America on a Runner's High IV: Day 5

Cedar Rapids runner Chris Wolfe is off on his fourth running vacation, blogging every day at http://runnershighheartland.wordpress.com/

Here is an excerpt from Day 5 of his trip:

I knew that I was in for an off day. Actually, I was due for an off day. Ohio's Cuyahoga Valley National Park ended up being a good spot for it.

Located in between Cleveland and Akron, you might think that this is an odd place to find a National Park. Well, it is and while driving through, I couldn't hold back wondering why the area is even designated as a National Park.

My experience started at the Canal Visitor Center, on the north end of the park. I was definitely going to need help with a running route and park rangers are great for that…usually.

The visitor center is old – early 19th Century, I believe. When I walked in, the man on duty was talking to a visitor. The subject was tsunamis and western landscape. Sadly, my standing at the counter interrupted their discussion.

“Can I help you?” The ranger asked. I think he was a ranger, anyway. He wasn't dressed like any of the rangers that I've seen. He could have been a volunteer. Anyway, I explained what I was doing and looking for and he gave me a kind of blank look…then he spoke.

“Well, it depends on what you mean by scenic. That could mean anything.” The visitor who shared his expertise in tsunamis chimed in, “I happen to think north of here is scenic. It's all kind of industrial and rustic.” Industrial isn't my idea of natural scenery but whatever floats your boat. It does have its appeal, to a certain extent, but still not what I was looking for.

The volunteer/ranger then opened up with a pile of information. And that's when I thought of how much this guy reminds me of Howard Sprague, the county clerk on The Andy Griffith Show.

His first suggestion was Lock 31, which is close to a marsh area called Stumpy Basin. He said that it's a location where fourteen Canal Captains died. First of all, I had no idea what a Canal Captain is or was. And second, that sounds like trouble to me. It was on to the next idea.

Read more at http://runnershighheartland.wordpress.com/