A Different Kind of Trek

The Buckeye Trail (BT) is over 1,400 miles in length, completely circumnavigating the state of Ohio. That is impressive, but mostly I just wanted to use the word “circumnavigating” in a sentence, and now I’ve used it twice. I will, however, only be doing a 250 mile section of the BT, the, so called, Little Loop off the main route of the trail. This part of the BT includes some of the more urban sections of the path which is reflected in my itinerary.

I realized that of the 15 days I have scheduled to walk it, Seven days will be camping and eight days will be in motels. Unlike Arkansas, where I was walking in National Forest and could camp anywhere, in Ohio, all my camping will be in city, county, or state parks, and one private campground. The motels will be a mile or two off the trail. When I hiked the PCT, it took over 5 months and I stayed in about 18 motels, roughly one per week. On the BT it will be equivalent to one every other day!

So a very different kind of trek. I will need lunches for 14 days, but will only need to bring 6 breakfasts and 6 dinners because I should have access to restaurants the rest of the time. I am not going to be able to use natural water sources either. The likelihood of toxins and viruses is too high due to field runoff and rural septic tank use. So I will have to source my water from public taps.

I will have to use a tent for at least one and probably two of my camping spots. So, rather than carrying hammock and tent gear, I’ve decided to go with a tent for all 7 camping days. I spent an afternoon figuring out which air mattress to take. I ended up deciding that the widest one was the most comfortable. Of course, it is the heaviest one, too. But the tent and air mattress weight matches my hammock setup, so it is basically a wash.

I have decided to send one resupply box to a post office at about the halfway point. So I will split the weight of food I have to carry in half. I will lighten my load further as I won’t need my heavier sleeping bag and I’m taking only a light jacket due to warmer temperatures. I won’t need as much stove fuel or battery capacity so there will be weight savings there. Overall I should have a slightly lighter pack than I was carrying in Arkansas.

I view the Buckeye Trail as a journey through history. Ohio has been colonized by Europeans since the late 1780’s. The section I will be walking follows both the Cuyahoga River and the Ohio and Erie Canal and traverses a number of historic locations. I plan to highlight some of that history as I travel the countryside. And, as frosting on the cake, I will get to visit with some of my cousins who I haven’t seen in many years.

Next Sunday I will be posting from Ohio on the eve of my BT trek which starts the next day. So, see you next Sunday, take care, and Happy Trails.