Paugussett Parade

As a last shot at a summer hike, we embarked on one of our lengthiest treks in recent years. It turned out to be a near-perfect day for a hike with 24 humans and a flock of dogs, warmer than expected, but not summer hot. The route extended nearly 5 miles, all on the Paugussett Trail (a.k.a., Blue-blaze trail). We climbed uphill, passed through woods, pasture, level ground, alongside lakes and over rugged terrain. 

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We met at the Indian Wells parking lot, only to find the parking lot closed off. Fortunately, there was ample street parking

Terry briefs the hikers on what to expect. The dogs aren't interested

Climbing the hill above Rt. 110

 

Crossing the Wiacek farm and entering a treeline

Taking a break in the Wiacek farm pasture

Plenty of pooches enjoyed walking their humans. They were all well-behaved

Terry leads us through a short distance on the power lines access road

Crossing the dam at Silent Waters on a portion of the Shelton Lakes Recreation Path

Photo op at the Silent Waters bridge

All accounted for, no bear or mountain lion bites, as we finished the hike at Buddington Road. This is the terminus of the Paugussett Trail in Shelton, at least for now!

Our next scheduled hike:

OCTOBER 8 - Saturday 10:00 AM

#11 Tahmore Trail 

Details forthcoming. Join us!

Sending out the Path Tags

Here's what you get if you complete 13 hikes totaling 26.2 miles by the end of the year: A custom path tag and a little card listing your achievement.  And it doesn't cost you anything! The first card is being mailed out to Gary Plude, the first person to send us a completed hike log. Congrats, Gary! 

Paugussett Hike RESCHEDULED

The hike scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 17, has been moved to Saturday, Sept. 24, same time and locations. See our Events Page for details.

A Rare Chestnut Surviving in Shelton

Near the end of this weekend's work party along the RecPath we were talking to one of the neighbors and spotted these funny looking seed pods along the Path.

It wasn't a walnut, or a hickory nut, or an orange osage.  So we all started looking at the surrounding trees a little closer and saw this.

A Chestnut Tree!  They can be identified by their long, lance-shaped leaves with the doubly sharp tips and pointed ends.  Normally these a smaller shrubs mixed in with larger beech, birch, hickory, oak and maple trees.  They normally don't get to be tree-sized because they are attacked by a blight destroys their bark and kills the tree.  The sapplings keep re-sprouting from the old roots.

There was a 6" diameter American Chestnut growing along the side of the RecPath in the City R.O.W. that was about 30' tall and was dropping the nuts.  The bark was smooth and grey, like a beech tree, but there was no sign of fissures or blight in the bark.  Normally the blight hits the sapplings way before they get this big and start producing nuts. 

The area had been disturbed about 20 years ago when Blakeman Construction built the fire access road to Lane Street as part of the Huntington Woods Subdivision.  A portion of that fire road was later used for the Recreation Path.  There was no way to tell if the sappling was growing before construction or started to grow afterwards. I must have walked past this tree a couple of hundred times and not noticed it as a larger Chestnut.

 

These trees were wiped out in most of the East Coast in the early 1910's by an imported fungus.  The American Chestnut were massive trees and one of the most valuable trees in the forest both for its nuts and it's lumber.   Many people have been trying to restore disease-resistant hybrids for years.  The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station has had a cross-breeding program going on for decades.  

So maybe this is a lucky survivor that hasn't gotten the blight yet, or it's a disease resistant decedent, in which case it should be observed and protected. Lets hope it continues in good health.  Remember to look around when you're out hiking; some times it pays to see the trees that make up the forest.

Weed Whackin'

More than any trail in Shelton, the Rec Path requires loads of work to keep the path clear of weeds and debris and to maintain an 8 foot width for its entire 4 mile length. This has been difficult this past summer due to the extensive and rapid weed growth in many sections. This weekend we attempted to clear up some of the worst overgrowth, focusing on the areas closest to the road crossing on Wesley Drive.

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Rake in hand, Lynn finds an area that needs work

We gathered our tools and split up, covering both sides of the road where the trail crosses. Note the heavy weed growth at the bottom of the photo

Jim, Bill, Mike and Terry discuss the next move

Eva does some serious pruning, while Lynn rakes up the cut debris. The patio set on the right is there as a resting place for trail users

After cutting back tall weeds with a hedge-trimmer attachment, John rakes up the waste

 

 

 

 

 Terry fires up one of several string trimmers and power clippers used on this job

 Thanks to Trails Committee members Bill, Terry, Jim, and Richard, and volunteers Mike, Eva, Lynn, and John for spending their Saturday morning making our trails a bit better to negotiate.