A Walk in Our Woods

The start of Misner Trail

Misner Trail

Climbing up to Cushman from Francis Leetonia Rd.

Cushman View or should I say no view

Corner of Leetonia Rd and Wilson Point

Lee and I were up in Leetonia again this weekend as the weather has stayed mild. It was between 34-36 degrees on our Misner Trail, Francais/Leetonia Rd, Cushman, Leetonia road loop about 9 miles. The only surprise on the trail was the top of Misner trail is covered in cut trees as they are logging up there. That made for a difficult last 200 yards of climbing over, under and around the trees. We saw several deer tracks and heard a dog barking. Now I know some of you are saying that was probably a coyote. But unless a coyote has developed a very low bark like a shepherd size dog, I am pretty sure it was a dog. The way the mountains echo it was difficult to figure out where it was coming from but we heard loggers as well so thinking it might have been one of their dogs. The last half mile of the top of the mountain was very foggy. I don't think we could see more than a couple hundred feet at times and about 3 degrees colder than the bottom. The footwork on the road was a bit tricker than I planned for a took a knee slide at one point. That will teach me to remember my ice cleats...guess being in town has already made me forget the basics of winter in Leetonia. The roads weren't bad for cars if you go slow no chains are needed today. We said, hi, to Mick as we passed his spot overlooking Cushman although you couldn't see a thing today with all the fog. The sign for Cushman View was missing last year and now the post resides over the hill. By the time we made it to the Corner of Leetonia Rd. and Wilson point Rd. we were glad the rest was downhill. It was nice medium jacket weather hiking as long as you were moving it was comfortable. All in all we covered 9 miles in about 4 hours which included lunch and a few breaks as we made it up about 900 ft of elevation climb. We have been glad the weather has stayed mild and hope to squeeze a few more trips up before the roads close. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Fall Morning in Leetonia

Fall Color

Cushman View

Francis Rd

It was a crisp, but beautiful start to the day this morning. The color on the mountain is at its peak for this year. While driving around to a job on the other side of the mountain I took a few pictures.
The first picture is just above us shooting through a  logging area. The second picture is a top Cushman View, it was still a bit misty this morning so the colors didn't show through as well as they will later in the day. The last picture is traveling down Francis Road. There was something about the way the light filtered through to the road and the combination of the different kind of trees that made the trip special.
Today, I must get started cutting firewood for the following year. It would be nice to get the huge pile moved before winter so I have somewhere to push the snow. It is supposed to get into the upper 60's today and on the South slope in front of our house it can be quite warm even hot at 60.
Hope you all enjoy a bit of Fall from Leetonia. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Walk to Cushman View

Triplets

Mick Freed's Resting Spot

Mick's View at Cushman

I decided to take a long walk up to Cushman view, which is about 4 miles from the house with the dogs this morning. It was cool when we started about 47 degrees, perfect for a walk. The hardest part of the walk is the 2 mile climb up Cedar Mountain you go up about 1000 feet in elevation. About a mile from the house are the Triplets three oaks growing together that mark my half-way to the top of Cedar Mountain point.
When I reached the top of Cedar Mountain, I decided to walk the pipeline, which comes out just about a half a mile from Cushman view. I let the dogs romp a little farther from me in that area, since I didn't have to worry about cars. The distance proved too much of a temptation for Scooter and he found some bear crap to take a roll in just out of my control. So the rest of our walk the air carried a bit stronger scent of bear.
Cushman view is on a turn in the road that opens up a view of hundreds of square miles of forest. Above the road is the resting spot of Mick Freed long time resident of Leetonia, who passed on a little more than a half year ago. Mick has a nice rock below him and his view of the valley is unsurpassed. I talked to Mick a bit and seemed to sense he is happy not to be working so hard now. I have often felt him sitting there on that rock overlooking Leetonia and making sure all is well with the place he loved so much. Leetonia gets in your soul as much as any relationship, but it is a hard place to crack out a living. For people who love the company of a lot of people it can be desperately lonely. Still sitting there looking out over the forest it is hard to deny anywhere is more beautiful to live. The early color in the trees is disappointing this year as most of the maples are just dropping leaves. Hopefully, the oak will come through with a bit a red sometime in the next couple weeks. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.