Lake Erie Circle Tour

November 7-11, 2008

804 Miles Driven

New York - Ontario - Michigan - Ohio - Pennsylvania - New York

Kellisa had a couple of days off from school and I had a few extra vacation days that were not scheduled. That combination can only mean one thing: time to get out the Rand McNally Road Atlas and plan a trip. Driving around each of the Great Lakes had been on my mind since our July 2008 vacation to Sault Ste. Marie. The greatest "Circle Tour" is around Lake Superior. However, we did not have the time for Lake Superior. We did have time to circle around Lake Erie, the fourth largest of the Great Lakes. Lake Erie also happens to be the 11th largest lake in the world.

It was decided we would fly to Buffalo. I know it was Novemeber, but it was early in the month and I was hoping for some mild weather, you will see from the pictures that the weather was freezing, even by northern standards. It also snowed everyday of the trip, including more than 12 inches one day.

Riding Run Trail

Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Riding Run Trail
November 25, 2011

Distance: 4 miles

Elevation Change: 260 feet

We had the opportunity to take a pushike (me pushing Kellisa while hiking) in Cuyahoga Valley National Park the day after Thanksgiving. According to a Trail Guidebook, the Riding Run Trail has "several steep climbs and about two miles of wide, graveled path". Based on that description, I thought it would be a perfect path to push Kellisa along in her Independence Special Needs Jog Stroller. In my excitement, I did not realize that ONLY 2 of the 4 miles were along a graveled path. The guidebook did not mention the condition of the other 2 miles. It was a good thing, because we might not have ventured out on the Riding Run Trail and a great experience would have been missed.

The trail starts out wide and graveled:

and narrows as soon as we start to gain some of the 260 feet:

It's hard to tell, but half the trail is mud between 6 and 10 inches deep:

Leveling out for a scenic ridgeline walk:

The decent:

A small stream crossing near the end of the trail:

The home stretch:

The entire hiking party:

Back Row: Jim-Diane-Bob-Chris

Front Row Cousins: Jackie-Kellisa-Jen

Trail Map:

 

1,000 thank yous to the hike photographer: Jen!



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