My trek today should be called the bird watching trek. I was able toobserve lots of birds. Before hitting the trail Maria and I visited the Blue Heron nesting site in Cuyahoga National Park on Bath Road. There are 200 Blue Heron nests in just a few trees. Blue Herons breed and nest in colonies called a herony. We watched Blue Herons gather sticks and take them to their nests. Their nests look like a big pileof sticks stuck in a tree.
It was an easy walk into the small town of Peninsula. In Peninsula I took a break for lunch at Fishers. There are two places to eat in town. The other place is called the Winking Lizard. A winking lizard did not sound appetizing so I chose Fishers.
I watched some Turkey Vultures ascend into the skies by riding the thermal air masses. When the sun warms the ground in the morning it creates upward air movement. The Turkey Vultures climb into the sky in a corkscrew fashion pushed by the air currents. They make it look so easy. They barely flap their wings.
After lunch I hiked another chunk of miles and decided it was time for my second lunch. I found a nice spot off the trail and ate a Jimmy John's sub that I had purchased in the morning. It was my first sub from Jimmy Johns. After lunch I took a short nap and then had my afternoon coffee break. I was low on water for coffee so I got some from a swamp. It was remarkably clear. I did not want to get water from the Cuyahoga River. I brought the swamp water to a rolling boil to kill off any nasties. This is the first time on this hike that I got water like this. All other water was from a faucet.
Just before Brecksville Station I encountered a fellow on the trail with a spotting scope and attached camera. He was watching a mother owl and her babies in a hollow tree across the river. You could not see them with the naked eye. They were very easy to see with the scope. He let me peek through and see them. The babies were so fluffy and cute.
Just after Brecksville Station is where a pair of Bald Eagles have been nesting for the past seven years. Two national park volunteers were on the trail with a spotting scope and were letting people take a look at the nest through it. You could see the heads of a couple of eaglets bobbing. The mother Bald Eagle was on another tree watching the nest.
I feel like I have been hiking ahead of spring on this journey. I was hoping to watch springtime blossom on this hike but it hasn't happened. I am moving northward faster than spring is. Everywhere I go the daffodils are still in bloom and the maple trees are shedding their red bud thingies. I am certain that trees and plants are leafing out just behind me.
On the plus side I have not hiked in the rain on this journey. Not once. It has rained plenty of times in the last twenty days but not while I was hiking. I was inside my tent or a building when the rain came. I picked my zero days wisely.. It rained on both of my zeros.
I have noticed a change in people's reactions when I tell them about my hike. I called this the Diminishing Journey Enthusiasm phenomena. In general people are more impressed with the miles you say you are going to hike than the miles you have actually hiked. When I hiked 25miles and told people I had 300 miles to go they got really excited and interested in my journey. They asked a lot of questions, were amazed and were enthusiastic. Now that I have hiked 300 miles and only have 25 miles left people are not so enthusiastic. They say things like "you are almost there" or "you don't have far to go". It is just not a big deal if you only have 25 miles to go. I noticed this on the Buckeye Trail too.
I hiked 18 miles today. I have 9 miles left on this 325 mile journey. The plan is to return to Bacci Park tomorrow morning. This is where I left off today. I will hike on the Ohio Erie Canal tow path until it ends at Steelyard Commons. From there I will hike on Cleveland city streets downtown to Lake Erie. I will finish at the end of East 9th Street at the shore of Lake Erie.
If you put your ear towards Lake Erie tomorrow afternoon and hear a WOOT WOOT that will be me yelling in celebration!
Captain Blue on the move.
