The Ledges Trail

Frankie and I had developed a list of must-do activities while visiting Cuyahoga Valley National Park: (1) riding the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad with the bike aboard program, cycling back along the Towpath Trail; (2) hiking the Ledges Trail; (3) having Frankie complete the Junior Ranger Program; and (4) buying Frankie popcorn at the Crooked Kettle Popcorn Company, downstairs from our AirBnB in the village of Peninsula.  After looking at photos while researching the park visit, the Ledges Trail was the experience I was most looking forward to. The Ledges Trail is a loop and stem hike, like a lollipop, with the circular part of the trail looping around the base of a striking sandstone/conglomerate formation, with dramatic cliffs and crevices to explore. 

Cycling the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail

Our AirBnb in Peninsula is a block from Century Cycles, which is located right across the tracks from the Peninsula Depot.  This is a stop on the historic Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, a nonprofit heritage railway operating in partnership with Cuyahoga Valley National Park.  We were very excited about the Bike Aboard program, which allows visitors to bring bikes on the train, ride any number of stops, then disembark and bike back.  I am a huge fan of train rides (of course) and this option would allow us to see a greater length of the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail then if we had to ride out and back.  We were planning to dedicate a full day to Bike Aboard fun, so it worked out really great when we discovered that several of the Junior Ranger activities Frankie needed to complete were right along the Towpath Trail.  Perfect!

Kendall Lake Trail

Today was a travel day, marked on the calendar for driving between Mary and Keith's house in Michigan to the next stop on our midwest roadtrip: Cuyahoga Valley National Park.  Keith had to work today, but Mary was available, so we dedicated our morning and early afternoon to spending time together.  The only thing driving our departure schedule was my desire to arrive at the Boston Mills Visitor's Center before they closed, so Frankie could pick up his Junior Ranger booklet.  This was important because we had limited time in the park, and we needed to be able to plan around any required ranger programs or specific sites he'd need to visit.  We also needed to pick up some groceries and check into the AirBnb I'd reserved in the little town of Peninsula, right in the center of the park.  So obviously we didn't have time for a big hike, but little hikes are good, too.  

Kensington Metropark

When we visit my mother Mary and her husband Keith in the Detroit area, they always regale us with an endless list of attractions, far more than we could ever see in one visit.  It can be overwhelming, trying to decide between so many exciting choices!  However, this time I knew I wanted to visit Kensington Metropark, because of the opportunity to possibly see a sandhill crane (Antigone canadensis).  Mary has often sent me pictures of these striking birds, and I have written about them for work, but never had the chance to see one myself.  Mary and Keith explained that they don't see the cranes on every visit: Kensington is a park, not a zoo, and the sandhill cranes are wild animals.  But it was a risk I was willing to take, as it sounded like a lovely place to hike regardless.

Castle Rock

Friends reached out a while back asking if we wanted to take over their campground reservations at Forked Lake over the long holiday weekend; they had reservations at two different campgrounds and could only be in one place.  I was immediately sold, and lobbied to get Erwin on board.  He was reluctant at first, as we'd had bad experiences with black flies camping in the High Peaks this time of year, but our friends assured us that at Forked Lake's lower elevation, the black flies are pretty much gone by this time.  Frankie was all in, of course, and eventually, Erwin came around, too.  Woo-hoo!  I was absolutely thrilled to be exploring a new part of the Adirondacks, to go canoeing and hiking and camping.  [And our friends were 100% correct in their assessment of the bugs having died out.  I got fewer bites up north than I would have at home.]