Miami & Erie Canal at New Bremen, Ohio

 I decided to pay a visit to a relatively easy hike but moderate walk along the historic Miami-Erie Canal starting at New Bremen (pronounced Bree-man), Ohio down to Minster, Ohio.

The photo on the left shows Lock 1 North which is located in the heart of the town. The large building to the left of the lock is a reconstructed lockhouse which looks similar to the original lockhouse. The lock has been cleaned up and reconstructed to provide a view of how it was constructed. The original lock was built out of limestone whereas the new one is poured concrete. The locks themselves are similar in construction to how they were built and how they worked.

History

The history of the Miami-Erie Canal in western Ohio is a feat of engineering of the time. Construction began in the early 1820s starting on a leg from Cincinnati to Dayton.  This leg of the canal was a boon to industry in the area for providing goods and services that extended to the Ohio River. The small town of Franklin became a center for trade shipping grain, slaughtered hogs and other goods. To ride the canal boat from Dayton to Cincinnati made travel easier than the alternative stagecoach at the time. A fast trip by canal boat could take only 20 hours!

In May, 1828, Congress signed a grant giving 50,000 acres of land from Dayton to Defiance that was used to complete phase two of the canal called the Miami Extension. Finally in 1831, an additional grant was given which would extend it to Toledo. The complete construction took 20 years. There were 19 aqueducts which were built over some creeks and rivers and 103 canal locks, of which this one at New Bremen was one. Bridges that were built were either swivel or were built high enough for a canal boat to go under.

Today

New Bremen has restored their lock and cleaned up the canal making sure within their city limits, the towpath is clear along the canal. The towpath has been covered with a fine grain crushed limestone which makes walking, running, or riding bicycles along the flat level trail easy. 
The day I was there was bright and sunny. The walk from New Bremen to Minster is about four miles. The path crosses one road through-way, but  except for that the complete path is over this crushed limestone, making it an easy walk.

Once you leave the city limits, the towpath stays the same, but the canal is generally neglected and as you can see in the photo on the left,

there are now trees growing between the path and the canal itself. On a day like today the canopy provided some relief from the hot sun. I began at about 9 in the morning so finished fairly quickly depending upon your pace. It was a Saturday and there were a few runners and several bicyclists, but otherwise, the path was pretty much my own. While technology moves on, it is sad to realize that the canal nearly disappears on this walk sometimes due to over-growth reducing to a small stream.

Generally it is stagnant outside of the city as there is virtually no circulation of the water even though there are now a few small streams emptying into it. Here is what it looked like in some areas, overgrown with cattail plants and lush greenery. Most of the landscape is either farmland on one side and occasional houses or small industrial facilities on the other.

While there are lots of birds along the walk, the insect population seemed very low despite the temperature being in the eighties and next to the stagnant areas of the canal.

Occasionally, there were pleasant surprises as this large turtle sitting by the edge of the path. I wasn't sure what he was up to as I would have thought he was dead except his eyes were wide open and he was just sitting there. Either he was warming himself, or laying eggs. While I don't know turtles, this could have been a box turtle because I know they lay eggs in the spring.

Historically along the canals there were different industries. As I mentioned above, several were grain and slaughtered hogs. Another one was ice. Plants were built that housed ice which was covered with sawdust, stacked and loaded onto canal boats to be delivered to southern climates where ice may not have been as plentiful.

Along this walk was a restored building that used to be an ice facility. It was right next to the canal. The photo was taken slightly down the road near where there historically was a swinging bridge which allowed canal boats to pass or traffic over the canal.

As the walk came to an end just outside of Minster, one could continue into the town, but much of the walk would be along a road.

Sadly the canal at this point became mostly a drainage ditch with most of it covered up. This is supposed to become a small industrial park. The picture was taken at the road and behind me, not in the picture is a home built next to the former canal and a portion is part of the home's yard. No sign of the canal exists.

All along the length of the whole canal from Toledo to Cincinnati there are portions that still exist, sometimes in ruins. In other locations such as in Dayton, a road now runs the path of the canal. For some additional photos of the canal along the complete original path, there is this web site where you can even see pictures of New Bremen's lock before it was restored.

