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Every year between September 1st and November 30th the Summit County Metroparks host their annual Fall Hiking Spree. Hikers must complete 8 of the 15 trails listed in order to receive a metal badge that adorns the hiking stick you will receive upon completion of your first hiking spree. Spree is free to all Summit Co. residents, non-residents may participate but to receive hiking rewards it is $10 first year then $5 for veteran hikers. List and more information can be found here. For us, the hiking spree really motivated us to get out and explore more of the area's metroparks, sure we had a handful of favorites already, but years ago when we were new to the area it pushed us to explore more of the parks that we wouldn't have explored otherwise and we ended up finding a few new favorites. This year to inspire all of you to get out and explore I'll be posting about each of the trails and hikes we complete. I'd love to hear your feedback about your experiences on each of the trails we post! Oct. 12, 2015 - The MeadowThe Meadow is one of our top parks to go to, in the spring and summer it's home to a wide variety of birds, butterflies, flowers, dragonflies, and beetles not to mention the sunsets from there are stunning! The evening we went was a crisp October evening right before sunset. (I added a few photos from other times on the trail for more diversity). The light was glowing warm though the breeze reminded you of summer's end. We start down the trail, overlooking the whole meadow, looking very closely, we spot the family of deer in the center, too far to take a photo but those moving brown dots in the distance are unmistakeable with their white tails. Walking past the meadow heading into the woods the smell of fall leaves overtakes us, a sense of comfort falls over the trail as even the jumpy chipmunks can't startle us. Through the clearing before the bridge we listen, the sumac is in bloom, a favorite of cedar waxwings, no sign, we move on. Over the bridge, my favorite view is of the stones, dancing down the channel, too smooth to be a rock, too large to be a pebble, but the blankets of moss don't mind. Beyond the bridge is a long stretch of new growth trees standing across the trail from the old growth forrest (image3), working together to form a canopy over the trail. Turning from the canopy leads to the wetland, still full of sounds even on this cool evening. The sunset, the fog, the smells, the year's end bounty falling all around us, being a fantastically insignificant piece in this beautiful cycle, this is why I nature. We leave the wetland and enter the meadow, a long wide open stretch circling where we had first seen the deer. In the summer this space is filled to the brim with wildflowers, grasses, and more birds and butterflies than I've ever seen (remember this post about the hummingbird moth? Yep, that was from here), tonight a calm overtakes the scene, the summer's work has been done, and now we rest. On top of the hill we gaze over the meadow, the woods, and beyond; in the distance we can see the bucks sparring, (the rut is here so watch for deer!) the light grows dimmer so we continue on. The twilight fills the air as we finish up the last stretch of the trail, a beautiful disorienting scene as the eyes don't know what to do with the lessening light. We come to the end, another wonderful hike at the Meadow. Wildlife we saw:
chipmunks 3 or 4 deer
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Every year between September 1st and November 30th the Summit County Metroparks host their annual Fall Hiking Spree. Hikers must complete 8 of the 15 trails listed in order to receive a metal badge that adorns the hiking stick you will receive upon completion of your first hiking spree. Spree is free to all Summit Co. residents, non-residents may participate but to receive hiking rewards it is $10 first year then $5 for veteran hikers. List and more information can be found here. For us, the hiking spree really motivated us to get out and explore more of the area's metroparks, sure we had a handful of favorites already, but years ago when we were new to the area it pushed us to explore more of the parks that we wouldn't have explored otherwise and we ended up finding a few new favorites. This year to inspire all of you to get out and explore I'll be posting about each of the trails and hikes we complete. I'd love to hear your feedback about your experiences on each of the trails we post! Sept 28, 2015 - Schumacher TrailThe Schumacher Trail is located on Cuyahoga St. off of Northampton Rd. It begins with a few bridges leading you over a beautiful valley filled with trees, rocks, and stream, the sunlight dapples everything as you make your way along the path.
As you continue on you hardly notice the slow decent into the valley as the trail is calm and winding. Once you reach the bottom of the hill, you have a beautiful view of yet another ravine. It was here we really began seeing wildlife. Off in the distance you could see 3 deer taking a break for water then make their way up the other hill to find more nuts and leaves. Up in the treetops was quite a commotion, the grackles were harvesting the nuts from the beech trees, as they swarmed from tree to tree you were guaranteed a couple bonks on the head as they sent down flying bits of debris.
We then continued on down the valley, I found some interesting mushrooms which I will write about in another post. At this point we were at the intersection of the Valley Trail and Schumacher Trail, we decided to see what was down the Valley then turn back. Near the end of the trail, just before the towpath, was a bridge from which we were able to see a 'beach area'. We strolled down the trail to the beach and wandered around a bit, too chilly for 'beaching' but the sand was nice and it looked like many had spent hours of fun there. Turning back to get back to the Schumacher Trail we start to realize the hill we just climbed down, now we head up. And up. And up. And up. Twisting, turning, climbing. Till at last we reach the top. Greeted by the sweet easy bridges over the beautiful valley. I now see where this park got it's '3' difficulty rating. A beautiful trail with a surprise at the end!  Wildlife we saw:
1 Toad 1 Millipede Trees filled with grackles 3 White tail deer |
AboutSince 2015 we have been exploring and sharing all the amazing things we’ve found in nature. AuthorEmily is an Ohio Certified Volunteer Naturalist who is most often found out in the woods. Archives
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