A Series of Remarkable Experiences and Hiking Life
Lessons
Frazee House
You will be so proud of me! Just before leaving for today’s hike I
ordered the Bedford and Akron BT maps! One last blindfolded hike! Also today is the day I decided I would
employ my bike to get back to the car after my walk. No more backtracking on foot! Picking up where I left off I went to the CVNR
Brecksville Station, locked the bike and drove over to The Frazee House on
Canal Road.
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| Frazee House on Canal road near the canal |
Par for the course, I still
managed to go the wrong way following the blue blazes south down Canal Road,
which had more to do with this picture in my head of where the trail would be in
reference to the river, but thank heavens I ran into someone right away hiking down
Alexander Road toward me. She had some
old hand drawn BT maps with her that she had from a hiking club years ago when
she first walked the BT. She pointed out
where we were and where my bike was parked.
Launching off in her same direction I told her I was in a hurry and had
to go, but I knew I’d see her again when I biked back to my car. As an afterthought I turned and took a photo
of her.
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Good Samaritan's aplenty on the BT!
Diane |
Realizing, soon enough, that
there would be enough lonely days on this adventure, I was sorry I didn’t just
walk with her to begin with as she was right behind me most of the way and would
have been a great hiking companion. Lesson #16: Walk awhile with someone regardless of their
pace. Sometime’s sharing your journey
with someone not only makes it more of an adventure for you both, it makes it
less lonely. Back on the correct side of the canal I stopped and took some photos of Stephen Frazee’s house.
Perusing the sign I note that the backdrop of it was a copy of a 1930’s painting
done by local Cleveland artist, Frank Wilcox, whose family was close to and
spoken highly of by the family of my great aunt!
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| Painting by Cleveland artist Frank Wilcox |
I got caught up in taking photos of everything
around me, the fall flowers, heron’s, spider webs wet from the light rain that
was falling and humming insects collecting.
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| Spider web |
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| Rain spotted spider and web |
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| Looked like a fancy gold fish to me! |
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| Bumble bee doing his thing |
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| Heron |
Every time I stopped I’d turn to see my Samaritan slowly fading into the
distance until I finally lost sight of her altogether. In keeping with last week’s observation there
were no blazes to be found on this section of the towpath, but the low engraved
posts steadily pointed the way toward Brecksville Station.
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| Towpath trail, now used for recreation (canal to the left) |
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| The canal |
Additionally there
were interpretive signs calling attention to features of the canal I would not
have noticed as some of those elements lay on the other side of the canal embedded
into the side of the bank like the mud catcher, “the small dam where the stream
enters the canal - which holds back silt and debris” keeping the canal from
clogging or “the Pinery feeder channel” which to this day continues to feed the
existing canal from the Cuyahoga River – it never dawned on me that it was
being KEPT filled!
I’d been on the Tow
Path just a few times, but hadn’t taken the time to stop and read about the
historic importance of the canal. Learning about the early history of this area I felt pride
for the tremendously hard work these people did using their bare hands and
sheer determination as tools to achieve their goals, the remains of which are
still here today for us to bear witness to.
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| Historic wrought iron Station Road Bridge at Brecksville |
Through the trees I catch sight
of the Station Road Bridge slung low over the river,
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| Route 82 bridge, Brecksville. |
but knew I was close to
finishing my walk as I passed under the gigantic Rt. 82 Bridge.
Finally getting to actually cross the white
historic wrought iron bridge for the first time I complete this hike.
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| Brecksville CVRR station |
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| Rt. 82 bridge in the background...getting ready to pedal |
Having prepared my bike and self for my ride
back, I roll forward to the tracks, looking up one side then the other to cross
and see my Samaritan! I stop to talk and
after introductions it is then I learn that Diane grew up in and around
Brecksville and was re-exploring the area, in particular the BT, on which she’s
heading toward Peninsula. She liked my bike
idea for getting around post hike, but at the moment is calling on her brother for
rides at the end of her hikes (which I find an exciting thought: one way
altogether? I like the sound of that!).
Riding across Station Road Bridge
I stop and set my camera to capture me biking across and after a few tries get a
good shot then peddle on my way toward the car.
After stowing everything away I took a quick drive up Alexander and
Dunham Roads to scout out my next hike and the excitement of the BT maps coming
in the mail made me giddy with delight.
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| Crossing the Historic wrought iron Station Road Bridge |
by Blue Blaze Bugsie