The area on which I walked is part of the Loramie Summit, the highest plateau of the whole original Miami-Erie Canal. It was a 21 mile plateau that was controlled by the lock at New Bremen and Lockington, Ohio. The summit section was fed by Indian and Loramie lakes. It raised the boats up to 513 feet from the start at Cincinnati and then down to 395 feet at Toledo.

If you like a bit of history and want to get some exercise, this is generally a pleasant place to visit. I would recommend April or May depending upon the complete season to avoid humidity and potentially mosquitos and gnats.

Flat Fork Ridge - Caesar Creek

Residents of Ohio know that in December, the weather is about as wacky as things can get. I headed out to the Caesar Creek area this first day of 2012 to take in a hike in an area I hadn't previously visited. The area is called the Flat Fork Ridge Trail loop and follows around a Southwestern portion of what is called the Caesar Creek Basin.

The trip to the area displayed weather that was mostly heavily overcast with breaks in the clouds and an occasional sun peeking through. The temperature was in the mid-fifties (yes, this is December) and I ran into some sprinkles on the way. It seemed to be light and soon stopped bringing relief that I wouldn't be hiking in wet weather. To get to the Flat Fork Ridge area, one must pass over the Caesar Creek Dam. More about that later. By the time I reached the Trailhead parking area, things seemed to be looking up. The sun was shining.

Caesar Creek, A Brief History
 Beginning in the middle 1960s. the Corp of Engineers began buying up land along little Caesar Creek, East of Waynesville, Ohio and north of Wellman. The area was known to flood often requiring some kind of flood control. It was decided that a dam would be built creating a huge lake area that would become known as Caesar Creek Reservoir. Not everyone was happy especially the residents of New Burlington, which would disappear 70 feet under the water. One newspaper referred to the disappearance of New Burlington as a "footnote to progress." Referring to people water-skiing on the lake, John Baskin, who wrote about the people of New Burlington said "The Village had largely been forgotten. Most of the pleasure seekers...would have been only mildly surprised if someone had told them they were water-skiing over a town." [From New Burlington: The Life and Death of an American Village, W.W. Norton publisher, 2000]

The dam was built in 1970 and is maintained by the Corp of Engineers along with the whole of Caesar Creek Reservoir, which has become a large recreational area including the many hiking trails surrounding it. The reservoir extends 15 miles northward from the dam.
The initial part of the trail was easy and uneventful. This is the portion that is near the picnic grounds allowing non-hikers to enjoy views of the reservoir and to be able to walk around including intermittent benches to sit and view the area. The clouds were moving rapidly and still occasional sunshine would burst out affording some beautiful views of nature in hibernation as we inch toward a harder winter than what I was experiencing at that time. After all, the start of winter was only December 22nd, nine days ago.

After about a quarter mile walk, you approach what is called the Wellman Meadow. The plain is a low very flat basin that is actually a flood spillway if the water did have to rise. It sits between walls of shale carved out of the hills. U.S. 73 is in the view and across from that is an area that allows one to look for fossils as there were many ancient sea creatures now cast in stone  for collecting.

Unfortunately, for me, there had been a hard rain earlier as well as several previous days of rain leaving the meadow area full of mud and water. One could either trudge directly through it or try to walk along thicker grassy portions to avoid sinking into small pools of collected water.

Another quarter mile and the trail begins to rise into slightly forested area. As with the meadow area, the trail was slippery and muddy. This was pretty much the case for the rest of the hike. The trail is marked by spray-painted markers on trees as there are occasional trail forays to the water level that could be reached. Additionally, the few wood bridge crossings were very slippery and I found it easier to just cross via rocks sticking up from the small tributary lines weaving their way to the creek.

The views of the creek were lovely along with a small horseshoe falls. The creek was swollen as it is during this period that the reservoir is beginning to be lowered to prepare for coming Spring rains. The dam was allowing the water to flow freely.. If one wanted to ford the creek, it was pretty impossible at this time due to the rushing water.

The length of this trail from the beginning to Pioneer Village and back would be six miles. However, the care of the trail has not been good. About a mile into the walk, there is supposed to be a suspension bridge. Unfortunately, the bridge is no longer there. It apparently became impossible to cross and unsafe and was dismantled. Nothing to this date has replaced it. Here is what I encountered on my hike.

