Towpath Trail X (2/28/2016)

Not too long ago it looked like this:

Scottsdale Boulevard

Sunday, February 28, 2016
Aaaah! A sunny day at 64 degrees! Time to do another section of the Erie & Ohio Canalway Towpath Trail, this time between Lock 29 back to Boston Store.

Lock 29 is significant for the Roman numeral mason marks
on the sandstone blocks from nearby quarries

Whitened sycamore trees against the blue sky

Lock 30

Lock 30 was dry at the top level, wet below

Lock 30 had a feeder channel to bring water
from the Cuyahoa River to the canal

The stone structure in the middle once was the
towpath bridge over the feeder channel

A Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad bridge
and a moon gate (!)

The towpath is raised between the Cuyahoga River to the left
and the Erie & Ohio Canal to the right

Stagnant section of the former canal with a mossy log

Great blue heron

Lock 31 (1892), also known as the Lonesome Lock,
seen from the north end

A huge stump in the lock

Boardwalk

This area was full of gnawed off trees

Stumpy Basin was a wide section of the canal,
which allowed boats to turn around or be put in storage;
ice was harvested from the basin in the winter;
it is now a protected wetland

Another view of "our" basin

Unidentified seedhead 

Tree growing in the canal

Ohio Turnpike bridge reflection

The bridge abutments interfere with the reflections
of the dead trees in the canal

Message in a bottle?

At first glance, it looked like the Ohio Turnpike
Bridge had a blue neon light running along the
center of the underside, but it is the sky!

Ubiquitous iron truss canal bridge

A beaver lodge?

Chrysemys picta marginata/Midland Painted Turtle

More Midland painted turtles

A rock outcrop with a strange linear cut (in front)

Ubiquitous Canada Geese

Cuyahoga River rapids below a "dam"

Did they purposely block an oxbow section of the
Cuyahoga River, then allowed debris to build up?

Thus ends another 50-mile hike.

(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 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. On December 6, 2015, we went from Station Road Bridge to Red Lock. December 13, 2015 was between Red Lock and Boston Store. On February 28, 2016, we hiked from Lock 29 back to Boston Store.)