RecPath Clearing - at the Lower Wesley Drive Crossing

We had 13 people out on a beautiful Saturday morning to cut back the vegetation along the Shelton Lakes Recreation Path from the lower Wesley Drive crossing going North to the upper Weslesly Drive crossing.

Some people went toward Lane St. and some went north toward Wesley Dr.

Devin did well with the brushcutter after we got the correct poly cut blades to the worksite.

Bill Dyer was clearing out sightlines along the road to make the crossings safer.

The Shelton High School students did a good job clearing along the Path.

The volunteers cut back the briars along the RecPath

Val Gosset kept all the volunteers moving in a productive fashion. The trail bridge decking needs a bit of work and we are trying to organize that for this fall. It was a good work party and we thank everyone who came out. Thanks to Noiah, Hoelle, Aiden, Luis, Devin Val, Terry, Jeff, Anne, Sason, Tyrell, Betsey, and Bill.

Trail Status: Closures and Conditions

Heavy rainfall on August 18 lead to road regional
road closures, but mostly spared Shelton except
for the White Hills/Birchbank areas. 

We've had a microburst, some flooding, and stuff just keeps growing, so here's your trail status update:

*Most of Shelton was spared the worst of the flooding and we don't expect any major issues, except perhaps at Birchbank, which had more rain than the rest of town. We've heard that Indian Well Road going into the Birchbank neighborhood is closed due to the road being undermined. The Paugussett Trail in Monroe may be impassable at Cottage Street due to a road washout, not sure (see photo of rainfall totals)

*Boehm Pond Trails have just been cleared (8/21). There are still 8-10 logs to step over or around, but nothing too difficult.

*Shelton Lakes trails are mostly cleared, but there are still some step-over logs to be cut on Turkey Trot Trail and a big blowdown on the blue/white connector between the Dog Park and powerline.

*All other trails are clear of microburst damage as far as we know.

*Indian Well State Park: DEEP has reopened the falls parking area once again, although they still close it randomly, especially when the park is busy. DEEP staff has verified that the nearby off-season lot is in fact open for parking, even though someone posted a "private parking area" tow zone sign in front of it (at the entrance to the Maples).

*We're still trying to catch up with summer overgrowth, which happens during rainy years because everything keeps growing. The Rec Path near Wesley Drive was cut back last weekend. The section going down to Lane Street is pretty overgrown (although it did get mowed), as is the Bluff Walk and Riverview Park. Be prepared for other potential shaggy spots.

One Week of Microburst Clearing

The approximate core of the 8/3/2024 microburst

Right after the storm, in which 44% of Shelton residents lost power, we knew there would be lots of damage, but it took almost a week before we had a handle on how localized the damage was to an east-west swath cutting across town. Some trails at Shelton Lakes were impassable while some areas like Birchbank seem untouched. There weren't even any leaves or branches on the ground. Based on the trail damage pattern and what some of the streets looked like, the above map is a rough approximation of the core damage path. 

Most of the fallen trees are pointing to the east, the same direction that the storm was traveling. Some people were arguing that this was a tornado, but the damage was caused by straight-line winds. According to meteorologists, the storm cell possibly produced a funnel cloud in Trumbull (one photo is said to be inconclusive), but the dramatic video and photos taken from Shelton and widely shared on social media look like a shelf cloud associated with the downburst. 

The Rec Path near Lane Street

Terry and Mark removed a big Tulip Tree from the Rec Path

SUNDAY: At any rate, the storm was Saturday evening, and Sunday morning I headed out to start clearing what I could. Like a lot of other people in town, I had to keep turning around due to closed roads, and traffic lights were out in Huntington Center and all along Shelton Ave. I decided to start at Indian Well and Tahmore Preserve because these are popular trails on a Sunday, but the only real storm damage I found was at the very top of the hill at Tahmore Preserve. So I headed back to Shelton Lakes (hitting another closed road) and worked on the Rec Path between Wesley Drive and Lane Street. 

Oak tops were heavy with acorns.
This is the trail after one was cleared

Meanwhile, responding to our first trail report, Terry Gallagher took his chainsaw to cut a large tree across the Rec Path near Wesley Drive. He was eventually joined by Mark Vollaro, who ran into so many closed roads on his way to help that it took him close to an hour to drive across town. It was a big tree, but they cleared it. 

A lot of the downed branches and trees were oak tops full of acorns. I suspect the extra weight of the acorns is what brought them down. We also had some tulip tree poplars, which get really tall and break easily. But the oaks tops were really something. A lot of broken oak tops were still dangling overhead after the storm. 

