Covered bridge

Saturday
It had been quite a chilly night, though we had stayed warm enough under the covers in our camper, and I slept well, waking once, but soon returning to sleep. It did take a little will-power though to leave the nice warm bed in the morning and get up to go out into the still cool air! However, by the time we'd had our cup of tea, the sun was already beginning to warm things up! It was just a perfect day - pleasant warm temperatures, sunny, with blue sky dotted with white fluffy clouds. After a leisurely breakfast, shower, and putting a picnic together, we headed south to Piqua to go biking on the Great Miami trail, which I had read on the web now extended north from Tipp City to Piqua. The first stretch actually ran along a section of the old Miami-Erie canal, which connected the Ohio River in Cincinnati, Ohio with Lake Erie in Toledo.
Construction on the canal began in 1825 and was completed in 1845. Unfortunately for the life of the canal, the railroad between the Ohio River and Lake Erie was completed in the 1850's, which would eventually lead to the demise of the canal. It consisted of 19 aqueducts, three guard locks, and 103 canal locks. The locks collectively raised the canal 395 feet above Lake Erie and 513 feet above the Ohio River. The peak of the canal was called the Loramie Summit and extended 19 miles between New Bremen to Lockington, north of Piqua.
The trail then followed the Great Miami River for a couple of miles before apparently petering out - much to my confusion, as it was supposed to extend for about 25 miles. We were just turning around, when we got talking with a guy and his wife walking the other way, and he told us if we were to return to the road we had just crossed, and take the road bridge across the river, then turn left, after about 100 yards he said there would be a dirt track between the trees, and if we followed that, it would shortly lead to the continuation of the tarmac portion. He was quite right - but why couldn't there be a sign informing you of that, instead of a sign saying "Trail ends" - and leaving you to rely on the word of a random stanger who happened to be there at the right moment?! Anyway, we continued on for a total outward leg of about 11 miles, passing this lovely covered bridge on the way. The Eldean covered bridge is the only one left of about thirty covered bridges that once crossed Miami County rivers and streams. Originally known as Allen's Mill Bridge, as early farmers used it to carry grain to Allen's Mill, it was built over the Great Miami River in 1860 by the Hamilton Brothers of nearby Piqua. Its 224 feet make it the second longest in the state, and the longest in the nation that follows an 1830 Stephen H. Long patent, considered America's first science-based bridge design. The Long system added strength through a series of hand-driven wedges. Placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, the bridge was restored in 2005/2006. We got talking to another couple cycling here, who were heading in the opposite direction, so we were able to fill them in on the gap in the trail! We enjoyed a lovely meal 'al fresco back' at the campsite, then an hour or so reading, before turning in for an early night.

One year ago: Carillon Historical Park