Today, I drove to Leith Run Recreation Area to take some measurements on a display board that Buckeye now has permission to use. Unfortunately, I was unable to measure the brochure holder as it has a bee hive above it.
Afterwards, I hiked a portion of the Kinderhook Horse Trail to determine if it could link to Dana's Run Road/ C25. What I found is that there was fence just before C25 and 2 property markers. And the route of the former road was completely grown over with 10' trees.
So, I turned around and went back to my car and tried to find and place a waypoint on the old Biehl's Store on OH-26, but apparently I went the wrong way and didn't find it. I came about on OH-7 in New Matamoras and drove home.
2015/09/21
2015/09/20
Log 2015092001
I occassionally monitor the Whipple Section - Buckeye/ North Country Trail's relevance on a Google search using the word "whipple" and the phrase "whipple section." Simply "whipple" can also refer to the name of a medical proceedure, which tends to get more interest. But today, one of my logs concerning the previous Whipple Work Week jumped up to the #2 hit. In terms of promoting the trail, that is very good news.
Google's search relevancy is based on how much traffic a site gets. And I believe it's also based on what the end users want in a particular search.
2015/09/17
Log 2015091702
The newly discovered availability of transit from the Community Action Bus Lines along the Whipple Section - Buckeye Trail/ North Country Trail Connector (BT/ NCTC on-road) unveils the possibility of using transit for two loops between Pts. 18 - 13 (counter clockwise, CCW) & 09 - 13. They're 11.6 and 11.8 total miles respectively. First one has a 5hr 31min window of execution. At at an adverage hiking speed of 2.7MPH, it will take 4.3 hours to complete. And the latter will take 4.4 hours, but it's window is wider considering that the bus on the south end terminates 2.7mi from Pt. 09 and is more of a regular route in the City of Marietta.
Given the Whipple Section's lack of public all-weather parking areas in the winter, street parking and lots in Marietta could serve this purpose when tied in with public transit on Thursdays. By "all weather," I mean a lot that a non-4WD vehicle (like a mini cooper) can park in that is public, plowed and attached to a road that is also plowed. Or, it's an area where the prospective hiker can park that is just far enough for the vehicle to be without the street plow's throw. In this case, the prospective hiker would pack a snow shovel and dig themselves out, but it would be short.
Given the Whipple Section's lack of public all-weather parking areas in the winter, street parking and lots in Marietta could serve this purpose when tied in with public transit on Thursdays. By "all weather," I mean a lot that a non-4WD vehicle (like a mini cooper) can park in that is public, plowed and attached to a road that is also plowed. Or, it's an area where the prospective hiker can park that is just far enough for the vehicle to be without the street plow's throw. In this case, the prospective hiker would pack a snow shovel and dig themselves out, but it would be short.
Log 2015091701
I finally took a ride on the New Matamoras/ Macksburg route on the Community Action Bus Lines (CABL) in Washington County. I rode out and back because I wasn't getting the information that I needed from their office to write a full GPS track for the Ohio Transit Hiker's Resource (OTHR). It's been somewhat incomplete for the past few years. But what I found out today was that we have many more opportunities to board this route from the Whipple Section - Buckeye Trail/ North Country Temporary Connector (BT/ NCTC, on-road).
Out of Marietta in the Macksburg direction, this flyer fixed route travels north along OH-60 to OH-821, then uses I-77 northbound and exits at the OH-821/ Macksburg Exit. It travels CCW on Main and Broad Streets before heading south on OH-821. At OH-821 and I-77, the route officially continues along OH-821 to OH-60 and back to the Washington County Courthouse. But it may deviate in the southbound direction and take I-77 to OH-7 (Walmart & K-Mart) instead.
Out of Marietta in the Macksburg direction, this flyer fixed route travels north along OH-60 to OH-821, then uses I-77 northbound and exits at the OH-821/ Macksburg Exit. It travels CCW on Main and Broad Streets before heading south on OH-821. At OH-821 and I-77, the route officially continues along OH-821 to OH-60 and back to the Washington County Courthouse. But it may deviate in the southbound direction and take I-77 to OH-7 (Walmart & K-Mart) instead.
2015/09/09
2015090901
I've been told that the off-road trail on the Road Fork and Whipple Sections of the Buckeye/ North Country National Scenic Trail was built by the Youth Conservation Corps in the early 1980's. I'm not sure if they do this every year, but in the summers, the National Forest Service opens a number of summer jobs to youth in the Mid-Ohio Valley. I've personally seen them work as they were cleaning culverts, ditches and taking out trash at the Ring Mill Campground in the Wayne National Forest - Marietta Unit. They're a tribute to where they come from as they were intense, hard working individuals. I was quite impressed with them actually.
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