Hiking with my daughter is always an adventure because she encourages me to explore places I never would have discovered on my own. Friday at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park (official site here) we made the very easy walk to Brandywine Falls and the slightly more difficult walk to Blue Hen Falls (shown here--but you won't see any blue hens), but then we pressed on beyond the end of the trail to visit an even more impressive waterfall the park service doesn't publicize. And for good reason: the trail narrowed to a muddy ledge skirting the edge of a creek and crossed the creek three or four times, an easy matter when the water is low but no doubt treacherous at other times.
We saw cute and colorful fungi and wildflowers galore, and at one point we went around a curve and entered a pine glade so dark it felt as if someone had suddenly turned out the lights. Accompanied by hordes of tiny mosquitoes, we clambered up slopes where we had to hang on to exposed roots to keep from falling and down through a remote woods where the remains of an old mill hold precariously
to the edge of a cliff. My daughter led the way, always urging me just a little bit farther until we we made it to the Mystery Waterfall.
I wish you could see the beautiful curves the water has worn in the rocks and hear the refreshing sound of rushing water, but you sort of have to be there. So go! It's a great park offering plenty more to explore.
Just make sure you take along an intrepid explorer who knows the way.
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