The Cuyahoga River at High Bridge Glens EarthCache
The Cuyahoga River at High Bridge Glens
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An Earthcache on the Cuyahoga River in Cuyahoga Falls at
High Bridge Glens.
This Earthcache is wheelchair accessible.
The lower observation deck is accessible by a series of inclined
ramps.
The Cuyahoga River, which in the Iroquois language means "crooked
river", is normally a placid river, but where it crosses under
Broad Boulevard in Cuyahoga Falls and for the next 3/10 of a mile
the river changes it mood to one of cataracts and rapids, that
challenges the best kayaker or canoist, as it flows through a
narrow gorge and drops 75 vertical feet.
The Keel Haulers Canoe Club's write up this section of the
river is:
"If you were careless enough to get swept over the first three dams
and lucky enough to come out of the hydraulics at the base of each
of them, you would then drop into the upper gorge. With sheer rock
walls rising from 20 to 100 feet, recovery of lost equipment is
very difficult; rescue would be virtually impossible, although the
strong likelihood is that it wouldn''t be necessary.
"Shortly below the third dam is the first ledge. Let''s call it
Comin'' Home, Sweet Jesus Ledge. The river drops 10-15 feet off its
lip and crashes onto some very large and ominous-looking
rocks— there isn''t much of a cushion. The second river-wide
ledge only drops you about 1-1/2 feet, but it sets you up for the
third ledge-let''s call it At Home, Sweet Jesus Ledge. Most of the
Cuyahoga funnels into a notch at its center and then drops 15 feet
down a 60-degree water slide that narrows to 5 feet at the bottom
with neck-high undercut rocks on both sides.
"If you accidentally make this little journey through the upper
gorge, you will cover over 0.3 mile and 75 vertical feet in just a
very few minutes."
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The geology of the river.
The surface rocks in the Cuyahoga River Basin range in age from
Devonian to Pennsylvanian. Devonian-age shales outcrop along the
lower Cuyahoga Valley and lake plain area. Upland areas along the
lower reach of the Cuyahoga are underlain with Mississippian
sandstones and shales. Berea sandstone outcrops along Tinkers Creek
just downstream of Bedford. Pennsylvanian-age sandstones and shales
underlie much of the basin along the upper Cuyahoga. The narrow
gorge at Cuyahoga Falls is cut in Sharon Conglomerate of
Pennsylvanian age. As a whole, ground water from the rock strata
has little effect on stream flow except locally where streams have
cut through sandstone formations.
The glacial drift in the basin varies greatly in thickness and
character, ranging from a few feet to as much as 200 feet in
thickness and consisting of deep impermeable till in some places to
highly permeable sand and gravel in other places. Deep buried
valleys are present throughout the basin, but it is ground water
from outwash material in high-level terraces, kames, and kame
terraces that support the dry-weather flow of the Cuyahoga
River.
The shales underlying the lake plain at Cleveland are thinly
mantled with till and clayey lacustrine deposits. Uplands tributary
to the lower reach of the Cuyahoga are generally covered with
moderate amounts of clayey till except along the moraines where
till thickness is greater and contains some permeable deposits. The
Cuyahoga Valley is hundreds of feet deep to bedrock. The buried
valley along the Cuyahoga between Newburg Heights and downtown
Cleveland contains permeable deposits that yield substantial
amounts of ground water to wells.
Pennsylvanian- and Mississippian-age sandstones and shales are
covered with till and extensive amounts of sand and gravel deposits
in the upper basin. Large deposits of permeable outwash material
exist in the interlobate area between the Grand River and Killbuck
Lobes of the Wisconsinan glaciation. Depths of these deposits vary
from a few feet to as much as 100 feet in some places.
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There are 12 classifications of waterfalls:
- Block: Water descends from a relatively wide stream
or river.
- Cascade: Water descends a series of rock
steps.
- Cataract: A large, powerful waterfall.
- Chute: A large quantity of water forced through a
narrow, vertical passage.
- Fan: Water spreads horizontally as it descends while
remaining in contact with bedrock.
- Frozen: Any waterfall which has some element of
ice.
- Horsetail: Descending water maintains some contact
with bedrock.
- Plunge: Water descends vertically, losing contact
with the bedrock surface.
- Punchbowl: Water descends in a constricted form and
then spreads out in a wider pool.
- Segmented: Distinctly separate flows of water form as
it descends.
- Tiered: Water drops in a series of distinct steps or
falls.
- Multi-step: A series of waterfalls one after another
of roughly the same size each with its own sunken plunge
pool.
There are 6 classifications of rapids:
- Class 1: Very small rough areas, requires no
maneuvering.
- Class 2: Some rough water, maybe some rocks, small
drops, might require maneuvering.
- Class 3: Whitewater, medium waves, maybe a
3–5 ft drop, but not much considerable danger. May
require significant maneuvering.
- Class 4: Whitewater, large waves, long rapids, rocks,
maybe a considerable drop, sharp maneuvers may be needed.
- Class 5: Whitewater, large waves, continuous rapids,
large rocks and hazards, maybe a large drop.
- Class 6: Whitewater, typically with huge waves, huge
rocks and hazards, huge drops, but sometimes labeled this way due
to largely invisible dangers.
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To log this Earthcache:
Visit High Bridge Glens Park, and email me the answers to the
following questions within 5 days of your visit or your log, per
EarthCache policy, must be deleted. DO NOT post your
answers in your log. You can also, if you like, post
a picture with your log showing an interesting part of your visit,
and include yourself or your crew in the picture.
- 1. Looking up river from the bridge, as the river has
cut through the bed rock it has made changes to the area. Name two
changes to the geology of the area other than creating the
gorge?
- 2. Go to the lower observation deck waypoint.
Describe the various coloration's that you see in the
bedrock on the east wall of the gorge.
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Congratulations to
superyeti for the First To Find!
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