Adventures of an AT Section hiker "Mapless"

Tag: Ohio

  • Pumpkinvine Trail / Indiana Dunes

    Pumpkinvine Trail / Indiana Dunes

    Wednesday August 27, 2025 – Road trip day #15 – Was up at 7 and on the road y 8 am. I think I have this down to a science now !

    Drove to Shipshewana Indiana to ride the Pumpkinvine Trail. This is a rail trial that runs about 18 miles to Goshen. I planned to go out 10 miles for about a 20 mile ride.

    This was a wonderful trail. Fully tree lined and shaded with views between the trees of Amish farms. Traveled though the town of Middlebury before the turn to head back.

    Both Shipshewanna and Middlebury seemed like very nice little towns. Lots of Amish in the area and even saw the Amish on the bike trail. Saw a restaurant called Blue Gate (or Bluegate ??) that was huge and had a ton of people going in… must be the local tourist attractions… I did not try

    Drove about 2 hours to Indiana Dunes. I was happy that google took me on US20 instead of 80/90. I was a nice snice drive for the most part.

    Since I had not missed my first night reservation I was a little concerned I would not have a site. When I checked all was good and the gentleman working for the park was very nice and was sure to provide all the information needed for my stay. I think my camp site was the only site that was had sun. This made things a bitt warm when I was setting up, but the shade should cover the site in the afternoon. Park was very nice, bathrooms and showers were very clean.

    Once set up I jumped on the bile to explore the area. The lake was only a mile or so up the the road with very little traffic. The lake views were beattifull

    Dinner and early to bed in the evening… tired… lots of miles today on the bike

  • Back on the road again…

    Tuesday August 26, 2025 – Day 14 of the road trip adventure. Headed back to Westside Toyota for service on the van. Finger crossed that do not have to replace the whole differential but only the magnetic coupler between the drive shat and the differential.

    It was a long wait but service was done at noon with only the coupler replaced. This saved a whole bunch of labor and the cost of the differential. Still the total cost of the repair was in excess of $3,000. I guess this is why we have credit cards…

    Stopped to pick up my bike at Stothard,s and said goodbye to Phyliss. Thank you guys ! Hit the road heading for Indiana. I am off my original schedule by a day. I have a reservation at Indian Dune National Park but I do not want to drive 6 hours . I found a $20 camp site at Pokagon State Park not far over the Indiana line from Ohio. Stopped at rest stop and had some food and coffee… said goodbye to Ohio !

    Arrived a Pokagon State Park about 4 pm. Seemed like a very nice park and campground. I set up the van for the night and cooked some dinner. Did a little walking around the campground to stretch my legs and climbed in the van for the night

    I found the next days bike ride about a 45 minutes away… sounds like a great rail trail ! Excited to ride.

  • Bike ride in “The Valley”

    August 24, 2025 – Adventure / Road Trip Day 12 – Did not sleep well last night worried about the van and where and what to do today. Got up at 7 and made coffee in room to figure things out.

    As part of the trip I was looking for forward to a bike ride on the Tow Path in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park south of Cleveland. I had spent a lot of time on the trail and in the park during life. But it would be a bit of drive and I with the van sounding like a jet engine so I thought to should stay closer to where I was staying.

    I decide on a bike ride on the Metroparks trail starting in Lakewood. I had bike this trail many times as a kid. We used to just call it the “The Valley” before it was the Metroparks. Toured the boat ramp and rode from Lakewood to the Mastick picnic area. Rode past the old hang out of the “green barn” which is not painted green. Ended up with 15 miles and brought back lots of memories.

    Next stop was Erie Island Coffee in Rocky River. I was fun to see this part of Rocky Rive… basically grew up here. Work on the journal and killed time until I could check into my room in Avon.

    Had dinner with the long time friends the Stothards on their backyard patio … how many time have we done this ??.. wild. Thank you Dan and Phyllis for for your hospitality. I was nice to visit and catch up.

    After adding the photos below I realized how lucky I have been with weather on the trip. The super hot and humid summer weather ended just as I started the trip and I have had sunny sky’s and gorgeous days with only on rain day out of 11 so far … blessed