(Note: I won't be claiming these as Buckeye Trail miles although the path we paddled closely parallels the BT in this part of the Burton Section of the trail. But it is tempting.)
The Upper Cuyahoga is a slow-moving stream with beavers on either side, ducks, towering trees and lots of lilly pads.
Our boating group, CABBS, chose this past Saturday (10/16) as the date of our descent from Eldon Russell Park in Burton, to the 422 bridge (gpx). We would drop our boats at Eldon Russell, stage our vehicles at the restaurant on 422, then leisurely paddle down the river to collect our boats and find some lunch. (View Larger Map)
It was supposed to be a five or more mile trip, but I think it ended up being a little less than three and a half. Whatever the case, the day was just about perfect!
We had a great turnout, a stunningly-blue sky, leaves that were thinking about turning and a quiet paddle down the river.
OK, there was this one point where the duck hunters with the guns didn't take very kindly to us disturbing "their" river.
And the other time when the power boat streamed past with wakes that would wash away a good section of bank. (They actually had the nerve to say that it was a one-way river: their way!) But once we got past those elements, we just about had the river to ourselves.
The Scout Troop that had started before us was just fast enough that we didn't see them until we caught up with them at the 422 bridge where they were having lunch.
We saw evidence of beavers and loads of lily pads. I think it may have been too cool for turtles to get out, for we didn't see any.
Off in the distance, the turkey vultures soared and more than once my son said he saw hawks.
Mostly it was just the river.
We had a wide variety of watercraft on the river. We brought our royalex Mohawk canoe, there was a solo kevlar We-no-nah canoe, a canvas-over-cedar Chestnut (?) canoe, a pair of kayaks, a pink homemade canvas-over-ribs kayak, a homemade bateau canoe and a homemade kayak (CLC?). Maybe more.
It was quite a flotilla.
Did I mention that it was a glorious day?
