Hall's Pond, Eastford, CT - June 12, 2015

Lucky for me, the Rambler Award can be earned both by water as well as by land.  After my exuberant hike in April, my left ankle was left feeling not so great, with a bit of a case of tendonitis.  So if I couldn't work my lower body, it was time to do the upper body.  In 2014, I lamented that I could not paddle much, so 2015 has been a better year for putting my kayak in the water.  Hall's Pond is a few miles down from our house, and is an easy destination, especially after a day's worth of telecommuting.  On this particular day, I was able to cut work a little early, and off I went for some much needed aquatherapy.

Scenic Hall's Pond

Hall's Pond, according to the State of Connecticut DEEP website, is about 81 acres in size.  The pond has a small boat launch for carry-in craft.  The pond is dotted with lots of little islands, which make for great exploration.  On any given day, one can see all sorts of wildlife: blue heron, turtles, and beavers all make their homes here.  Watching a heron fly off is almost like watching a pterodactyl fly away.  It takes a well-trained eye to spot a beaver; if you don't see them, they will alert you to their presence with a flap of their tail against the water.

Animal Signs:  Beaver lodge

 On this particular trip, it was mid-June, which means Connecticut's state flower, the mountain laurel, was in full bloom.  "Kalmia latifolia" can be found in acidic soils (think oak trees and evergreens) and is native to our state.  Mountain laurel has been cultivated into many different varieties that are commerically sold.  The wild plants can be colored white or light pink.  One of the plants I found in full bloom had rich, deep pink flowers.  I found it in my National Audubon Society Field Guide to New England, and it's actually called "Sheep Laurel".  Both of these plants were growing along the edges of the many islands in the pond, hanging over the water.  They were just beautiful and made this particular trip more special.

 

Mountain Laurel

Sheep Laurel

I was hoping to prepare a Google map to show where some of these places are, but I can't seem to figure out how to share the photos... so for now, I'll settle for a Google satellite view of the pond... it's quite picturesque and worth a visit.  The launch is just off of Kennerson Road.  Some parts between the islands are quite shallow; during a drought, you might actually bottom out, so if you see rocks sticking out, beware.

Mileage Count:  According to the Google Maps measuring tool, I counted up 1.97 miles around the pond, including some meandering around the islands.  I'll round that up to 2.0 miles.  Running total: 14 miles... 84 miles to go!!

To view more photos, visit my online album.

UCONN Forest Hike Part 2: Nipmuck & Talmadge Spur - April 19, 2015

When the snow finally started to melt after a typically long winter, I dusted off this blog to see where I had left off.  It seems I had planned to do more hiking last summer than I actually ended up doing.  It turns out I spent the summer helping my sister with a few landscaping projects, so this ended up putting a few hikes on hold.  So when I took a look at this blog sometime in mid-March, I was a little disappointed to see that I had only accumulated a total of 10 miles toward my rambler badge.  Okay, no problem.... I kept myself active in the gym during the winter, hitting the treadmill -- with inclines -- and hoped I had kept myself in shape for the ever-elusive first springtime hike.

After laboring for hours at the computer on a beautiful spring afternoon, Sunday April 19th to be exact, I finally decided that enough was enough.  I don't even remember what I was working on, but I finally disengaged at about 4pm, threw on my uniform, lemon-squeezer and all, and drove down the road to the put-in point for the Nipmuck Trail, which is just about a mile down the road from us.  When I parked my truck, I realized I had missed the actual Nipmuck Trail crossing, but instead discovered a spur which looked to be pretty well blazed.  At the crossing was a brochure box with maps in it; I grabbed a map and off I went.

This particular spur is called the Talmadge Spur trail.  At the point where the trail starts on Mason Road in Willington, it heads west and then north into a 28 acre parcel called the Talmadge Tract (sign pictured above) and then junctions about a half mile down with the blue-blazed Nipmuck Trail in the UCONN Forest.  Across the street is the put-in point for another spur trail called the Knowlton Spur Trail, which crosses through the 138 acre Royal Knowlton Preserve, and eventually junctions with the Nipmuck trail further east.  All three trails form a loop of about 2.2. miles of beautiful hiking.  The brochure I picked up contains a map of the entire area with information and mileages noted as well. 

The Tamadge trail is blazed with blue and yellow blazes.  As the trail is relatively new, the blazes are presently very bright and easily seen.  The trail heads downhill from Mason road and meanders through a mixed hardwood forest, dotted with occasional hemlock trees.  The trail crosses a few small streams, and in a few places there are footbridge crossings. 

