July 31 - Valley View

Starting Weather: Partly Cloudy,  70°

Ending Weather: Cloudy, 78°

Distance Covered:  4.43 miles

Time: 9:22 AM - 1:08 PM

Today was a trip to the north.  Kay was in Cincinnati, so it was just me.  I started at Rockside Road, walking north for a short distance, just far enough to to a photo of the I-480 bridges.  Then I turned around and walked south, amazed at how different everything looked since last time we were here in April.  The canal, which was totally visible in April, was now so overgrown with vegetation that it was necessary to walk to the edge and peer over.   I stopped at Lock 39, in order to takes photos for comparison with the earlier months of April and January- amazing!  I turned around just south of Stone Road.

After returning to the car, I headed to the Canal Visitor Center at Canal and Hillside Roads.  Walking north a short distance, I encountered a growth of joe pye weed.  We have seen this plant before, and as was the case today, it was a virtual insect kingdom.  Several species of butterflies adorned the plants, most notable three tiger swallowtails.  There were also several types of bees and other flying insects.  It was difficult to walk away, but after photographing the insects for about 15 minutes, I moved south.   There was a towpath safety tent set up here, so I was able to get a couple copies of the great new trail map.  I traveled south for about a third of a mile, but it was staring to get hot, and without any real goals for the southern part of this section of trail, I turned back to plan for part three.

Edmund Gleeson House

This last leg of today's journey was the most exciting one.  Part of the trail had been closed since we started our project, due to construction on the bridge at Fitzwater Road.  Starting today, the park is opening the trail on weekends only so that those on foot and on bicycles can travel the trail with minimal interruption.  It was pretty exciting.  I parked near Frazee House and walked north, past the feed store that sits on the site of the old Alexander's Mill.  The construction equipment was all still there, but it was wonderful being able to walk the full length of the trail from Frazee House to Alexander Road.  There was even a lock here that I hadn't see before, Lock 37.  All in all, a great day on the trail!