A Walk in the Park

 A trip back to Ohio would not be complete without a visit to the Cleveland Metroparks.  Late one afternoon we took a short walk in the Mill Stream Run Reservation which is just minutes from downtown Berea.

Located in the park is Wallace Lake, the site of one of the quarries that made Berea the "Sandstone Capital of the World" in the late 1800s.  In 1941, after the quarries had been closed, the site was flooded to create a lake.

Just across the parkway is Baldwin Lake,  A dam across the end of the lake has created a small horseshoe waterfall.

Northern Ohio has been suffering from a drought this summer, and as you can see from the photo, there is just a trickle of water falling over the dam.

Another Park

During our time in Ohio, we frequently drove through the Cleveland Metroparks, the chain of green spaces that surround the Cleveland area like an "Emerald Necklace".

The Mill Stream Run Reservation runs through Berea, and includes two lakes which were once sandstone quarries.  They are named Baldwin Lake and Wallace Lake after the founders of the educational institutions that today are Baldwin Wallace University in Berea.

Baldwin Lake has a small dam creating an artificial waterfall.

Later on our trip we stopped in the park after a heavy rainfall.  There was a torrent of muddy water going over the falls.

We took a walk by the lake, and on one side we saw several groundhogs.

On the other side of the lake a flock of Canadian geese came ashore to feed.

On the other side of the parkway is Wallace Lake.  That lake is a recreational area with a small beach and a portion where swimming is allowed.  You can also rent kayaks to go out on the lake.

A brand new concession stand recently opened there.  

Among the treats offered is "Honey Hut Ice Cream", a very popular local brand of homemade ice cream.  Since we had burned a few calories taking a walk in the park, we felt that we were justified in ordering some!

Farewell to Ohio

Taking a Hike

 After our Korean lunch on Sunday, we had the afternoon free.  It was a beautiful day so we decided to take a hike in the Cleveland Metroparks (and burn a few calories after all the eating we have done on this trip).  We drove to Lake Isaac in Middleburgh Heights, the beginning of the "Lake to Lake Trail"... a 5 mile round trip hike.  We had done this trail quite a few years ago, but we decided to walk it again.

Lake Isaac is a glacier pothole lake that was created thousands of year ago.  It is now a waterfowl sanctuary.

From Lake Isaac, the paved trail heads northward.

A boardwalk crosses an area of wetlands.  There is an observation area looking out over the marshes.

There were swallows that had made their nests in the roof of the wooden pavilion.  The birds were flying back and forth to feed their babies.

Nearby a deer was standing like a statue as if it were posing for our photos.

There were quite of few of these flowering trees with very attractive blossoms.

The trail crosses a busy road and commercial area before entering another forested area.

A honeysuckle vine

The other end of the trail is Lake Abram which is now a marsh filled in with wetland plants.  (I can vaguely remember as a boy seeing the lake.)  It was the largest pothole lake in the county, formed by an enormous chunk of ice left behind by a glacier 12,000 years ago.  

After the glaciers receded, the lake attracted mastodons, mammoths, ancient horses, camels, bison, and saber-toothed cats.  When humans arrived on the scene, it was an excellent hunting ground.  Fossils of mastodons and giant beaver have been found in the peat bogs that once surrounded the lake.  In the 1800s, the black muck around Lake Abram was ideal for the cultivation of onions, and Middleburg Heights was known as "the onion capital of the world".  The onion farms are gone now, and the area has returned to its natural state. 

After hiking the entire length of the trail, we then returned to Lake Isaac where the car was parked.

In the Rainforest

On Friday, I went to the home of my good friends Katie and Olivier to spend a few days.  Katie was my colleague in the Foreign Language Department where she taught French.  Her husband is originally from France.  Their daughter Nina is currently working in France, but their son Christian is still at home and will be graduating from high school this spring.

On Saturday they took me to the RainForest pavilion at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.  I have been to the RainForest numerous times, but it is always enjoyable to visit again.

Katie, Christian and Olivier inside the entrance to the RainForest.

The RainForest was completed in 1992.  The two-story building is one of the largest indoor tropical exhibits in the world, and contains more than 10,000 plants and 600 animals, including birds, mammals, amphibians, and reptiles from the rainforests of the world.

It was a fun afternoon at one of Cleveland's most popular attractions.

Autumn Leaves

Yesterday afternoon, Frank and I took a drive through the Rocky River Reservation of the Cleveland Metroparks to look at the fall foliage.  Even though it was a cloudy day, the autumn colors were quite nice.

Here are a few photos...

Beyond the Solar System

You might remember a post I wrote last year about one of my walks in the Cleveland Metroparks.  There is one section along the paved pedestrian and bike trail in the Rocky River Reservation where there are plaques picturing the planets of the solar system.  They are spaced apart proportionately to their actual distance from each other in space.  On that walk, I passed the plaques of the outer planets as I walked northward.  I stopped at the planet Jupiter before heading back.

The Sunday before last was a beautifully sunny day, so I decided to take another long walk in the park.  I drove along the Valley Parkway to the South Mastick Picnic Area and parked my car there.  Nearby is the plaque of Jupiter where I had left off last year.  It is also near the 6.5- mile marker along the trail

The outer planets are a considerable distance from each other, but, as I continued my walk, I saw that the remaining planets and the sun were all grouped close to each other.

Well, that wasn't much of a walk.  I hadn't even passed the parking lot of the picnic area.  So, I continued my walk northward along the path, following the course of the Rocky River as it flows toward Lake Erie.

The river curves away from the path, and I passed the Big Met Golf Course, one of several public golf courses in the park system.  The course was open and there were golfers out.

Beyond the golf course there is an area of wetlands.

A Canadian goose gliding along the water

A couple of turtles sunning themselves on a log

The path returned to the course of the Rocky River.  On the cliff overlooking the valley is Fairview Hospital.

The Lorain Road Bridge, a steel girder bridge built in 1935, passes over the park high above the valley.

In a number of places the parkway crossed the river as fords where the road was built just above the water level.  In times of high water the parkway would be impassable, so many of the fords have been replaced by bridges.  Here you can see one of the abandoned fords with the swollen river flowing over it.  It is a popular spot for fishermen.

Not far from here I reached the 3.5-mile marker.  I had walked three miles.  I turned around, and retraced my steps for a round-trip walk of six miles.