Partway down the hillside, the trail bends to the north, and if you look westward in the general direction of the Fenton Rover, you can see the forest switches over to mostly hemlock.  The photo below was looking to the left (west).  With the deciduous trees not fully leafed out, you can see the evergreens clearly.

The hike down the hill to the Nipmuck junction is relatively quick.  Where the trail ends, you can see the back side of a wooden trail sign indicating the opposite entrance to the Talmadge Spur Trail (photo below of the front side).  At this point, you can turn either left (south) onto the Nipmuck and head back towards US 44, or right (north). At this point, you have left the Talmadge Tract and have now entered the UCONN Forest.
 

On this particular day, I chose to go right and head north along the Nipmuck Trail.  The trail is currently well blazed and well maintained.  A short while down, the trail turns eastward, but in the genreal area of this corner is a smaller blue-red blazed loop trail off to the left (west side of the trail) that takes you out to the Fenton River and carries you along a scenic gorge that the river passes through.  A word of caution, the blue-red blazes are old and presently in need of repainting.   They are obscure and require a careful eye to make sure you don't end up off the trail.  The loop itself is beautiful.  You'll know you're getting close to the river as the mosquitoes start biting a little more aggressively.  Closer to the gorge, you will see some beautiful boulders left behind by the glaciers, one of which I've photographed below, covered with moss and ferns.  The river is not far from this point.

Upon finishing the loop, you join back up with the Nipmuck.  I continued east and uphill until reaching Mason Road again.  This particular part of the trail is well traveled and rocky in spots.  Upon emerging at Mason Road, you really can't miss the fact that the trail crosses the road here.  See below:
 

Mileage Count:  On this day, ended up turning right and heading back down Mason Road to where I parked my truck, as daylight was running out.  I want to come back and finish the loop.  For now, this excursion clocked in at 2.0 miles.  Running total: 12 miles... 88 miles to go!!

UCONN Forest Hike - Part 1 - April 22, 2014

On Tueday the 22, as luck would have it, I got sent home around 2pm because I had some software maintenance to do later that evening.  I took advantage of the beautiful spring afternoon to hit the Nipmuch Trail located not too far from our home in eastern Connecticut.  The Nipmuck cuts right across a beautiful tract of land known as the UCONN Forest, which is owned and maintained by the University of Connecticut.  They have a modest webpage about it at http://www.canr.uconn.edu/rh/rh/images/facilities/forest.html

The Nipmuck Trail crosses US-44 in the vicinity of Old Turnpike Road.  I believe the brook that crosses 44 in this area is called "Fenton Brook" on the sign, but Google maps shows it as "Mason Brook".  In any case, just past the brook, if heading east, turn right on to Old Turnpike Road, cross back over the brook, and look for the trail put-in point on the left / south side of the road.  There is a pair of signs nailed to a tree at that point:

 

The trail heads south towards Gurleyville Road, a key east-west route between the UCONN campus on CT-195 and.... well, Gurleyville itself which is a small quaint New England village.  There's not much out this way, at least by Connecticut standards, but I digress.  I had intended to do the whole trip to Gurleyville Road, which I will estimate to be about two miles one way.  Since I had to be off the trail and back home at a certain time, I really only had time to go about halfway into the forest before I had to turn around and head back.  So I still got two miles out of it, but to do two miles in and back would have put my employment in jeopardy.  So I'll describe the first half of the trek here, and will detail the second half at a later date.

It was a beautiful mid-spring day when I set out to do this trek.  Many of the trees are either budding or just starting to put out their leaves.  This portion of the trail begins along a wet marshy area that drains into the Fenton Brook / Fenton River, so one of the first things I noticed were the skunk cabbages starting to turn green and pop out of the ground.  The trail crosses at least a half dozen streams that empty into the Fenton, so a good pair of waterproofed boots and a staff would come in handy.

Fenton River tributary

The very first crossing had a very convenient concrete block sunk right in the middle of the brook to help you get across.  Some of the others along the way were not so well furnished.  When you get to this first major crossing, take a moment to look up... you will notice some rather tall mountain laurel.  This spot will be beautiful in late May/early June.... I will most definitely need to return in about a month.

Tributary crossing

The trail will make a few turns as it gets closer to the actual Fenton River.  Once along side it, the trail will at times be right at the river level, and then later ascend quite high enough so that a slip off the trail down would be rather dangerous.  There are assorted fire rings around, the largest being just a few feet from the river itself.  I'm still not sure if these are actual campsites available for use, so I need to do some more digging to figure this out.  Just past this large fire ring (you can't miss it), there is a rather large tree down that makes the trail hard to find.  Stay to the left of this and you will remain on the trail.  I suspect there was a blue blaze on this unfortunate giant.

