Ohio 2018

Ashland/Mansfield area, Cedar Point

Friday, June 22 through Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Stu flew to Ohio a few days earlier, and I flew separately to join him for a few days. My flights started at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in the late morning of Friday, June 22. I had a layover at Chicago O'Hare International Airport, which was extended a couple of hours because of adverse weather, and I arrived at the Columbus, Ohio airport about two hours late, then drove to Ashland, where Stu was staying. Over the next several days, we biked, canoed, hiked, and went to Cedar Point, near Sandusky, Ohio. I returned to Columbus early Tuesday morning, June 26. My flight to Chicago O'Hare Int'l Airport was delayed about four hours by adverse weather (thunderstorms) in the Chicago area, causing me to miss my scheduled connection. I ended up taking an evening flight, which was also delayed four hours, resulting in my arrival home around 2 a.m. CDT on Wednesday, instead of about 12:45 pm CDT on Tuesday.

I tracked the trip with a Bad Elf GPS Pro+ GPSr (GPS receiver), using my iPhone 8 (Gaia app) as a backup (along with the FlightAware and FlightRadar24 websites). The Bad Elf Pro+ worked fine everywhere except on the return trip on the airplanes, so FlightRadar24 data is presented for that, and the backup files are not included.

NOTE: the downloadable GPX tracks are the full GPX files, while those shown on the provided "view map" links are simplified (with minimal effect on geographic accuracy) for much faster viewing.

Topographic maps are denoted by a "(Topo)" link. Bright pink/magenta lines represent manually-powered transportation (e.g., biking, hiking).

Businesses are named below for reference only. No endorsement should be inferred. If you wish to see my opinion of the places mentioned, see TripAdvisor (for those that I have actually rated).

Overview

Overview map—This is a composite map of all the GPS tracks on a blank US/Canada map. (Just Ohio)
All GPS tracks / view map—The whole trip, including walking, driving, etc.

Friday, June 22

GPX / view map —Driving to the airport in Oklahoma City.
GPX / view map —Walking through Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City. The underground portion of this walk has some very noticeable GPS tracking errors.
GPX / view map —Flying from Oklahoma City to Chicago. (This track appears to be reasonably good, but here is the FlightRadar24 equivalent.)
GPX / view map —Walking from terminal B (east) to terminal C (west) between flights at Chicago O'Hare International Airport.
GPX / view map —Flying from Chicago, Illinois to Columbus, Ohio. (This track looks reasonably good, but here is the FlightRadar24 equivalent.)
GPX / view map —Walking from the gate (east) to the terminal (west), where I picked up a rental car.
GPX / view map —(This track should start at 39.99961, -82.88815) Driving from Columbus to Ashland, Ohio (to the Hampton Inn in Ashland).

Saturday, June 23

GPX / view map —Driving ("my" rental car, as is the case with all the driving on this trip) to Lexington, where we rented a couple of bicycles.
GPX / view map —Riding (rented bicycles) on the old B & O railroad, converted to a bike path. We started in Lexington, and headed southeast until we turned around. On the way back, we encountered a rather heavy rain shower as we approached the I-71 overpass, where we waited out the remainder of the heavy part of the shower (about 5 minutes). The tracks have a lot of error in some places. Generally, except near the southeast end, the correct tracks are west or southwest of the incorrect ones (our northwest-bound ride was no more than a meter or two different than the southeast-bound ride). (Topo [NW], Topo [center], Topo [SE])
GPX / view map —Driving from Lexington to Loudonville, where we rented a canoe.
GPX / view map —Walking from the parking lot to the office, then riding (in a large van) to the put-in point for the canoes and kayaks (there were several other people who also rented watercraft).
GPX / view map —Canoeing, downstream (east, southeast), on the Black Fork of the Mohican River. We encountered a brief, moderate rain shower around the halfway point. (Topo [W], Topo [E])
GPX / view map —Driving from Loudonville to the dam for Pleasant Hill Lake on the Clear Fork of the Mohican River.
GPX / view map —Hiking in Mohican State Park, to both the large and small Lyons Falls. We started at the northwest point, walked to the dam, then took the trails in a generally counter-clockwise direction, returning to the parking place without revisiting the dam. (Topo)
GPX / view map —Driving from the Mohican State Park to Mansfield for dinner.
GPX / view map —Driving from the dinner place (a Mexican restaurant) to the hotel.