I moved on down the trail. It was a bit precarious as the trail begins to fade out and is close to the edge of a 15 foot drop. Given the muddy, slippery bit, I found there was no place to forge the creek. I decided to give up and head back. Encouraging me was that the weather once more turned and began to rain heavily only making the trail worse while I was getting soaked.

As I headed back the wind rose in huge gusts as much colder air masses were moving in that would ultimately drive the temperature to the high 20s. The rain let up, but for the most part it was a miserable return hike.

I want to return to this trail area in the spring on some sunnier, drier day to try to explore the trail a bit more. Perhaps the creek will be less water clogged allowing me to forge it so I can complete the trail run. Until that bridge is replaced, this trail is probably not one to recommend.

I wonder if perhaps I was witnessing some of the area attempting to return to its own natural state and perhaps the ghosts of New Burlington were calling.

Serpent Mound and Adams County

The air is like a butterfly
With frail blue wings.
The happy earth looks at the sky
And sings - Joyce Kilmer

Last week I visited several locations in Adams County in Ohio which offered moderate hiking, but lovely nonetheless. I had two reasons to visit these places: I was looking for some of the early spring flowers; and I am recovering from some knee pain, so I couldn't get into any strenuous hike.

This has been a particularly wet April and the early spring flowers are just now beginning to come out. One place I had been meaning to visit is the historical Serpent Mound in Northern Adams County. The Great Serpent Mound is what is called an effigy mound meaning piled earth in the form of some creature - in this case a giant snake.
Over 1300 feet long, this sinuous serpents wends its way along ending in the head which faces out over a large limestone outcropping facing toward the Summer Solstice Sunset.

It is the largest effigy mound in the world and is believed to have been built by the Ft. Ancient culture that existed in Ohio around 1000 AD. There have been no human remains found on the site and is believed to have been a worshipping site by the culture tied around astrological wonders. The Cherokee culture believed in the power of the horned serpent who wielded supernatural powers though some groups believed the snake to be tied to the sky gods and thus possibly the astrological tie-in.

Visiting the Serpent Mound not only affords the opportunity to wander over the area next to the mound, but also there is a short hiking trail that is somewhat primitive and winds downward below the area of the mound within the Brush Creek basin.
Since there has been much rain, portions of the trail were flooded, though I was able to step around and through a rather sometimes muddy area and look at many of the early Spring flowers including the magnificent large Snow Trillium.

In addition to the Snow Trillium, the Ohio state wildflower, there were also what appeared to be Virginia Bluebells, Bellwort and Larkspur. The flowers were ubiquitous.

Here in Ohio, we are lucky to have such a magnificent site to visit if you have any inclination toward the history and pre-history of the state. Serpent Mound is off State Route 73 which passes through Adams County toward the Arc of Appalachia nearer to the Shawnee National Forest. However, at this point the hills are still gently rolling giving some excitement to the surrounding landscape, but nothing on par with being farther south.

Stopping by the woods...

 
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
- Robert Frost

There's always something wonderful about being in the woods on a snowy day, hiking with the cornstarch crunch of snow under your feet; Surrounded by the gentle cold breeze whisping through the trees and the occasional call of a snow bird. But most of all is the quiet.

This week I spent some time in the Caesar's Creek Nature Preserve with the woods to myself. It is a gentle hike though moving through six inches of snow on the ground can be taxing on the legs over time. Hiking in snow, one doesn't have the sure foot of ground below as you move up or down the hills that make up this quiet location. While others have trod before me, it was a pleasure to see the revealing tracks of various wood creatures be it deer, winter rabbits, racoons and other smaller creatures. I knew I wasn't completely alone with a rather large doe leaped at least 8 feet across the wide path before me. In an instant she was gone blending invisibly into the background.

I especially like hiking where I will pass by a quiet burbling stream as with this one except the stream is the Little Miami River at a low point, but beginning to run more strongly as some of the snows are melting. It is still January and February is often the cruelest month in this part of Ohio. Though winter came early this year, there are no signs that nature is ready for spring yet. I did find some dormant green grass revealed sheltered by a tree where the snow had melted away. So I know I can always count on the Spring resurgence of life yet to come.