Fire ring

Trail - keep left!

The website I mentioned above states that parts of the forest are over 100 years old. I believe the next part of the hike takes you through one of these old sections.  Eastern Hemlock trees will become more plentiful as you continue, many of which are quite old.  Be sure to look up... its as close as we get here in southern New England to gazing up at giant redwoods.

 The trail will cross a few more brooks thru this zone and will enter a marshy area.  Eventually, the trail will exit the forest and enter a grassy meadow of some sort.  Look for green metal poles with blue blazes to find your trail.  I can't wait to see this area again in mid summer when everything is green and growing.

At the other end of this meadow, the trail will enter the woods again.  In this area, you will see signs of civilization in the form of a paved road, and signs put in place by the College of Natural Resources, identifying trees and explaining about the ecology of the area.  I continued only a little bit more when the trail actually crossed this service road.  I stopped to take a selfie, then it was time to turn around...

#butfirstletmetakeaselfie

The trip back was just as nice. I was able to stop and grab a bunch of snapshots along the way.  I could easily fill this blog with photos but it would be easier to refer you to my online album.   So meanwhile, I will count this as two miles, with my running total at 5 miles, with 95 to go!

For more information, visit: http://ecohusky.uconn.edu/development/parks.html

Coney Rock Preserve Hike - April 10, 2014

On a particularly lovely evening after work, my hubby Matt & I met up to hike one of our favorite spots, the Coney Rock Preserve located in Mansfield off Chaffeville Road.  The land is comprised of two parcels, one owned by the town of Mansfield, and the other is part of Joshua's Trust.  We feel very lucky to live so close to so many forests and trails; now that life is settling down, we are making an effort to use them more often.  Anyhow, the land itself seems to be a ridge of some sort that seems to level off near the top.  At the trailhead is a well marked sign and a board with a map of the different trails on the properties.

 

We started up the ridge along a white blazed trail which was rather well marked.  The start was a bit steep but not as aggressive as the Castle Craig inclines.  As you made your way up the ridge, the trail tended to switch back and forth a bit, often with clever arrow signs to point the way:

 

On the way up the ridge, I noticed that many of the trees were oaks of some sort, based on the leaf litter on the ground.  As we got further up the ridge, a beautiful hemlock grove opened up in front of us.  It was nice to see that not all the hemlock trees were destroyed by the recent blight.  Each of the trails in the preserve, it seems, have their own name.  This became apparent just past the hemlock grove as we came to an intersection with Chaffeeville Trail, which turned to the left and continued deeper into the preserve.  To continue on the trail we were on would have taken us across the preserve in the direction of a very old white oak tree.  More on that later.

 

Hemlock Grove

We decided to turn left onto the Chaffeeville Trail, which was rather nice.  It continued for a ways along some old scenic stone walls.   We hit another junction, this time with the Olsen Trail.  We turned left onto the Olsen Trail and followed it along until we crossed over into the Joshua's Trust part of the preserve, which was easy to tell based on the white diamond shaped signs indicating the trust's boundary.  In this general area is where we hit a T junction with the yellow-blazed Chapin Trail, which brought us right across the preserve and thru a pretty mountain laurel grove, which I would like to see again in June when it should be in full bloom.  Just past this, the trail hooks around and takes you under an overhead wooden sign to indicate your arrival at the outlook point.

The outlook point was nice.  There was a sheer drop which one would want to be aware of when approaching the edge.  There was also a pretty stone bench with these words inscribed in it:  I saw the last leaf of fall ask the first snowflake to dance.  We enjoyed the outlook for a little while but then realized we would soon be running out of daylight if we didn't start moving.  We continued along the Chapin Trail, which brought us slightly downhill and then back towards the left.  Eventually we reconnected with the Olsen Trail, took it back towards the Chaffeeville Trail, and almost headed right back down the ridge, but realized we had some time to cut back across the preserve to pay a quick visit the "Great White Oak".  The tree itself was magnificent.  Of course, I had to stop to take a selfie to prove I was there...

We headed back and then down the ridge, just in time to lose daylight.  It was a really nice way to spend the evening.  

The town of Mansfield publishes a brochure on the preserve's trails which is available online.  The brochure says there are over 5 miles of trails on the properties. I would say we probably did about 2 miles based on the time it took us to do.  This would put my running total at 5 miles.  95 to go!

For more information, visit:  http://www.mansfieldct.gov/filestorage/1904/5357/coney_rock.pdf