Sunday, June 24

GPX / view map —Driving from Ashland to Cedar Point amusement park, near Sandusky.
GPX / view map —Walking and riding (gondola, trains, roller coasters) at Cedar Point amusement park. The tracks that go out into Lake Erie are not accurate.
GPX / view map —Driving from Cedar Point into Sandusky, where we went for dinner (another Mexican restaurant). We had a little difficulty finding the restaurant, which was located at about 41.42653, -82.68313.
GPX / view map —Driving back to the hotel from the restaurant in Sandusky.

Monday, June 25

GPX / view map —Driving (by myself) from the hotel to Wooster Memorial Park.
GPX / view map —Hiking (by myself) mostly on the Spangler Trail at Wooster Memorial Park. Recent rains had apparently made Rathburn Run (a stream that I had to cross several times) higher than normal. This made it extremely difficult to cross the stream without getting my feet wet (which I did several times). I took the trails in a generally clockwise direction. (Topo)
GPX / view map —Driving (by myself) from Wooster State Park to Malabar Farm State Park (which I drove through in a roughly counter-clockwise direction) to Ashland, where I intended to have lunch at Tim Horton's...but I ended up having lunch with Stu in Mansfield instead (see next segment).
GPX / view map —Driving (by myself) from Tim Horton's in Ashland to the Tim Horton's in Mansfield. My navigation app (Navigon) misdirected me onto US42 northeast-bound, so I had to turn around and go back southwest to the restaurant, where I met Stu for lunch.
GPX / view map —Driving (by myself) from the restaurant to the gas station next door, to the (old) Ohio State Reformatory, where several famous movies and TV shows have been filmed (including The Shawshank Redemption and Air Force One).
GPX / view map —Driving (by myself) back to Ashland. After touring the Ohio State Reformatory (see previous segment), I drove back to Ashland, and then went to the Audobon Wetlands Preserve, very near the hotel.
GPX / view map —Hiking (by myself) at the Audobon Wetlands Preserve. There weren't many mosquitoes in the wetlands, but the adjacent woodlands had a lot of them. I took the loop in a clockwise direction. (Topo)
GPX / view map —Driving (by myself) into downtown Ashland, following a general clockwise pattern, then back to the hotel.
GPX / view map —Driving from the hotel to Mansfield for dinner (a Chinese restaurant).
GPX / view map —Driving from the restaurant to Tim Horton's in an unsuccessful attempt to get dessert there (they were out of what we wanted).
GPX / view map —Driving back to the hotel in Ashland.

Tuesday, June 26

GPX / view map —Driving (by myself) from Ashland to the airport in Columbus.
GPX / view map —Walking through the airport in Columbus to the gate (east end of track), where I spent approximately four hours (see description above).
GPX / view map —Flying from Columbus, Ohio to Chicago, Illinois (O'Hare International Airport). This track is incomplete...see also this track from FlightRadar24, and the next trip segment.
GPX / view map —(The rest of the previous segment)
GPX / view map —Walking through O'Hare International Airport, where I spent about 10 hours. The track starts at the E concourse (southwest part of track–not sure which end), then goes east, to the F concourse, then north/northwest/north to/across the B concourse (where I had dinner, and where my departure gate changed to during dinner). The rest of the walking is shown in the next segment.
GPX / view map —Walking back from the B concourse to the E concourse (after yet another gate change).
GPX / view map —Taxiing from the gate in Chicago (O'Hare International Airport). The GPSr quit recording shortly after we departed the gate. For the FlightRadar24 track, see this.

Wednesday, June 27

GPX / view map —Driving back from the airport in Oklahoma City.