But, alas, though it is pleasant, one cannot dawdle as poet Frost continued:

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Late Autumn Visit to John Bryan State Park

There's something particularly warming about spending time in nature at this time of the year. Pretty much all the leaves have fallen, leaving the soft crunch of dead leaves on the paths;
the honeysuckle which seems to survive any time of the year is still showing green leaves and a few faded flowers occasionally can still be seen.

I had to get away from my daily grind for one day at this time and this day seemed perfect. The only problem is that it was perfect for many others too.
It was an extremely bright, cool day and I thought I would have some sense of quiet, but the park is still filled with many weekenders taking large groups of children for a stroll through this park. Some of the trail is very easy, making it a good opportunity for a sort of "get away" with the kids. I just wanted wanted to walk and take the occasional photo, but it seemed in some ways like city traffic. I passed one group of probably 20 young people with a couple of adults.

Which is why I also like to go in January when it is too cold for any but the hearty. I'm looking forward to that time when the river waters are shallow and often frozen.

John Bryan affords large cliff rocks with some challenges if you walk all the way from one end into the Clifton Gorge area where the Little Miami River narrows tremendously and the paths are very rocky and with lots of ups and downs.

Despite the leave-less trees, on a day like this, the colors though very muted are still a delight when looking across the small river.

Fort Hill - in the Arc of Appalchia

Today I spent a day hiking in the Arc of Appalachia, in Southern Ohio where the foothils of the Appalachians begin.
This is an area that has been preserved by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Ohio Historical Society among others to maintain the native temperate forest of Ohio in a state prior to the migration of the white man into the region. The area offers hiking trails in highly protected areas, one of which is Fort Hill.

Fort Hill is a 1200 acre park and includes the Earthworks constructed 2000 years ago by what is now believed to be members of the Hopewell culture. While it is now believed not to have been a Fort at all, but rather a ceremonial gathering space, there are still remnants of a wall along the rim of the ridge. On one side, the ridge falls off substantially downward, but on the other side is a large ditch remnant as it rises again on the inside to the flatter area even though it is all now covered with forestation. Fort Hill preserves one of the largest and oldest examples of native forest to be found in southern Ohio.

Hopewell is a European name that was given to these people and there is no archeological evidence of what they called themselves. It is believed now that some American Indian tribes, formerly of the area including the Shawnee are ancestors of these people.

There are in effect 3 trails one could take through this area. One is called the Deer Trail, which is not always open during hunting season. It is the longest at 6.5 miles. The second one is the Gorge Trail which is 4.2 miles and follows the rockscapes of Bakers Fork.
The last is the Fort Trail, which is 2.2 miles. This was the trail I primarily followed. One note is that the trails are not well marked. It had been my intention to follow the Gorge Trail, but apparently I took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up on the Fort Trail. This and the Gorge Trail begins from the parking area with an immediate 400 foot climb gradually but sometimes at angles of 45 degrees up the side of the hill. There are a few switchbacks, but much of it is nearly straight up.

One near the top, you begin to follow a slightly up and down trail that is for the most part primitive enough that I lost my way in terms of which trail I was on. I headed off on what I thought was the Gorge Trail and it came to an abrupt end, so I had to back track to the other trail I saw. This apparently was the Fort Trail. As I indicated, things are not well marked.

One problem that made this hike decision as to which trail was that I drove 90 minutes to get to the location. Knowing I had 90 minutes to drive back, my time on the trail was limited since I could not spend as much time as I hoped. I want to get back to this area sometime in the future. The location is about 70 miles east of Cincinnati and about 80 miles from the Eastern edge of Dayton. Most of the drive is on smaller state and township roads, so the driving is a little slower going.

As this was late August, there was little in the way of floribunda and the area was quite dry. A little bug spray kept the little critters who like to land and bite at bay.
Things were moderate enough that the humidity levels were low making the hiking a little easier than some of the more recent trips I have been on. I didn't meet anyone else on the trail, so for the most part, it is a solitary trip unless you are with a group of your own. As usual I felt as if I had the place to myself. I did hear a few distant voices but down the ridge, so I suspect they might have been people in the creek area, which I didn't see at all.

