Rock Creek Trail and Old Mill Trail

1.0 miles completed today
1.2 miles completed today
63.85 completed total

Unfortunately, this hike started out with me getting pulled over by the police.  I guess I hadn't pulled off the road far enough when I was taking a picture of Annie by the Metroparks sign and he informed me that that was called illegal stopping and starting.  Where I'm from they don't stop if you're dying so I was surprised that he stopped because he thought I was broken down.  He wasn't a very nice policeman but I guess not every policeman is.  Anyway, he didn't give me a ticket just kept reminding me over and over that he could.  In fact, he reminded me so many times that my rebellious side finally kicked in to where I stupidly asked him if he was going to.  Could have kicked myself, but all ended well and I was on my way to greater adventures and learned a new lesson.
This park had a little meandering stream throughout which of course aeries wanted to walk across.  Annie had to help her.

We saw some new wildflowers on this hike as well.  Such as this one that I have not identified yet.

Rue Anemone

white trillium

and yellow trout lily

The wildflowers were beautiful but we also ran into about 7 deer.

The property used to be owned by the Brush family.  A huge rock is placed in the woods remembering the family.

As we were leaving the woods we were loosing light.  Very beautiful.

Furnace Run

Daffodil Trail	0.6 mile		1	An estimated 40,000 daffodils – including dozens of varieties – bloom each spring along the H.S. Wagner Daffodil Trail, named for the park district's   ...  MORE
Old Mill Trail	1.0 mile		1	Old Mill Trail leads hikers through beech-maple woods. Be sure to look for the Brush Family marker, which reads: "To all those who love as he   ...  MORE
Rock Creek Trail	1.2 miles		1	Rock Creek Trail takes hikers through beech-maple woods.

Trail Ratings

1=Easy

2=Moderate

3=Strenuous

The 890-acre Furnace Run Metro Park began in 1929 when the family of Charles Francis Brush Jr. donated 272 acres to Metro Parks. Much of the park was developed by work relief crews during the 1930s. Brushwood Lake, a once-popular swimming spot before erosion and sedimentation forced its closing in 1956, was created by diverting the natural flow of the Furnace Run. Every March and April, thousands of daffodils bloom along the H.S. Wagner Daffodil Trail. Wagner, the first director of Metro Parks, owned the land off Brush Road and planted the first bulbs along the trail. After he retired in 1958, he sold the property to Metro Parks and the land became part of Furnace Run Metro Park. Today, along the Old Mill trail, be sure to look for the Brush Family marker, which reads: "To all those who love as he loved the far sky and smiling land." Just south of Brushwood Lake flows a recently restored stretch of stream. The award-winning environmental project recreated several thousand feet of habitat for aquatic wildlife and native fish, including a thriving population of rainbow darters, a sensitive species. The park contains beech-maple woods, acres of spring wildflowers – including trillium and Virginia bluebells – and deep ravines. Birds spotted in Furnace Run Metro Park include a variety of owls, hawks, herons, warblers and waterfowl. Downstream from the lake, the wet woods of sycamores, black walnuts, willows and shrubs welcome an occasional family of beavers. Brushwood Lake is home to fish, frogs and other aquatic wildlife.

The Glens Trail

1.8 miles completed today
61.65 miles completed total

We liked this trail too.  This trail went the opposite direction as the gorge trail.  This side originally had a trolley that went across the span of the river.  The gorge had an amusement park and the glens was an attraction.  An accident brought all of that to an end though.

This side had interesting rock formations too

The color didn't come out as bright as it really was.

This was amazingly bright too but the pictures just don't do it justice.

The massiveness of these rocks just make you feel so small.

I loved the patterns in these rocks

The water was coming out of a drain pipe

The Cuyahoga River
It was a beautiful day.

The Gorge Trail

1.8 Gorge Trail completed today
59.85 completed total

We walked the Glens and the Gorge trail today.  We tried to walk the Gorge trail last night but we started too late and it got dark on us.  We finished the trail but I wasn't able to get any pictures so we re-walked it today so we could actually see the sites today.  Here is the only picture we got last night.

I love this picture of the kids.    They were in the Mary Campbell cave. They ended up having fun on this hike.  Good thing I thought to grab flashlights because we sure needed them.

This is the plaque commemorating Mary Campbell.  Campbell was a white girl that was kidnapped by the Indians and lived with them for several years.  The Lenape Indians stayed in the cave for a time before Mary was returned to her family several years later.

