Kokosing Gap trail

Wednesday 26 June
Again, showers and thunder storms were in the forecast, but we still got out after breakfast to ride on the Kokosing Gap trail, which runs from Mount Vernon where we started, eastwards to Danville on the edge of Amish Country. We have cycled it before, but starting from the other
end, when we were staying in Amish country. The trail, which is 14 miles long, follows the Kokosing river, and crosses it several times, twice on railroad bridges more than 250 feet long. In the town of Gambier, which is home to Kenyon College, one of the most highly rated liberal arts colleges in the country, a 1940 Alcohol locomotive and a 1924 Chesapeake and Ohio caboose sit next to the trail. The college’s very impressive indoor sports facility and tennis courts also line the trail, while most of the college buildings are up the hill in the centre of the village. We continued a few miles past Gambier, and the drizzle which had been accompanying us for several miles seemed to be getting a bit more steady, so we turned around and stopped in Gambier, where there is a nice covered picnic area, and toilets and water. There were four people having a picnic in the shelter, and we got talking to them. They were a man and his wife, who live in the area, and the man’s mother and her boyfriend who were visiting from Maryland, together with their two little dogs. While we were talking, they reached their sweet course - various goodies from a local Amish bakery, and they very kindly invited us to partake - as they said, they had plenty! We weren’t in a hurry to move on at this point, as the rain was indeed falling more steadily. After about 40 minutes it did seem to let up a bit, so after thanking them for the conversation and their generosity, we continued on our way. By the time we got back to the car, and looked at the radar on our phones, it was clear the rain was sticking around for a while, with the possibility of some heavier showers, so we headed back to the camper, and had a quiet afternoon.