Day Five-Akron

18miles- The rain yesterday finally let up a little after 8PM. Over all I was hiking and or camping in the rain for more than 12 hours. Fortunately it wasn’t raining this morning when I got up and I was able to get packed up and going by 7:30.

It was a pleasant partly sunny morning as I strolled the woods along the O&E Canal. I eventually got up to Barberton, OH. This river town prospered due to river traffic which was later multiplied many times when the O&E Canal went in. Likewise in 1899 the Columbia Chemical Co. opened, producing synthetic soda ash, a material used in making glass panes and containers. Columbia employed hundreds and was so successful that Pittsburgh Plate Glass purchased them in 1920. This helped secure PPG’s place in the commercial glass industry. PPG continued making soda ash there until 1973 when EPA requirements shut it down. Near the plant, industrial waste covered 600 acres 50 feet deep with alkaline lime, the, so called, Lime Lakes. Declared a Superfund site, PPG actually stepped up and did something about it. Mixing the waste with sludge from sewage treatment plants, replanting, and landscaping has turn the sterile industrial wasteland into a vibrant woodland area. The towpath trail goes right by it and you would never know.

Beyond Barberton I walked into Akron across part of Summit Lake. During the building of the O&E Canal, this natural lake was lowered 9 feet to conform with the Tuscarawas River which fed the O&E Canal. To get across the lake a floating towpath was constructed of wood to allow the horses and mules to walk on the water and tow the barges. There is now a board walk with pilings in its place.

The towpath goes right into the middle of the city, winding its way past old buildings and under freeway overpasses. It is the place of city parks and bicycle trails and even a little wildlife.

I left the path downtown to walk the mile up to my B&B where I will be staying tonight and taking a zero tomorrow. So I am showered and got my laundry done. The weather looks to be improving over the next few days, too.

Until tomorrow, Happy Trails!