I had a wonderful night of sleep under the picnic shelter near the Bridge of Dreams. Nobody bothered me. It did not rain like.
This morning I had a choice of routes as I was at the end of the Mohican Valley Trail. I could walk roads to the village of Killbuck or follow a mostly complete, but unopened portion, of the Holmes County Trail. I chose the Holmes County Trail even though it would add a few extra miles of hiking.
It was a wise choice. The path was dirt, lightly traveled and took me through a beautiful and remote section of Holmes County. It was hard to believe I was in northern Ohio with all of the lovely rolling hills. I did not see a single person on the trail.
When the trail crossed a road there was an Amish school house and the kids were outside playing stickball. The game was halted temporarily so the kids could stare and wave at me. Of course I stared too and waved back. Then the school bell rang and recess was over. The school bell was the old clanger type mounted on the roof. It looked like a scene from 100 years ago.
On this 8 mile section of trail I only crossed one road. I did not have any steep hills to climb either. The trail went from the valley to the ridge top but the grade was so gentle I could barely tell I was going uphill. The trail follows an old railroad so their are no steep climbs.
Around noon the trail led me to a town called Glenmont. I felt like I entered an Appalachian hamlet nestled in the hills. The town was small with one main road, no stop lights and no cell service. A somewhat intoxicated, but very nice, middle age lady standing outside the tavern asked what I was doing. When I told her she gave me a dollar. I tried to refuse it but it was futile. She said it was a long standing tradition to help travelers with food, lodging or money.
I went in the Glenmont Tavern and ordered a hamburger and french fries. The prices were cheaper than Danville. A hamburger was only $2.75. Whenever I hike into a town I use the price of a hamburger to give me an idea of the standard of living there. The cheaper a hamburger is the cheaper it is to live there. In the tavern they don't believe in Ohio's indoor smoking ban. Most everyone was puffing away. After lunch I developed a food coma and got very tired. I hiked over to the local Catholic church and took a nap in the cemetery.
The route from Glenmont to Killbuck was on State Route 520. I followed it for a few miles until I saw where the old railroad track was. I got brave and decided to follow the old track instead of the road. Bad decision. The route was grassy and easy to hike at first. Then it became very over grown with sticker plants. I got stuck many times and bled in several spots. The was an old railroad bridge over a creek. Most the boards on the bridge were rotten or missing. I had to go from steel truss to steel truss to cross the bridge. At least I did not have to worry about a train coming as the tracks were removed long ago. As soon as I could get back on the road I did. I got my first tick of the season.
I arrived in Killbuck around 500pm and went to the local pizza parlor. While I was there it started to rain. I checked the weather map and a storm cell is moving through. I had planned to hike a few miles more today but I think I will call it quits here after 16.5 miles. The folks at the pizza parlor gave me the name and phone number of the mayor. I called him and got permission to camp under a picnic shelter in the local park. I will stay dry and safe here. Thank you Mayor Denny Hahn. I will get a chance to check out the Creekside Coffeehouse in the morning.
Tomorrow I begin the official portion the Holmes County Trail.
