The oldest needed a five mile hike to complete his Second Class requirements for Monday's court of honor (9/22/2008). So he proposed this (supposed) 4.8 mile hike on the Buckeye Trail. He pulled it out of the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area Trail Guide Handbook (a long title for such a little book) which I believe has now been superseded by a newer volume.
I believe that in the newer volume the trail has been moved from all the roads we walked but since the blue blazes are still there, if you're comfortable walking on the burm of the road, go take a hike!
We left cars at both the Everett Covered Bridge parking lot and Botzum Station and got started under cover of the bridge at about 10:15. The route we took takes you south on Oak Hill Road, past Hale Farm & Village and some school. Before you get to the school though, there's a cemetery at the intersection with Ira Road where the road takes on the Ira name. When Martin Road runs into Ira Road, keep a sharp lookout for the entrance of the trail into the woods.
This is the part that we really enjoyed. The trail follows the natural contours of the earth under the canopy of the trees. Oh, the trees! There were species of many kinds in much diverse collections than what we see in our neighborhood or even at Beaumont. Since our main goal was to conquer the miles, we didn't bring any plant or animal guides. Bad decision, that was.
We broke for lunch before 1pm before the meadow. Saw a toad, some neat aphids and some downed trees.
We ended up splitting up at one point, letting the Tenderfoot get his miles. Some of the others took the shortcut (in pink on the map).
What a day and what a hike! The youngest boy has visions of hiking the entire thing in sections over the years. That would be fun: Ohio River to Lake Erie!