If you don't mind the drive, it is a pleasant area and I suspect a delight in the Spring. If you are lucky enough to live in the area, the Serpent Mounds, another ancient Earthwork is nearby.

Twin Valley Metropark

When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
-- Carl Bobert, 1886

This week I visited the Twin Valley Metropark which is the southern section of the Twin Creek Metropark district. The northern section is Germantown Metropark, which I have written about previously.

Twin Valley is just off Eby Road south of the village of Germantown in the extreme southwestern portion of Montgomery County, Ohio. On this sparkling but hot day with new growth in full force, the hiking proved a humid and somewhat exhausting experience.

This park has a little of everything for naturalist, hiker and backpacker. Twin Creek is considered a backpacker's park as it has not only overnight camping areas, but well over 40 miles of hiking trails. For hikers it runs the gamut of young successional woods, mature old growth forest, grassland prairies and wetlands.

The portion of the trail I hiked this day roughly 5 miles tasted a little of all of these land characteristics. From where I parked, the trail begins at the peak of a hill offering a wide view of the valley below.
It descends almost immediately first through grassy plains on the hillside then to the start of the forested area as I approach Twin Creek, one of Ohio's cleanest. The trail I chose first followed the creek. This is bottomland hiking and though it was a hot dry day, portions of the trail were still muddy. There is a portion of this trail that allows horseback riding and unfortunately, it tended to create clogs and pockets of dirt making walking that portion of the trail a little more difficult to navigate. I almost wish they would keep the horseback riding confined to its own trails.

For the most part the pathway is dirtpacked though narrow. It covers a vast amount of both flatland, winding narrow ridge climbing about 100 feet in a short distance, up and down the ridgeways, sometimes along precarious passageways with steep slopes back toward the bottomland where on wetter days, one would have to be extremely careful (a hiking stick comes in handy in these areas). Portions of the trail are difficult climbing though the trails are set up in such a way that one could select a more moderate leg if you wanted to enjoy the area without much difficult hiking.

When in the bottomlands along the flood plain, the trail breaks into grassy plains that have the trail moderately mowed so you can continue to follow it. There are the requisite posts alerting you to the trail, which soon moves back into the forested hills as you begin the trek upward toward the ridge peaks.

This time of the year affords a number of flora though with the shading of the trees, some of the flowering is limited. Still, there are wonderful odors of nature as one moves past the various plant growth. While in the prairie areas, there were numerous butterfly swirling about occasionally landing long enough to pose for a photograph. While in the bottomlands where things are much more humid and wet, I came across a number of toads.
The only downside of hiking at this time of the day - just before noon - in the humid areas of the forested pathway, I was plagued at times by flies and gnats, some rather aggressive. This seemed mostly when I was on the portion of the trail where horses are allowed to move. I am sure flies cannot distinguish from one large mammal to another!

One of the nice things about this park are hidden gems you can encounter. I did pass a historical area where the Hopewell Indians over 2000 years ago had built up walls to fortify one of their encampments. While the area is indicated on the map, it is not marked along the trail. I found, what I think were remnants of the wall, now a small area rising upwards along the ridge. It would have been nice to mark the trail with indications of what one might look for to better help imagine the area as it might have been when the Hopewell Indians walked the area. There is new evidence that the Hopewells were the ancestors of the Shawnee Indian tribes who lived in this area in the 17th and 18th centuries.

While walking up out of the bottomlands, I came across - hidden among the wooded area
- the Dogwood Pond, a cool clear fishing spot. While not a fisherman, it provided a perfect spot for relaxing for a while as it is partially shaded. There were a couple of people fishing, but it is remote enough that one has to do a little hiking to get to it. That seems to keep most fisherman out of the area.

Twin Valley Trails is fast becoming one of my favorite close-by places to hike. It affords enough difficulty, pleasant surprises, multiple examples of nature, and a
little history. There are other places with more of any one of those, but none with so complete a mix of all. The trails are designed that you can take a small walk, or an extended hike. It is a hiking area in which you have to be careful as you move along the trail, or one where it is a pleasant walk in the woods along a clear creek. The park is well maintained and the trails are kept up for the most part by a full time staff.

For more photos of this hike go to here.