Thanksgiving in Leetonia

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Support for bear

Cushman View

Got up here Wednesday evening for a nice long weekend in my favorite place. A couple weeks ago, I found my large carved bear laying on the ground. In the past bears have knocked over the small one so I figured one gave the big one a push. When we went to lift him back up the base he was sitting on broke.  I had to chain saw it off making him about a foot shorter and put a board into his back to keep him upright. It looks like this will be his last winter and I will need to carve a new one in the Spring. The new one won't be as big. The eagle on my rock also suffered a blow to the face and is missing part of his beak. Not a good year for my carvings.

I decided to put in a ceramic floor in my downstairs bath as I really liked the one I did upstairs a number of years ago and the vinyl was worn out. So my big project was taking everything out and doing the floor. I am going to wait until next week to put everything back on it and give it a week to cure. Of course now that I did it the wall don't look so good so now I will have to paint them. I bit of reverse order from the way I like to do it, but it shouldn't be bad with everything out. 

Saturday I took a bit of a break and hiked up to Cushman view a little over 3 miles from the house. I said, hi, to Mick who has his permanent view up there. I have to say he chose a good spot. For those of you who don't know Mick, he was a long-time resident of Leetonia and a true mountain man. I heard via Facebook that a lot of people got bears this year. John Schilken from the Tannery got his first. So far I haven't heard anyone say they got Snaggle Nose, but it will be Spring before we know if he escaped another season. The weather has been unseasonably warm and the small amount of snow we had earlier is gone. Deer season starts soon and then the long cold winter will really begin.  I for one am enjoying the mild days while I can. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

A Thanksgiving day walk

Scooter carrying food and water

Walking up Leetonia Rd

Wilson Pt Rd turn

Lee Fire Tower site

Heavy Mt Laurel and wrong turn

Beginning half-mile trail

There is a video with this so if you get blog by email and want to see video you will need to go to the lostinleetonia.com website.

So I decided to go on an eight mile hike for Thanksgiving. The weather was perfect and it saved me tons of calories eating a big meal. I took only Scooter with me as I knew the trail was going to be too rough for Speck, the Chihuahua and Leo had cut his foot on a hike the previous day and I didn't want him to damage the foot anymore.

I packed Scooter up with all the snacks and water and we headed up Leetonia Road from the house. It was 22 degrees out so I dressed in layers and found out my sweatshirt was too hot by the time we walked a mile up the road. Hiking upwards creates it own heat and the sun was warming things up quickly. When we turned onto Wilson Point Road I thought the worst of the hike was over now it would be mostly downhill when we got to Half-mile trail.

I took a picture at the old Lee Fire Tower site, I remember as a kid coming up there and climbing into the lookout station when they still had rangers that looked for forest fires. The new technology of satellites sadly ended the need for a fire tower and it was torn down in the late eighties. My mother who never liked heights barely could stand even watching us climb up in the tower that moved in the wind. I had seen a marker on the ground up there and was going to take a picture of that as well, but the leaves hid it so well I couldn't find it.

Just about a quarter mile past the fire tower site I saw what I thought was the beginning of half-mile trail. It didn't take me long to figure out it was an old logging area so heavily covered in Mt. Laurel even Scooter refused to move without encouragement. Mountain laurel has very crooked branches that seem to grab at you as you try to make your way through them. We both tripped and stumbled looking for what I thought would be the trail soon. Once you go so far through hard brush it is hard to think about turning around and going back through it again, but that is exactly what I had to do.  At first I thought the trail had disappeared in the logging and laurel as you hear me state on the video. So I decided to walk farther down Wilson Pt road and within another half mile I found the sign and trail.

The trail was overgrown with Mountain Laurel, but not to the point a small path had disappeared. The further down the trail we went the less Mountain Laurel, but there was a lot of debris and downed trees across the path. Half-mile trail's name is deceiving because it is not a half mile long in fact it is nearly two miles long. The only reason I can figure they called it that is if you drive from the point on Cedar Mountain Rd where it comes out to the place on Wilson Pt Rd it is about 5 miles so going through the trail cuts that in half. Well, a bit more than half. The trail is beautiful going down the side of the mountain along a creek bed, which at one point you feel like you are getting close to then it stays an even distance from you most of the way down as it descends with you. It is only the last half mile of the trail you see the water close to you.  It is a shame the trail has not been better maintained for if a hunter tries to use it to bring back game it is pretty much an obstacle course. However it is pretty well marked and nice as a long hike.

At the bottom of the trail they are working on one of the bridges so the road down to Leetonia is temporarily closed. During my entire walk I saw only birds, some chickdees and about six grouse. There were however signs of deer and turkey scratching things to eat from the ground. The walk with my mountain laurel detour and taking time to eat a lunch took me four hours and I covered about eight miles. Certainly this is no speed record but it was a nice hike to appreciate a wonderful day in the woods. I felt especially thankful for the opportunity and the health to complete it.  Scooter crashed when we got home tired from being the pack animal. The other dogs were full of energy and I think a bit put off they didn't get to go. Have a great Thanksgiving from Leetonia and remember to enjoy the things we get for free that are priceless. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Leetonia Logger readies for big Turkey

This logger in Leetonia is sharpening his saw to get ready to kill the Thanksgiving day turkey. We have big turkeys in Leetonia so only the largest of saws will work.

The biggest problem with our turkeys is they won't fit in a stove so you have to cut them into pieces and spread them around or start a big bonfire to cook it whole.

Don't you wish you lived in Leetonia? Have a great Thanksgiving wherever you live. Mountain girl, Paula, getting ready for one big turkey.

Thanksgiving in Leetonia

Well, no relatives close and it is pretty quiet in the woods. A lull between bear and deer seasons. We have so much to be thankful for this year, not the least being both of us still living. Also special thanks to all the people who supported us during my accident this summer. There are so many great, giving people in this world and the news we look at everyday doesn't represent that.

We have enough food for 10 people so I will be eating leftovers through next week. The cleanup crew also enjoyed the special day of food. Leo gulps all the big pieces fast. Scooter is more meticulous cleaning up anything left behind.

Although, Scooter is a good cleaner, Lee still insists on washing the dishes afterward. Can you imagine?

I think now we will all collapse in a Turkey haze, sleep, and read a little before going back to work tomorrow. With all the snow up here it has been a little more like Christmas than Thanksgiving, but I know winter hasn't even started in Leetonia. Have a great Thanksgiving! Mountain girl, Paula, logging off.

Thanksgiving in Leetonia

Thanksgiving is all about spending time with family and we were blessed with having my brother, Rob, come up to spend the holiday with us. There he is standing in front of the pond. Of course the next most important thing food, which we had a lot of including the pumpkin pie.

Lee and I heard a emergency siren on the other side of the mountain this morning, but no word as to what that was about. However, we did hear of an accident at Cedar Run sometime last night. The fog was really bad and if you don't know the roads and drink you can end up upside down and the bottom of a hill. That is exactly what


happened to four people on Beulahland Road, just about a half mile up from town at the first sharp turn. The road turned and they didn't. They spent the night up there with their empty beer cans and had to be hoisted out this morning.

Please don't drive after you drink up here these roads are hard enough to drive sober. Fortunately, no fatalities. Well, I hear my brother snoring after dinner so it must have been good. You all have a great Thanksgiving.

Mountain Girl, Paula, Logging out.