Steamy Saturday at French's Hill

It was a busy, and steamy weekend.  The icky heat dome settling over most of the country, made conditions in Conn. , well, Icky.  That is the technical term.  Everything has been growing, we at jumping from open space to open space trying to keep the trails clear from the Spring and Summer growth, and today was our day to tackle French's Hill.

Fortunately, we had a wonderful, and hardy, group of Shelton volunteers who were undeterred by the weather and showed up to work.  Armed with lots of bug juice, water, and more water, we headed into the woods.

Helpful Trail Tip:  Don't open your mouth to talk to your co-workers immediately after you're sprayed your head and hat with OFF at the start of the work party.  It's really not the best flavor experience.

 

 

Ellen, Ann, and Val were whacking briars and such along the trail from the parking lot into the fields and powerlines.

 

Luis and some of the younger guys were working on the thick brush along the Red trail across the Eversource powerlines.  They then worked clockwise around the loop trail.

 

Hubbel Farm has been haying the fields at French's Hill.  Now that the hay crop is in, with the improvements to the trails, there is a nice opportunity to enjoy the views from the farm fields.

Jeff, Mike, and Terry were cutting barberry and other sharp, pointy and unwanted shrubbery along the trail going counterclockwise around the loop.

Bill Dyer tackled modifications to the boards on the bog walk.  We didn't expect him today, but he had a break from grandparent duties and came out to enjoy the humidity with the rest of us.   It was very steamy in the woods from last night's rains and thunderstorms.

 

Ellen & Co. did a good job cutting out briars along the White trail.

Hopefully we get a few more photos of everybody working.  One of the problems with the work parties is that we all get busy working and nobody has time to take photos.  That doesn't mean that everyone wasn't working.  We had a couple of coolers of beverages going around, and by the end of the work party much of those drinks were gone, and everyone was soaked, and filthy by the end.  It was a good day in the field.  Some days, you're not sure what you actually got done at work.  That was not the case today.

Thanks to Ann, Bill, Jevon, Val, Nolan, Ellen, Jeff, Jason, Michael, Terry, and Luis for coming out today.

And a big thanks to Mark Vallaro who came out yesterday and weedwhacked the entry drive and parking lot prior to the work party.

Next Up - TBD - probably Silent Waters and the RecPath.  Check back for updates.

Hiking with Umbrellas?

On the way out the door for a hike on Sunday the forecast was for "scattered showers".  I reached for a rain coat just in case.  My wife said I should take an umbrella instead.  I had one in the car, but I took the coat with me.  At the Turkey Trot Trail the sky didn't look that threatening so I took the umbrella and left the raincoat in the car, what the heck, give it a shot.  Out in the woods over by the powerlines it started to sprinkle, then got a little harder, then harder, then it started to rain.  About as far from the car and my rain coat as possible.

But, I had an umbrella, and it worked fine.  My wife is a genius.  Coming down the hill onto the RecPath by Silent Waters I came across another group of hikers with umbrellas.

They too were happily hiking in the rain without getting soaked.  Great minds think alike.

Further along there was a turtle by Silent Waters.  He or she had it's own built-on umbrella, but it didn't seem to mind getting wet.  

The Mountain Laurel were in full flower, and looked better with a little rain and some cloudy weather.

Silent Waters was really pretty this morning.  There were no crowds, and I found out that umbrellas can be a great hiking tool for summer walks.

Nicholdale June 2024 - Stuff is Growing: Holy #$?!!&

It's June - there's water, and sun, and it's warm, and everything is freaking growing.  At once. Everywhere.  It's the busy time of the trail year.  

The trails on the Shelton Land Trust's property at Nicholdale and the surrounding trails are no exception.  Luckily, we had some wonderful volunteers to show up on Saturday to brush back the summer vegetation.  on the Means Brook Greenway.

Bodie and Daniel did a great job weedwhacking the trails.  The sections in the open sun were out of control in places.

 

This was a "Before" photo of a one of the trails connecting the Nichols Trail with the Stockmal Trail on the north side of Rt. 110.

Here's the "After" photo.    Much clearer where to go.

