Upper Midwest - Day Twenty-Four (Mansfield, OH - Cuyahoga Valley National Park - Gowanda, NY - Hamburg, NY)

A less aggressive day today (290 miles) but we will get in some exercise hiking in a National Park!


It is very nice here in northeast Ohio in mid-November, but I hear a Winter Storm Watch is on the way (Snow In North Dakota!)



I was looking for "waterfalls in Ohio" and discovered that Brandywine Falls in Cuyahoga Valley National Park is right on my way! So let's make it our "activity of the day"!



Pretty good - a little less than 6 miles in a little more than 2 hours!

The hike starts off easy enough:

but then you get to the uphill sections



Down from the Falls, Brandywine Creek is really pretty:




And then you get to the Brandywine Falls - Very Impressive!


heading back, I decided to take a quick side-trip to Averill Pond

pretty, but kind of less impressive

And of course there is wildlife:


I forget - does a wide stripe mean a hard winter, or an easy winter?

I had to see one of Ohio's premier ski areas (Ohio Ski Areas???)


and then about 200 miles up the road to stay just south of Buffalo, NY. Thank you God for a beautiful day!

Music today:

Continuing to go through all the music on my iPod song-by-song, alphabetically. Today I heard 70 songs (no music when I'm hiking):
starting with:
"Getaway Car" by Thompson Square; album Thompson Square
and ending with:
"The Girl From Ipanema" by Walter Wanderley; album Cocktail Mix, Vol. 2: Martini Madness
(one of 5 versions that I have - I must confess that I am an Ultra-Lounge fan)

Highlights include:

5 versions of "The Ghost Of Tom Joad":

by Bruce Springsteen; album Brixton Night
by Bruce Springsteen; album The Ghost Of Tom Joad
by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band; album Boston - August 26, 1999
by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band; album Boston - August 27, 1999
by Rage Against The Machine; album No Boundaries - Benefit For The Kosovar Refugees

And because I was going through Ohio, I want to listen to "Four Days" by Counting Crows
lyrics from "Four Days" by Counting Crows; album This Desert Life:

All I want is something good
It gets harder every time
She is leaving here tonight
take a breath
take your time
spread your wings and rise

Make a mark upon the wall
Paint your face and pass the time
Close your eyes as she ascends
Hold your breath and ease your mind
Forty thousand times
Time ...fades into the night
They descend and then they climb
Feathers falling through the night
Have you seen Ohio rise?
It has been four days and nights

All I want is something fine
It gets harder every time
She is sleeping far away
Take a breath
take your time
Spread your wings and rise
Rise into the black Ohio skies

Except in my case It has been twenty-four days and nights.