By HUNTER O. LYLE
lyleoleanstar@gmail.com
By the time we stepped out from under the canopy and onto the sidewalk, it was about mid-afternoon. After checking the time and taking a few swings out of our water bottles, Taylor, Jon and I looked back at the Blue Hen Falls trailhead, taking a few final photos. With a three and a half hour trip back home, as well as an added stop for dinner, it was just about time to get back on the road.
While for some a seven-hour round trip journey for a 45 minute trek may seem ridiculous, to me it served to scratch a returning itch.
After a few dragging weeks, the weather seems to have made up its mind, deciding on warmly welcomed sun and rising temperatures over any lagging snow flurries. With that comes the urge to break from hibernation and take to the outdoors, favorably, a trail aimed up a mountain. Last Friday proved to be my breaking point. Despite a slight drizzle and soft, chilly breeze, I had to get out there, choosing the Bear Cave to Mount Seneca trail in the Allegheny National Forest to be my first expedition.
Once on the path and encompassed by oaks and black cherry trees, the rain came down around me like a soft murmur, gently tapping on the leaves in a soothing soundtrack accompanied by the sound of my footsteps. The roughly four mile out-and-back hike, which sits about 20 minutes outside of Bradford and which is searchable on the All Trails app, takes you up and around Mount Seneca, showcasing the resurging flora in an array of green hues as well as cleverly eroded boulders. I passed over several thriving creeks and although my boots became splattered with mud, it wouldn’t stop me from trudging up the over 1,000-plus feet of elevation gain.
As far as an initial excursion, the hike from Bear Cave to Mount Seneca served its purpose. At just under two hours, the hike was a nice ice breaker for ensuing spring and summer. However, all the while I couldn’t help my mind from straying to previous adventures, some with a bit more awe involved.
Last summer, my girlfriend and I finally mustered up enough guts and decided to chase the dream of a cross country road trip. Through 71 days on the road, we circumnavigated the nation, seeing everything from Bourbon Street in New Orleans to the Fourth of July in Austin to Big Sky Country up in Montana. Pretty early into our trip, we realized that National Parks would be a priority. Altogether, we hit 17 parks and every single one of them were, in the most literal sense of the word, breathtaking. Even now, flashes of waltzing through the smoothly sanded canyon walls of Zion or gazing down at the sheer, 2,000-foot cliffs of Black Canyon of the Gunnison come back as photographic memories. Needless to say, while my feet were stomping around the Allegheny National Forest, my mind was wandering elsewhere.
After the hike, I came home and got busy researching both nearby trails and nearby National Parks. While I had heard of Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, the five-plus hours to get there would probably require overnight camping and, although the days have begun warming, night still has some catching up to do. Instead, I set my sights on a NP just a little closer.
Cuyahoga Valley National Park is the eighth newest park to be established and the first one in this millenia, christened on Oct. 11, 2000. By size, CVNP is the ninth smallest at 32,571.9 total acres and follows the Cuyahoga River and Ohio and Erie Canal system. Although there are over 125 miles of hiking trails, the park’s main attraction seems to be the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail, an all-accessible walking and biking trail that covers, in total, 101 miles. Located less than a half hour from Cleveland and just 15 minutes from Akron, the park is a sliver of green that abuts the sprawling city limits.
Just from looking at the park’s page on the National Park Service’s website, it was evident there was less flair here than at some of the more notable parks. However, I was still intrigued and my adventurous flames were stoked. If for nothing else, the trip would serve as a prelude for things to come, similar to Bear Cave to Mount Seneca.
After picking out my intended activity, I began planning. Unfortunately, Friday’s rain was expected to hold out for the entire weekend and although I hadn’t minded getting a little wet for a jaunt close to home, the idea of driving three and a half hours back home in waterlogged clothes was unpleasant to say the least. My recreational ambitions would have to wait another week. Instead, I picked Sunday, April 27 as the departure day, which arrived with cloudless blue skies and a forecast in the high 70s.
