NoT-So-Silent Waters Weedwhacking

A busy Spring of clearing the trails from nor'easter damage along Shelton's Trails has turned into a busy summer of remedial mowing.  The grass and brush has done better than the humans with all the hot, humid, wet weather.  The RecPath at Lane Street needed attention a few weeks ago.

Here's Jim Taradine mowing the RecPath (with a flat tire - bonus points) at Lane St.  The meadow had turned our 10 foot wide crushed stone RecPath into a 2 foot wide deer trail.

But after some hot and dusty work we were able to reclaim the RecPath from Mother Nature.

And even bring home a meadow mix bouquet from the cuttings, another bonus of coming to a work party.

Then two weeks later it was off to Constitution Boulevard North and the Paugussett Trail.  Jim and Mark took the mower and headed one way, and Bob, Andy, Bridget, Val, Mike and Terry headed the other.  Here's Mike Flament outstanding in his field with the hedgetrimmer clearing brush under the powerlines on another hot Saturday.

Some of the local residents were out getting lunch on the wildflowers under the powerlines.  The milkweed was a favorite of butterflies and bees.

The Paugussett Trail was cleared all the way out to Meadow Street.  There were some great views across the fields along the way.

Which brings us to this jungle on the RecPath at Silent Waters.  Clearing this section was delayed while we were working on the worser brush problems on Shelton's Trails, but we tackled it Saturday.

It was sunny, hot, not quite as humid, but still warm as we tackled Silent Waters.   With a variety of mowers, clippers, hedgetrimmers, brush cutters and other implements of mayhem we gradually moved the jungle back.

Mike Flament is down there somewhere's in the raspberries.

We though we lost Bob Woods over the bank, but he came back eventually.

We even had 2 volunteers show up from out of state on their vacation.  Sandie & Rich, in center, came up from Florida to cut brush on a Saturday morning, now that's dedication.  Jim, Mark and Luis were also having a fine time with the briars.

It took a while but you can now see Silent Waters from the RecPath.

You can even enjoy one of the new benches installed by Josh Andres as part of his Eagle Scout project.

And enjoy the Woodland Sunflowers along the RecPath.  There was also a doe & her spotted fawn crossing  the RecPath just below the Sunflowers.  You start to notice a lot of wildlife when the power tools are turned off.

Does it look a little clearer now?  Have fun along the RecPath.

Thanks to all our volunteers who have kindly donated their time this summer:  Andy, Bridget, Jimmy, Jim, Mark, Mike, Bill, Luis, Val, Terry, Teresa, Rich, Sandie, and Bob.  It takes a few demented dedicated volunteers to make a big difference in making Shelton a nice place to live and explore.  Imagine if a few more folks turned out from time to time.

And a REALLY Big Thank You from our trail angel on Saturday.  Your kind gift is very much appreciated by the volunteers.












 

Lost and Found: Old Blue Blazes at Birchbank

Updated GIS Map showing the old route

People occasionally go looking for the old Blue Dot route at Birchbank Mountain. The old trail route has become something of a mystery. Where did the trail used to go before it was moved down the hillside in the 1990s to get it away from several pending subdivisions?  Were there any nice trail features that were lost?

Finding the old route became much easier after stumbling upon a couple of filed maps that showed bits of the old trail. A number of old blue blazes were found, recorded with the gps, and imported into the City's open space map (see map above).

Look close: Old blue blaze covered with brown paint

The blazes were hard to spot. The blue had been covered over with brown. Also, younger trees shed their blazes, as do certain tree species such as beech and tulip. But old oaks, hemlock, and sugar maple can hold onto the old blazes for decades. 

See the blaze? 

Heading south from the overlook, the old route crosses a couple of intermittent streams and then becomes more rocky as it ascends the riverbank gradually. There are some dramatic cliffs off to the right, and some rocky areas to cross.

Another blazed tree. 

The footing gets a little tricky, especially where the trail cuts across a steep hillside and the benching has eroded away. But the reward is an old "cave" or rock shelter. This obviously used to be a feature of the old trail, but knowledge of the cave was lost after the reroute.

A "cave" - a good place to take a break

The "cave"

The "cave" is directly uphill from the south end of the 2018 reroute. Continuing south from the cave, you soon look down onto the tops of a couple huge boulders. These are the same giant boulder that are next to the existing route. The old and new route are close together at this point, but the old route is higher up. 

Really big boulder as seen from below

The old trail then follows the top of a ledge, the same ledge that can be seen from below while hiking the existing route.

Ledge and "cave" as seen from below

After this, there are no more old blazes, but an old letter from CFPA Trail Managers Dick Blake and John Marren says their reroute begins at the water company pipeline, which is a short ways to the south.


References: Filed map #2677, 1989, "Hidden Trail Estates" off of Rugby Road, opposite White Oak Road. Hidden Trail Lane never built

Survey Leads to Paugussett Improvements at Thoreau Drive

Shelton's northern-most section of the Paugussett Trail

Sometimes you just need to hire a surveyor, and this was one of those times. The City of Shelton owns a 20-foot-wide open space corridor between homes on Thoreau Drive, but no one knew exactly where that corridor was. The open space was preserved as part of the "Blue Dot Preserve" subdivision (pause for the irony), so that the trail could pass from Thoreau Drive (more irony) to Webb Mountain Park.