Cooper and Jeff were working on the Nicholdale Connector.  The cleared sections of the trail and cut away brush so you can clearly see the trail signs and painted blazes.

 

It's a big improvement when you're trying to find your way.  The Shelton Land Trust mows the trails in the fields with a tractor and mower, but they have a tougher time working in the woods.

John and Jeff lead the group across Rt. 110 where they worked on clearing out Stockmal Trail over towards Means Brook.  The sections at the Iroquois Gas Pipeline, the swamp before the bridge, and the fern walk afterwards needed to be opened up.

 Daniel and Bodie were clearing out the trails around the junction.

Luis cleared out over to the Nicholdale sign along Rt 110, then worked down to The Stone Bridge.  The other's came back from the north side of Rt. 110, and then worked their way on the Nichols Trail and cleared out the Pearmain Path too.

 

The Stone Bridge had been hidden in hay and weeds.  But not now.

Nicholdale has a number of waypoint nature signs explaining various features of the property.  Now access to them is all cleared out.

 

Ellen Cramp was clearing out briars along the trails with the new electric hedgetrimer.  It's a new addition to our trail tools and seems to be quite useful.

It's a busy time of the year keeping up with all the new growth along the trails.  But, we had a fine crew of volunteers today and got a lot of trails in the White Hills cleared.  It was a really productive morning.  We didn't get pictures of everybody, but their work is still much appreciated.  Thanks to Joe Welsh from the Land Trust for helping out, thanks to Annie, Cooper, Daniel, Bodie, John, Jeff, Luis, Terry, Ellen, and Ted.  Hot work, but well done.  And thanks to Jeff for bringing all the water bottles.

If anyone is doing the 2024 Shelton Trails Challenge the trails around Nicholdale are much easier to walk after today.

The Shelton Land Conservation Trust has another work party scheduled next Saturday to remove invasive species.  From what I saw today there are a lot of targets to remove.  Check the Land Trust's website for additional information.

TRAIL CONDITIONS

May and June are when the vegetation grows faster than we can cut it. Here are some trail conditions as of June 5, 2024: 

These trails should be OK (the problems spots have been cut once): 
*Birchbank Mountain (all trails)
*Paugussett Trail (clear from Monroe border to Buddington Road; muddy spot south of Meadow St.)
*Woodsend Trail
*Indian Well S.P. & Tahmore Preserve

These trails are probably mostly OK:
*Shelton Lakes trails (expect a few shaggy spots)
*Boehm Pond (the connector out to Boehm Circle is likely overgrown
*Gristmill Trail
*Riverview Park (not sure of one spot at the basketball court)

These trails are normally very overgrown this time of year and will need clearing:
*Nicholdale/Stockmal (work party scheduled for June 8)
*French's Hill (work party scheduled for June 22)
*Little Pond Trail

Trails Day 2024 at Birchbank Mountain

Taking a break at the Birchbank overlook

We were gifted with absolutely perfect weather for Trails Day 2024. Some meteorologists were even calling it a "top ten" day, with temps in the 70s and low humidity. There weren't even hardly any bugs! On the agenda was one of the hikes listed in the 2024 Shelton Trails Marathon Challenge. 
 

Breaktime at the overlook

The crew broke into two groups, a moderate paced one in front and a more relaxed group bringing up the rear. Both groups enjoyed the moderate climb up Birchbank Trail along the scenic cascades of Upper White Hills Brook, passing Chimney Junction, and crossing the brook at the upper bridge. The groups then took a turn onto the blue-blazed Paugussett Trail to make the ascent up to the Birchbank Overlook. 

Coming down the rock steps from the overlook
(photo by Lisa Adriani)

A number of hikers were working on the 2024 hiking challenge, with some doing Level 1 and other doing Level 2. So after a nice break, the Level 2 hikers set out to explore the Burritt's Rocks loop (a Level 2 hike for the 2024 challenge) while the rest of the crew returned back to their cars (all downhill!)

The Level 2 hike through Burritt's Rocks
(Photo by Lisa Adriani)

A perfect day! Hope everyone was able to get outside and enjoy it. 

Both groups made it back in one piece - a pair of fun hikes.