Throughout the gorge there are many different examples of stone formations.  One of the types of stone present is called pudding stone.  Pudding stone is sandstone that has larger stones in it.  Some of the larger stones have fallen out as can be seen in the picture.

This is a picture of Mary Campbell cave in the daylight.  The sandstone and shale layers are what made the sandstone rock fall and formed the cave.  

This is an area of shale where the water comes out of the sandstone and flows over the shale down into the Cuyahoga River.

This is the Cuyahoga River.  We are standing on a high cliff over-looking the Cuyahoga River.

Here is Annie standing by the massive rocks that are found in this park.  

Look at the layers of rocks.

There are places on the trail that you climb up through the rocks

This is a metal piece of a pipe that used to carry the water that went alongside the river for industrial purposes.

The perfect ending to a perfect day.

This was one of our favorite hikes

The Gorge

Glens Trail 1.8 miles 2 Glens Trail is a gentler hike in the opposite direction of the steeper Gorge Trail. It provides views from the river's edge. Springs flow from the   ...  MORE Gorge Trail 1.8 miles 3 02/21/11: The trail is re-routed about 100 yards past Mary Campbell Cave because of a severe washout. Gorge Trail prov  ...  MORE Highbridge Trail 3.2 miles 2 Highbridge Trail offers a moderately challenging hike on the other side of the Cuyahoga River, and it connects to Cascade Valley Metro Park. Trail Ratings 1=Easy 2=Moderate 3=Strenuous Save the Gorge: A Fairlawn company that wanted to build a hydro plant in Gorge Metro Park scrapped its plans June 12, 2009. The project would have led to the construction of roads, the destruction of old growth forests, the loss of sensitive habitat for numerous rare and endangered species, poor water quality and the destruction of park views and aesthetics. The Akron Beacon Journal reported June 14, 2009: "A long and heated battle over adding hydroelectric facilities to a Cuyahoga River dam between Akron and Cuyahoga Falls appears over." MORE In 1759, a 12-year-old girl was captured in Pennsylvania by Delaware Indians and reportedly brought to a cave in present-day Gorge Metro Park, where she lived as a child of Chief Netawatwees. Young Mary Campbell, for whom the cave is named, unwittingly became the first white child in what was then the wild frontier of the Western Reserve. Mary later settled with the tribe in a village along the banks of the Cuyahoga River, not far from the cave. She was released in 1764 after a treaty ended the French and Indian War. Thousands of years before Mary's adventures, the Gorge was cut when glacial debris blocked the former route of the Cuyahoga River (near present-day downtown Akron) and caused the river to find a new course. Today, the rushing water flows over a shale riverbed, between ledges made of Sharon conglomerate sandstone. Oak, blackgum, tulip and yellow birch trees are common in the woods that cover the valley walls. This 155-acre Metro Park was made possible in 1930, when the Northern Ohio Traction & Light Company, the predecessor of Ohio Edison, donated 144 acres of land to Metro Parks. Previously, the area hosted a park of a different sort – the High Bridge Glens Amusement Park, which opened in 1882 and featured a thrilling rollercoaster and a dance hall.

Flowers, Flowers and more Flowers

The flowers are just popping up everywhere.  I just love it.  I can hardly keep up with them.  Unfortunately the temps dropped to 28 the other night and took out the magnolias but the other bloom seem to be fine.  Here are some I've seen lately.

These are my favorite.  I know all the places around here to find all the different colors.  I look forward to them every year.  I think I love them because they come in so many colors. Here's purple. The only thing better I will show you next.
Here's magenta

and white and blue.  I love this one.

and a white one

And here's my ultimate favorite wild flower.  Drum roll please.  Jack in the pulpit

 I have also seen a downy yellow violet

And Virginia bluebells (another favorite)

And cutleaf toothwort

solomon's seal.  Not in full bloom yet.

Bluets.  very pretty

And I think Golden Alexanders. But I could be wrong.

Each day I go out into the woods I see new flowers.  I can't keep up with all that is blooming.  I just love it.

Goose update

I got my information back on the tagged goose last night.  I was so excited.  It came back a lot faster than I thought it would.  There were warnings that it could take awhile to get the info back so I had gotten ready for a good long wait.

It was so strange but I was actually proud of my little certificate.  It's like I'm a kid in school lol.  It was a very neat experience.  I kind of feel a closeness with this goose.  I hope he makes it and doesn't meet up with a hunter.  He is just a few months younger than my daughter.