Snaggle Nose a Survivor and Victor

Snaggle Nose 2016 by John Schilken of the Tannery in Leetonia

Snaggle Nose 2011

Yes, Snaggle Nose followers he is still ticking after all these years. The first I heard of Snaggle nose was the summer of 2009 when my neighbor called me stressed about an adult male bear who had part of his face hanging and bloody from a fight with another bear. This bear had to be at least 3 and probably 4 by that time. He is close to 11 years old now and is a force to be reckoned with. The other bears run when they see him and he doesn't hesitate during the summer non-hunting season to stroll around Leetonia in the middle of the day and take any food he can find.

His size is at least 600lbs and he sports a permanent growling appearance, which is not as noticeable in the top picture. John said, Snaggle Nose came up behind him while he worked on the door of his place. I am sure he quickly stepped inside the camp. John said, "Snaggle nose was smelling the back of Pats truck when I yelled at him. All he did was turn to get his picture taken. Walked on back side of truck and up the drive." Pat had left some feed in the back of his car and Snaggle nose would have been happy to relieve him of that burden.
This bear teaches me a lot of what it means to be gravely injured, heal and not only survive but thrive. If any of us had gone through what he has..would we have given up, hidden somewhere embarrassed by our deformity?  Would we have held so much trauma in our brains that we never again became a functioning member of this earth. Snaggle Nose didn't give it a thought. He healed, he grew, and he became the biggest bear in all of Leetonia. He is a force to be reckoned with and honored. We should all have the heart of this bear and not retreat from life, but face it with whatever face or body we have been given.  Of course he did not get it by having an easy life...his strength came through a journey from a challenge, then through pain, growth and victory. I am not sure how many cubs his has in the area, but you can bet the heart of this bear beats on in many of them and his legend will never die. Mountain Girl, Paula, logging out.

1900 Bridge rail lives on?

Bradley Wales Railing

Bradley Wales railing

postcard 1930 to 1945

Leetonia Bridge late 1800's to early 1900's

John Schilken emailed me these pictures.The first two he took up at Bradley Wales on West Rim. You can see a rail that suspiciously looks like the rail on this old Leetonia Bridge. The last picture was taken off of a glass negatives, which were only around from 1880 to the 1920's. The bridge seems much longer than it does today unless since it is so narrow is an illusion. You will have to click on picture and make it large to see the metal rail clearly. Also notice the points of the rail in original were not bend over as they are above. This is looking into town from the South point first bridge. Leetonia hotel is on the left and Zimmerman's camp is on the right.After first posting this I found a color postcard with the railing on it by 1930.

Mrs. Lee?

This picture of a woman with a bicycle was also part of the group of pictures and based on looking up clothes style and the popularity of riding bikes for woman it looks like 1900. John thinks this has to be Mrs. Lee cause the poor workers in the mill would not have been able to afford such a luxury as a bicycle or nice clothes.

If any of you know if the rail from this 1900 bridge was used at Bradley Wales let me know. I will post some of the other pictures from glass negatives later. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Firetowers

As a kid I remember walking up to Lee Firetower and climbing up to see the ranger. The tower swayed back and forth in the wind and it was an unsettling experience and at the same time exhilarating to see the entire forest. Some time in the late 80's the firetower was taken down. Satellites replaced the eyes of the ranger and something was lost. I wished that I could have re-erected it on the top of my hill a bit lower view for it but it would have been wonderful. I have even looked at other firetowers for sale, but the cost of moving and re-erecting them is out of my budget. I would imagine keeping people from climbing it and the insurance, and maintenance would also be costly. Of course in my child mind none of that mattered...just seeing it again would be great. A friend who writes another blog reminded me of the Lee Firetower with her recent post about the Cherry Springs Tower, which is still there. Here is a link to her blog. The firetower originally costs only $621 dollars to erect. Now even for an old one it would be in the 10's of thousands. A salute to the Lee Firetower. Mountain girl, Paula, Logging out.

July 4th Mid State Trail hike

Just to North of Little Pine State Park

Rock person

Lee and I spent the weekend of the 4th hiking almost 17 more miles of the Mid State Trail from Silver Springs to Ramsey Rd. over 3 days. It is a vigorous hike with a lot of steep climbs and steep descents. Speck, the Chihuahua walked all of it with us and didn't break a sweat. I wish that were true of both of us. We finished each day before noon to avoid the heat. The bugs were at a minimum due to low amounts of rain we have had in June. The hike has a lot of foot trippers in it, little rocks and roots that keep you watching the trail unless you fall. A lot of nice ridge walking, which Lee says is her favorite, partially because it is the flattest part of the hike. We have now complete over 100 miles of the trail which is 325 miles long. It is getting more time consuming to drive to starting points and I will have to say we will be camping over once we get much past Woolrich on the map which is the 120 mile point. Our little hikes keep us connected to the woods while our cabin is being rented out. We did run up to Leetonia on the 4th and it looked like most all the people had left by noon. 

Small dog big heart!

Still love Leetonia the best. I camped out on top my hill last weekend in the hammock with the little dog. That was a huge mistake as he snored and farted all night. I didn't sleep as well as him. Still loved being back home. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.