Luis Isaza on the Rec Path Monday

MONDAY: On Monday, all hands were on deck to clear the Rec Path, our most popular trail.  Of the seven Trails Committee members, three were out of town and a fourth has health issues, leaving three members to deal with the storm damage, with the help of a few additional dedicated volunteers. Ellen Cramp and Ray Hansen worked behind Pine Lake, Mark Vollaro and Luis Isaza worked from Silent Waters to Oak Valley, and I worked my way up from Wesley Drive to Oak Valley.  (Where was Terry Gallagher? Working at his job!) By the end of the day, the Rec Path was clear! Later in the day I walked Birchbank Mountain and only had to remove storm damage from one spot. It was like nothing happened there. 

Paugussett Trail north of Constitution Blvd

TUESDAY: Everyone was pretty tired on Tuesday. Ellen Cramp conducted a detailed survey of storm damage on Oak Valley Trail. Lisa Adriani had sent in a report for the Paugussett Trail north of Constitution Blvd, with lots of messy stuff that would be hard to walk through, so I started focusing on the Paugussett Trail and was able to clear most of the damage from there to Meadow Street. I carry a battery chainsaw and loppers and can get 80 or 90 percent of most storm damage so that it's passable, leaving larger logs for Terry and Mark. I contacted CFPA, who runs the Blue-Trail system, to let them know their trail was a complete mess but we were working on it. 

Downed trees typically pointed east
(Paugussett Trail above Silent Waters)

WEDNESDAY:  Paugussett Trail clearing continued with the trail at Housatonic Woods (minor tree damage) and the Indy Link section (north of Independence Drive). Discovered a line of oak tree tops on the ground between Turkey Trot Trail and the Paugussett Trail and was glad most of them missed the trail. 

Boehm Pond is a disaster

THURSDAY: I swung by Boehm Pond, hoping the storm had missed the preserve. Nope. It's a disaster. The white trail was impassable and will need lots of work. Lisa Adrian also surveyed the trail at about the same time. Somehow we missed each other. 

FRIDAY: I checked Stockmal Trail as the winds of Tropical Storm Debby started ramping up, hoping the microburst had missed it, and it had. Lots of sticks on the trail, but that was all. Ellen walked Nicholdale and found only minor tree damage. So that was good news. But the winds from Debby were pretty strong and more trees were falling across town. Ack. 

Mark and Ellen tackled this mess behind Eklund Garden

Much better!

SATURDAY: Mark Vollaro and Ellen Cramp worked on a massive oak blowdown blocking the Paugussett Trail behind Eklund Garden. Meanwhile, Terry Gallagher cleared some logs from the Paugussett between Turkey Trot Trail and Independence, including a booby-trapped oak hung up so badly that people are just going to have to go under it. I took a long walk from Birchbank to Indian Well and discovered three new blowdowns at Birchbank but was able to verify that the Paugusset section we call "Birch-Well" was clear. 

Terry cleared a way for the Paugussett Trail under this oak. 
There's no safe way to completely remove the tree.

Now it's Sunday and the crews are back out there working. We have the Paugussett Trail fully open and Nells Rock Trail is getting cleared. Some new damage reports from Storm Debby are coming in on areas we previously cleared. Oh well! 

Microburst 8/3/2024 Status

Mark Vollaro and Terry Gallagher worked on this large
Tulip Tree across the Rec Path near Wesley Drive

We were finally starting to catch up with all the overgrowth and then yesterday a severe thunderstorm passed through and now parts of Shelton look like a hurricane hit. The Shelton Lakes area seems to be particularly hard hit. Plan your hikes accordingly! 

We're working on it! We "blowdown" map we maintain to track where a chainsaw is needed. The map is public, so if you come across a tree across the trail and are wondering if we know about it, take a look at the map. If it's not on there, we probably don't know about it. 

Part of our Google chainsaw map showing one log that needs to be 
cut and three green check marks for trails that have been cleared
after the 8/3/2024 storm

Here's the custom Google Map showing blowdowns. We also have a temporary layer for this storm with green check marks for when a trail section has been marked "clear."  

With 32 miles of hiking trails to maintain, we do rely on reports from out trail users. If you see something, say something! After a big storm, even just a notice that a particular trail is clear gives us useful information and saves us a walk to check it out. Reports can be emailed to sheltontrailscommittee@gmail.com, or post something on the Trail Facebook Group. Please be as specific and detailed as possible, or it doesn't really help. That said, when we have widespread damage on a trail, it's not necessary to document the details of ten or twenty spots where branches and logs are across the trail. In that case, what we need to know is generally how bad it is (e.g. "impassible!") and what tools are needed. Exact locations of large diameter logs (>6") requiring a big chainsaw are most needed. Screenshots of your location on a trails app are super helpful, as are photos of the tree damage. 

Map app screenshots
are really helpful

We also really appreciate trail users who are able to clear back some of the smaller trail blockages, often from tree crown branches. Many of these types of blockages can be partly or entirely cleared with loppers and handsaws. Many thanks!