family line! She was very friendly and told us the whole story, felt sorry we didn’t buy anything. The BT stayed on the road for a while, tried to walk on the shady side, and then scooted into Penitentiary Glen off Eagle Rd- VERY easy to miss since entrance was only an unmarked path cut through a thicket of reeds- actually the turn was marked on a telephone pole maybe 100 ft back, so was confusing to find the turn off. The trail in the park was also not well marked at times with many turnoffs. We did finally find our way into and out of the glen to arrive at the Nature Center parking lot. THAT was a long hike!

We decided a new feature of our blog would be to give a shout out to any nearby place to eat where we stopped after hiking that was worth recommending- so our first star goes to Angelo’s pizza and ice cream on Chardon Rd (?). Just what we needed after a long afternoon hike- with outdoor shaded picnic tables in the grass.

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Has been a long furlough from hiking because of Parade-the-Circle participation by Wendy and April, but we are back at it! Wendy has planned a 6 mile ‘welcome-back’ hike just to jolt us back into it. Actually I think the break was good to heal up some of my nagging aches. Figured we could do this mileage because was going to be all on-road walking. Despite it spitting rain off/on all day with no sunshine, we had quite a few surprises to make it a great experience. This was perhaps best on-road hike because much of it was on quiet back roads. Overall, though, we seemed to go uphill much more than downhill. Along the way we passed a farm stand where we bought tomatoes, a nice sitting spot to eat our Stone Oven treats for our mid-hike snack break, then turned on Caves Rd and passed Patterson’s Fruit Farm where, of course, we bought more snacks. Shout out to Patterson’s for letting us store our purchases there until we returned after our hike in the car to pick them up- a back saver. Next we had two amazing and unique (to us) hiking experiences. First, a car slowed down next to me and the driver asked if I was hiking the Buckeye Trail! WHOA- that was a FIRST! After I said ‘Yes’ he replied that his son was thru-hiking from Cincinnati and was about a mile ahead of us; called the ladies over and his story elevated our spirits- THANK YOU! Then a ways down the road a women gardening in her front yard waved Wendy over and asked if she was hiking the Buckeye Trail- AGAIN- we were incredulous, twice in one day? Turns out Christine was a trail ‘angel’ and helped hikers in need- we had a very nice talk, a welcome break, and a new sense that a community existed out along the trail- very encouraging. Our last adventure came when we arrived at Chapin Forest parking lot where our car was parked- only to have April tell us that her car keys were 6 miles behind us in Wendy’s car! How did we get back? We used a trick from our kid’s toolbox = Uber! We felt so cool (and only a little bit embarrassed).

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Another beautiful day that unfortunately starts on the road again- though didn’t realize that Gates Mills had a cute little town center. April found a woolly-bear caterpillar on side of road- that was unexpected so early in spring. Unfortunately got a late afternoon start so lots of cars on road and combined with small shoulder of road, hike felt semi-treacherous at beginning. Once again many bikers- easy to see why they like to ride out here along the river with its pretty views. Was nice to get back on trail at end of hike- saw many colors of squirrels foraging on forest floor- from jet black to grey- also saw a pileated woodpecker foraging as well! First of season to see- have heard before. The sound of peepers filled air around ponds. Was our longest hike to date- about 5 miles- sure to feel it tonight.

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Happy Easter! Got an early 9 am start today. Decided to hike this on-road section of the BT because it rained all yesterday and we are not mudders. Luckily early start meant less traffic on road- although we shared road with many friendly bike riders. We expected a sunny morning but was rather dreary. Because the road ran along Chagrin River, the sound of red wing blackbirds was everywhere. We were all surprised at how fast we covered the distance and that the hike was better than we all expected- we admired the many grand estates along the way.

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No Wendy again, so April and I continue south of the CVNP. Beautiful sunny day- one of the best so far, near 60 degrees and dry. Late morning hike. Most hikers we have ever passed on trails so far- even a few trail runners- we probably have to get used to this as more people enjoy better weather outdoors. Beginning of hike was a quick climb up to top of a ridge. End of hike was along road, so not nice at all. Today we noticed the first signs of spring! Things are greening up, small butterflies with orange wings fluttering by, flowers, bugs and most unexpected- frogs! Besides woodpeckers in forest we heard songbirds- think we saw an eastern phoebe (?) nesting under eaves of a metro park outhouse. Even heard an owl- ‘who hoots for you’…Barred owl? Want to go back when we have more energy and explore a ghost town called Bozman that died with the Erie canal.

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Wendy is back and lead’n the pack! Took advantage of time change and started hike in late afternoon. We initially didn’t have much hope that this would be anything more than a walk along the road but we were all surprised that a fair amount was in woods and quite pleasant…as long as you could ignore the background drone of I-271 traffic nearby. There seemed an unusual number of fallen ‘blazed’ trees on this hike. Also saw our first large wild animals- a small herd of deer in a trail-side back yard… oh well. Happy birthday mom- would have been 90 today.

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