An Autumn Hike

Last Thursday was a pleasant autumn day with no rain in the forecast and temperatures reaching the 70s F.  I decided that I would take advantage of the weather and take perhaps my last hike of the year in one of our area parks.  I drove east to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park to walk the trail to a small waterfall known as Blue Hen Falls.

I parked the car at the Boston Mill Visitor Center.  The trail to the falls begins right across the road from the Visitor Center.

Although the autumn foliage season has not reached its peak, the leaves are definitely changing color.

The 1.5-mile trail to the falls is part of the Buckeye Trail, a network of more than 1,400 miles of trails which loop around the entire state of Ohio.

The trail is not paved, but it is easy to follow.  Just in case there is any doubt, the path is marked by blue blazes of paint on the trees.

The trail is considered moderately strenuous.  Shortly after beginning the hike, you climb a 200-foot-high ridge.

Then you descend 100 feet along a steep staircase.  Just as with Mexican pyramids, the ascent is tiring, but the descent is a bit scarier.  Along this long stretch of stairs, I needed to constantly put of the brakes to keep myself from going too fast and losing balance.

Wildflowers along the trail

There is one section of the trail that follows a road, and then you cross over to the other side.

After hiking a little more, you come to a footbridge that crosses the stream that feeds the falls.

A sign directs you to take a short path diverging from the Buckeye Trail to reach the falls.

The falls are not spectacular.  They are about fifteen feet high, and, since it had not rained for several days, the water flow was not heavy.  Still, it was a very pretty and tranquil spot.

I cheated on my return.  Instead of hiking the trail up and over the ridge, I just walked along the side of the road which was downhill all the way back to the visitor center.