Monday, February 4, 2013

Stadium Park in the Snow

This, past weekend, I had to travel up to Canton, Ohio for my grandma's funeral. After a very long drive in a snowstorm that turned into a two-day trip, I really needed to stretch my legs and get outside, despite the snowy weather. I remember now why I moved to NC. So before the wake, I headed over to Stadium park to go for a walk. I started off in the first parking lot on Stadium Park Drive just of 12th Street and tried to make my way to the trail.


The trail itself is a "rubber road", a soft paved greenway trail that makes a narrow loop. Due to the deep snow, I couldn't actually see the trail, and had to follow footprints in the snow to try and stay on the trail.


I followed the trail as it lead along a small creek that was mostly frozen but had a few spots that were still liquid and a couple of ducks were swimming around at these parts.


At the northern end of the trail near the stadium, there is a small lagoon. Since everything was covered in snow, I had to be especially careful to stay on the trail and not venture out onto ice.


I also found a spot where the creek falls a couple feet over a cascade - the moving water kept it unfrozen and provided an opportunity to see a "waterfall", even in Canton, Ohio.


Then I followed the other side of the loop back towards 12th Street and crossed the street into Monument Park. I took the trail here over to the William McKinley Monument and took some pictures of the monument.


On a nicer day, I could have gone up and down the stairs to simulate a mountain, but they were snowy and icy and would have been very dangerous to try in this weather.


There was even a sign that said No Sled Riding - not that I thought riding a sled down icy stairs would be a good idea.


Then I followed the trail back and did another loop around Stadium Park and finished up. Despite moving quickly, I was getting quite cold. Not used to the freezing Ohio temperatures anymore.