Log 2013100601

The flood stage at Grand Rapids is 15 feet. At the moment, I think its around 10' as the water there still below the marker.  But because of a nearby dam, the Maumee is 4' lower and the terrain is higher in the village.  It's the opposite where I'm camped, which is on the other side of said dam. The caRv and trailer are on standby to evacuate Thurston.
At the moment, WeatherBug reports that the rain will stop here in the morning and that the Maumee's headwaters in Indiana are mostly clear tonight. So the rain should be collecting in one river, instead of three now.
Several days ago, the site along the Miami & Erie Canal at the Six Mile Creek Trailhead was found to be an unsuitable campsite for The Cramper because the area is legally impassable to all but night fishermen during night hours at this time.
I installed the 12' x 16' canvas tarp this evening when I had a break in the weather just long enough to do it. And I had reason to believe that its not that long.  But I measured its approximate length using my arm span, which I mistakenly thought was 39", but I come to find that number only covers one arm, not the other, nor my 22" torso, either. 
It's a heavy duty tarp at 10 mil thickness that is water, mildew and tear resistant from Home Depot, SKU 333 610 and it's made in China.  The product comes with a flammability warning regarding the product coming in contact with an open flame. I think it is made by the same manufacturer as my previous smaller tarp.  If so, I was very pleased with that unit. 
Applying it to The Cramper was similar. Only this time, it has to be wrapped over the bike rack forks and cover part of the top rack and luggage bag.  It also needs to be folded diffrently on the sides to expose the doors.  The tarp needs to be weatherproofed at some point.  It may need to happen sooner, but I think I could do that back in "port." That's a word I use to describe were I can have access to a garage and power tools to do some of The Cramper's heavy retrofitting.   These things also tend to be a part of other projects that could take several days and keep me off of the trail in the process. 

Log 2013100401

I haven't written a log in 6 days.  With out looking, I'd say my entries have probably been sparse.  I check out of Basecamp Golf and am now checked back in at Basecamp Foxtrot at Mary Jane Thurston State Park in Grand Rapids of Wood County.  There is some question as to how long I can stay here because the park is scheduled to fill up sometime around the Apple Butter Festival on 13 October.

I may be loosing brake fluid in squirts.  I noticed this on gravel when I pulled in to a parking area earlier.

On my way down from Harrison Lake, I stopped to reinspect the lower Defiance segment of the Defiance Section. This is some road and three portions of off-road along the old Miami and Erie Canal.  I've done a bunch of work on it already, but with those 9 fallen trees in the way and having to cut them with a hand saw, it's making the work come out to be a bit lengthy.  And like the work done in the Athens Unit, it's difficult to plan and prioritize the work load in a way that I can perform it in one sweeping motion.  Today on the Lower Defiance Segment,  I made a note of every thing that still needs to be done and I hope that I can do it more quickly.

I think I have about 5 downed trees left.  A couple days ago, I groomed the on to off-road aperture.  There was two or three young growth apple trees, whose canopy's had crashed and impeded the trail's 7 foot ceiling.  I had to clear quite a bit of them.

Otherwise, I'm seeing pruning and blazing on about two miles or so of the off-road Buckeye/ North Country National Scenic Trail.  The north portion looks the best.  It's worst is about 0.5mi of overgrowth in the center.