Towpath Trail VIII (12/6/2015)

Sunday, December 6, 2015
Took advantage of another sunny day when it wasn't freezing. Took the Towpath Trail from Station Road Bridge to Red Lock.

Tree fallen across the canal (KSS)

Like a dwarf fountain grass

Lock 35 or Whiskey or Kettlewell Lock;
several sections of the canal are filled in

Wishbone branch

Mallard duck and an Ondatra zibethicus/Muskrat

Iced over flooded section of the canal

Ohio & Eie Canalway

Kent spotted a ravaged deer (KSS)

Lock 34 or Red Lock

Typha sp/Cattails

Phalaris arundinacea/Reed Canary Grass taking over the canal

A couple curves in the Cuyahoga River,
"Cuyahoga" being Native American for "Crooked River" 

Equisetum hyemale/Scouring Reeds

Goose Pond Weir outlet has a gate
to regulate the water level in the canal

At the top of the photo you can see
"folds" in the ice

Headless Mallard ducks

A lone evergreen tree, likely a
Picea abies/Norway Spruce;
we also saw a stand of Eastern Hemlocks

(We hiked the "first" section of the Towpath Trail that follows the old Ohio & Erie Canal on July 6, 2014 from Harvard Road to the Marcy Trestle. We started at the Canalway Center near the trestle and walked to the overpass of Route I-77 on November 9, 2014. On December 26, 2014, we walked between the I-77 overpass and Quaker Steak on Canal Road in Valley View. On September 27, 2015 we hiked between Quaker Steak on Canal Road and Lock 38. On October 4, 2015, we went between Lock 38 and Alexander's Mill. On November 8, 2015, we hiked from Alexander's Mill halfway to Station Road Bridge. On November 29, 2015, we went from Station Road Bridge halfway back to Alexander's Mill.) I probably should not have used Roman numerals for the Towpath Trail segments, as the numbers will get pretty long!