Waking up at 7 a.m., Taylor and I gathered our provisions: a fully-loaded camera bag with both of our bodies and a set of lenses, of which I would be carrying, a utility backpack for extra clothes, snacks and space for souvenirs, which Taylor would be rucking, and a few things to pass the time in the car. We then picked up her brother Jon and hit the road once again.
Blue Hen Falls in Cuyahoga Valley National Park lies roughly a mile and a half down an out-and-back trail head close to the Boston Mill Visitor Center. | Photo by Hunter O. Lyle
The driving went by quickly and we arrived at Cuyahoga Valley National Park just after noon. As is always the procedure, our first stop was at the visitor center, in this case, the Boston Mill Visitor Center. Sitting dead smack in the middle of the park, the Boston Mill Visitor Center offers a prime home base to any excursion and we quickly headed inside to take a peek at the park maps as well as to get our official pin – a tradition of any NP trip.
After our purchases, we spoke with the rangers who informed us that the Blue Hen Falls trailhead sat just on the other side of the road. We dropped off our unnecessary things back at the car and headed into the woods.
The trail immediately starts off with a sharp elevation gain, the largest of all the trails at CVNP. However, it is immaculately well maintained in order to serve its city-dwelling demographic. While trail maintenance is essential for every hike, the wood-block stairs ebbed on the adventurous side of the journey. There would be no scrambling up rocks or searching through thickets to refind the path here.
As we carried on down the trail, the proximity to civilization was evident. Criss-crossed by a handful of interstate highways, the doppler waves of passing semi trucks echoed down through the valley. Traversing double-lane roads along the way and passing hikers blasting music from the JBL speakers, it was blatantly obvious that the city came first and protected nature second. Regardless, my spirits were high. I was just happy to be adventuring again.
At the terminus of the out-and-back Blue Hen Falls trail, roughly 1.5 miles from the visitor center, we reached the waterfall, a 15-foot drop that washes down onto eroded layers of shale. Over the ages, its stream has carved out a fat half cylinder, a stage that amplifies the soft cooing of falling river. Beyond the pool where the waterfall drops, a handful of families waded in the creek bed, studying the gray, blue and yellow shale over which the water reflected blinking rays of sun.
Just beyond the falls, the chilled creek flows over an array of colored slate carved from years of erosion. | Photo by Hunter O. Lyle
Taylor and I got to work canvassing the area with our cameras while using Jon as a model. Over the next half hour, the three of us scrambled up and around the falls, taking in every angle available. Then, after taking a minute to just sit and think, it was time to head back.
On the way, we talked about the park and the contrast between some others we had visited – although it was just Taylor and I on the summer road trip, we were able to lure Jon out to see Yellowstone NP in Wyoming and Badlands NP in South Dakota. Cuyahoga National Park was nice, its forests clean and relaxing, and it seemed to be a welcomed reprieve from city life for the locals. For what it was, we had no criticism. However, we probably wouldn’t come back for a second look anytime soon.
Stepping back into the parking lot, we noticed a crowd gathering around the train tracks in front of the visitor center. After asking around, we learned they were waiting for the arrival of ‘Steam in the Valley,’ an 80-year-old steam train also referred to as ‘Historic Steam Locomotive No. 765.’ Operating on a seasonal basis on specific weekends, it looked like our trio was going to catch a rare draw. Cameras ready, we waited with the crowd in anticipation, occasionally stretching our necks to see if we could catch a glimpse of ol’ 765 coming around the bend. Yet, after nearly 40 minutes of waiting, we looked at each other and shrugged. Rather than stay and wait, we decided to hop back on the road and chase down a meal.
Taking the first shift behind the wheel, I navigated us back through Cleveland and towards Erie while my crewmates dozed off. While my body was tired from the day’s travel, my mind was racing. I was right in assuming that, while Cuyahoga wasn’t comparable to a Yellowstone or Glacier National Park, but it had replaced my batteries. I was surging with excitement and ambition, all swirling around the 45 National Parks still shrouded in alluring mystery.
While some are more immediately attainable than others – a weekend trip to Shenandoah sounds feasible while a long haul to Glacier Bay all the way in Alaska will take more careful consideration – my appetite was growing. And luckily for me, summer is just about to start.