"Before": Stairs coming down from Thoreau Drive, and survey stake

From Thoreau Drive, hikers descended a set of stairs, then had to cross a lawn area next to a driveway. Many hikers have complained about this section over the years because it felt like they were trespassing through a private yard. It was so uncomfortable for some that they turned around, not daring to cross the lawn.

"After" - Bottom of stairs removed, trail shifted to scrub area

The land survey showed that the bottom of the stairs were right on the property line. So the last seven or eight steps were removed, and the trail was angled down the slope across the 20-foot-wide accessway. Hikers no longer find themselves facing a mowed area at the bottom of the hill.

"Before": At bottom of steps, trail had to cross a mowed area. 

The view above is what confronted hikers for decades. Where is the trail? (It went straight ahead in the photo). More experienced, confident hikers could spot a blaze and just went to it, but most of our hikers lack that experience and didn't know what to do.

"After": At bottom of hill, trail crosses a scrub area. 

Now hikers come to a scrubby area and see an island of trees directly ahead. This feels much better. (It will be even better when the newly defined open space is allowed to grow back into woods.)

"Before": Trail went to the right of the wooded knoll at the edge of the lawn

That island of trees is a low, wooded knoll that couldn't be mowed. The old route headed to the right, following the edge of the lawn here.  The tree island always looked like the better route, but was it open space? The survey showed that part of it was, and it would be feasible to shift the trail into the trees.

"After": Trail goes through the trees now. 

Hikers should feel a lot better about this section of trail now. You're still walking between houses, which isn't great, but at least it no longer feels like you're trespassing. This fall we intend to plant some evergreen trees and shrubs in the mowed areas of the open space, so that should provide more screening for hikers.

"Before": Coming up from Webb Mtn - "Where's the trail?" (Goes to the left)

Here are a couple more "before" and "after" shots, heading up from Webb Mtn. Part of the problem with the former route was the lack of blazes, since there weren't any good trees to blaze. Now, hikers immediately see the blue blaze on the wooded knoll and know exactly where the trail goes.

"After": Easy to see a trail blaze now

Many thanks to Lewis Associates for a great job surveying. They put in some extra pins along the property lines right where they were needed so that we know with confidence exactly where the open space is located.

"Trail Rerouted Many Times, But Always Saved"

Three versions of the Paugussett Trail at Birchbank

The recent discovery of a survey map from 1990 provides a perfect example of how the Paugussett Trail route has changed over time.  The brown dashed line on the map above was the "Blue Dot Trail" at that time, according to the survey map.  The old route approached the overlook, and included a set of rock steps that still stand today. Note that the overlook was private property at that time.

In the early 1990s, the entire trail was shifted down the steep hillside due to several pending subdivisions. That reroute is mostly shown as light blue on the map (now blazed blue/white) and dark blue to the south. This route was inferior to the original route, both for scenery and footing. At the time, the Trail Managers were unsure where the new houses were going to be built and where the new open space might be located, so they simply moved the trail far down the hill to get away from it all.

In 2015, the trail was moved back up to the top of the ridge, closer to the first route. The overlook and rock steps are once again part of the trail. The latest route has the better footing and scenery of the 1990 route, but is shifted further from the new-ish houses where needed.

Birchbank Overlook, restored in 2015.

The Paugussett Trail has been rerouted many times over the years because the original route crossed private property with only verbal agreements. Impending subdivisions kept Trail Managers scrambling to find alternative routes, especially during the building boom years of the 1970s and 1990s.

Birchbank Overlook Trail Registry Entry from an Old Timer

A number of people have been curious about where the old route at Birchbank was. For the most part, it has vanished, but because there are a few remnants of old blue blazes scattered about, people keep looking. The survey map below settles the question near the overlook.

Filed Map #2685

Near the overlook, the current route is the best of the three. But what about to the south? That is very steep, rocky terrain. We've found part of that route, too, but that's for another blog post. 

New Paugussett Signs

The new design

Inspired by a sign seen along the Appalachian Trail alerting hikers to an upcoming road walk, we've decided to try out some new informational signs along the Paugussett Trail. We have three road walks along the Paugussett Trail in Shelton, and most hikers assume the trail simply ends there at the road. So this seems like a great way to let people know the trail continues and how to follow it. Blazes along roadways can suddenly disappear if, for example, telephone poles are replaced or blazes on curbs are covered with fresh asphalt.

Appalachian Trail sign: "Road Walk Ahead"

The design was paper under a piece of plexiglass that was screwed onto a painted board. We noted that part of the information on Appalachian Trail had faded to nothing, so we used a good laser copier on the darkest setting, stuck to black and white, and then sprayed the paper with several coats of a special acrylic sealer designed to filter out UV rays. The sealer will help the paper hold up if it gets wet, too. We had some spare cedar shingles laying around, so we used those to make a simple roof. We considered laminating the paper under the plexiglass, but thought water might get trapped between the laminating plastic and the plexiglass and fog up. We can always try that next if this doesn't work.

Welcome to Birchbank Mountain

We also wanted to inform hikers coming in from Indian Well when they've reached Birchbank Mountain, because most of them think they are still on DEEP property, and this design seemed like it might work.

"Road Walk Ahead"

When we're done, there should be six signs for the three road walks (one from each direction): Mayflower Lane, Okenuck Way/Boulder Path, and Thoreau Drive.