Mid July 2000. With June's overnight biking experience, I now embark on a three day trip. First exploration - found the new Westerville rail trail. So much for local exploration.

Second exploration - the Kokosing Gap Trail on the old Pennsylvania RR from Mt.Vernon to Danville.     Mt.Vernon is in the Kokosing River basin and Danville is in the Mohican River basin. And don't forget, the Indians were there first.
	As usual, the exploration scenes were superb. The trail had a good population including rollerblading Amish ladies in full skirts.     Through discussion with a Knox County trail maintenance person I streamlined my route.    And the rain clouds were forming :(
But today no route change would avoid the rain. And in hindsight, the Weather Channel had the best forecast whereas the internet weather forecasts were a mistake even though advertised as being updated several hours prior.    The river valley was similar to the Missouri River valley but down scaled. And all those secondary roads which I had so time consumingly mapped off the internet were in those bluffs.    Welcome to a geography lesson.
	Mr.Lawson, at age 71, kindly set aside his yard work to tell of his rides on the Danville Penn RR and of his exploration of canal signs in the Walhonding area. The picture of us failed but the weed covered canal depression he pointed out appears for the imagination. Picture the towpath on the left. We are looking up the canal.    The Kokosing and Mohican come together here at Walhonding to form the Walhonding River. The internet canal maps show this town to be the west most canal reach but Lawson described the canal going north along the east side of the Mohican to what the Ohio State road map shows as Cavallo Station.    The large outdoor canal map at Coshocton north of the Walhonding River aqueduct shows the west most canal reach going north on the east side of the Mohican River then crossing over the River to the west side and then farther north to a place called Brinkhaven (not on the Ohio State road map). I assume that the Mohican River, from the Danville watershed, provided an acceptable year round supply of water.
A sign of times past - a single lane bridge by today's standard, with a  roadway of steel grate. Proceeding east you can see the quarried stone of the canal lock across the River to the north.    Lawson reported that the town of Walhonding was moved from the lock area up to the present higher ground due to the 1937 flood which could be the first use of the 1935 flood control dam.
	Further downstream the Mohican Dam dated 1935 sits empty. But the apparent absence of residence including the Walhonding relocation would verify that the dam stands ready to protect the downstream Coshocton area from flood devastation.    Far upstream scenic highway 715 has a closing gate, probably just for that purpose - all roadways below Walhonding would be under water.
Back on the north side of the River at Warsaw a gentleman reported that his home right where we were standing was built on top of the canal. He cited the evidence of soil differences upon excavation for his basement and foundation. The canal bottom was lined with clay for water retention. Both he and Lawson referred to Whispering Falls where an aqueduct dam of the Walhonding River permits the canal to cross to the south side of the Walhonding Valley.    This picture represented my imagination of the canal bed loosed from its locks running along the south bluffs of the Walhonding just before the River adds its volume to the Muskingum River.    There I am, over the railing, a mere shadow of myself, being washed by the waters below.
	At Roscoe Village, the Walhonding canal, and the Tuscarawas canal which aqueducts across the Walhonding River a bit to the north, joined to form one canal which flowed south, hugging the western hills of the Muskingum Valley.    This boat has turned in the basin and points to the north ready to be horse towed up the canal to the north and also upstream.
Now mentally turn the boat to the south and picture that the planking of this foot bridge was an aqueduct of water above the Walhonding River. Your boat would flow into the lock pictured below.    Then the lock doors behind you would close and the water drained into the basin you can see center picture. The doors in front (the sides of this lock are missing) would open into those niches you see, and the boat would flow down into the basin. This basin also served the Walhonding canal, so if you came down from the west and wanted to lock up to Cleveland, you would be towed into this lock, the doors in the niches below would be closed, the water level would be raised with upstream water, the doors behind us would be opened, and the boat would be pulled north across the aqueduct, and towed up canal, as the Monticello III appears ready for the tow in the pic above.
After a day of rain showers the bluffs of Roscoe Village were shrouded in fog patches. And I luckily headed for a motel since it poured rain that night.
The canal travels south and our modern highways have taken the canal in many places. Here only one side of the locks remain.
	Now the Muskingum Valley has new prosperity (Longaberger employes 5000 people at this location and 7000 in Ohio) with the west bluffs, on the far right of the pic, being shaved for the new highway to hug the bluffs just as the canal hugged the lower hills more than a century ago.
With the opening of the new highway, the old highway becomes a more pleasurable bike avenue from Coshocton to Newark by way of the Panhandle Trail.    At least as much as the Trial cuts deep through the hills, the Trail also towers over the town of Hanover - you are biking over the rooftops!    Now one can bike from Columbus to Johns town to Newark, around the city of Newark, past Hanover ( or drop down along the south of the Licking River to tour the canal locks), up to Coshocton, and then down the bike trail to Zanesville on the east side of the Muskingum.    Thus biking becomes a pleasurable part of retirement.
	Between Newark and Hebron the canal began. It drove south to its reservoir Buckeye Lake. At Hebron, where once was the canal, now there are buildings to serve highway 40, and a simple park. Even the National Road (40) has been overshadowed by the highway 79 overpass and interconnection with interstate 70.    But south of 70 the canal comes alive and to this day provides water from Buckeye Lake for the state fish hatchery.
At Buckeye Lake squatters are squeezed unto the old towpath and if push comes to shove you will not be welcome to share the towpath sidewalk which literally looks into their living rooms. But I did get to share in their year round scenic delights as I received directions to the State Park headquarters.    The locks, for northerly water flow, are gone and the canal to the south, although open for lake access, dead ends - providing no southerly water flow. That canal to the south seems to have the deepest excavation, and where else? Right next to Deep Cut Road in Millersport. Imagine these areas without the roads. In effect, the canals were the first roads.	South toward Thurston then into Baltimore where the canal diagonals right through town hugging the north hills of Walnut Creek. The 1831 Bibler Lock # 8 still stands southwest of town. Then the canal continued into Canal Winchester where the Chamber of Commerce was closed. And that always leaves more for the next exploration.    Another canal was on the south hills of Walnut Creek. In Lockville there's a lock park and other locks, with their parking basins, along what is now the main street. A park map displays the routes and reservoirs of 1000 miles of Ohio canals.
Sunday morning - a four hour church service - in addition to a one hour Saturday evening service. Note the 1881 text which we were referencing.
	My bike rides travel through miles of cathedrals. And I'm in heaven breaking bread everywhere I go.