Find a Way

We've had a lot of problems in the past with the Paugussett Trail at Mayflower Lane; probably more problems in this one spot than in the rest of the trail combined.  Signs torn down, painted blazes on trees removed, city open space landscaped like it's part of someone's yard to confuse hikers, bush and yard waste dumped directly in the trail bed, trees cut down, athletic equipment parked directly in the trailhead so people don't know where to go.  And it's been going on for years.

We're just volunteers trying to help out our town and frankly, we have better things to do with our weekends than keep cleaning up this nonsense.  So after last weeks work party to clean up the Mayflower Trailhead, yet again.  I, along with my daughter Emma, added a nice sign at the trailhead, so that trail users could easily find the trail entrance behind the basketball hoop, and continue their walk through City Open Space at the appropriate location.  This wound up costing me close to $20 in ice cream between Emma and Tyler (who took the picture) at Wells Hollow Farm after our little work party.

The trail marker posts were installed by the Trails Committee the previous week as part of our clean up work party, and after they were up it was just apparent that a small sign would fit nicely when viewed from the cul-de-sac.  It has a little City of Shelton open space sign, and a small Connecticut Forest and Parks Association sign to note who the property owner is that gave permission to put the trail there, and who takes care of the trail.  It didn't seem like a big deal at the time.

Well, some of the neighbors had a major hissyfit about the sign attracting all the riffraff hikers to their neighborhood, contacted one of the aldermen, who rather than fact checking, shot off a scathing and stunningly inaccurate e-mail to the Mayor, who after some back and forth with various Trails Committee members, most of whom liked the sign, decided to take the sign down and remove the neighbor's athletic equipment from the public Right of Way.  Who knew hiking trails could get this dramatic!

So, enjoy your walk, be nice, smile and wave at the neighbors on Mayflower Lane, pick up a little trash along the way, and send in your pictures at the trailhead.to the Shelton Trails Blog.

Switching gears, Sunday was a nice day so why not spend part of it cleaning graffiti of the sign kiosk at the entry to the Shelton Lakes Recreation Path on Lane Street?  Somebody though the kiosk built by Eagle Scouts could be embellished by their initials.  Idiots.  But a little Goof Off and a lot of elbow grease later it was gone.  Somebody also spray painted the Lane Street Boardwalk, and Harriet Wilber's Memorial Bench at the Land Trust Meadow.   It only took some more Goof Off and a wire wheel to clean up that mess.

The Bench is probably a lost cause at this point, but that's up to the Shelton Land Conservation Trust.  They were doing a nice job that morning planting an oak tree supplied by the Olde Ripton Garden Club at the far end of the meadow along the RecPath.  It seems that there's always an arms war between those that want to make their communities better places to live and those who would make them worse places.  This Sunday it was the nice people, who are stubborn and persistent, who came out on top.  And a hundred years from now I hope that peoples grand kids enjoy the oak tree that they planted.

   
The End.  Courtesy of Rich S. and his camera that knows no restraint when trying to capture someones good side.

Dig We Must!

A small section of the Paugussett Trail in Shelton strays from the natural wooded path onto Mayflower Lane, returning to the wild at the Wiacek farm fields. To keep hikers aware of the correct trail entrance at the end of the cul-de-sac and avoid straying onto adjacent neighbor's properties, it was decided to erect posts clearly visible from the road. Shelton Trail Committee members Bill, Terry, Jim, and Richard were joined by volunteers Joyce and Harry on this work party.

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Jim scouts the area for a place to erect the posts. The trail entrance is barely visible behind him

One hole dug,  Jim pounds rebar into the sides to reinforce the concrete to be added

Harry takes a turn with the post-hole digger. 

Bill tries to keep the post level while Terry adds concrete

Bill uses a special level to keep the post straight on all sides

Richard stands idly by while Harry tops off the post hole

Joyce joins Bill, Richard, Harry, and Jim after working back on the trail

The finished posts. Blazes, and possibly signs, will be added later.

Since we finished erecting the posts sooner than we expected, we turned our attention to the trail itself, trimming wayward branches and weeds, and removing exposed roots and "trippers", small tree stumps that had been missed during previous clearing.

Terry cuts a dead tree that blocks a view of the trail ahead

Joyce goes after some wayward roots

Clearing the way

Unfortunately, where there are people, there is trash, and possibly a lost golfer!

This work party accomplished its goal, increasing the visibility of the trail entrance as well as cleaning up a bit of the trail itself. Come to our next work party!

Test Driving the New Basil Brook Bypass

It was a great day for a hike, and a pack of 9 adults, 5 kids and 4 fur persons turned out to trek the newly created Basil Brook Bypass. Bill, Lynn, and Richard of the Shelton Trails Committee guided this tour of our new trail, a 1 mile diversion from the Shelton Lakes Recreation Path, for those who would enjoy a more primitive hike. A side route leads to a waterfall, which due to the lack of rain this summer, was as dry as Basil Brook itself. But everyone on the hike appeared to enjoy the overall expedition.

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The group stepped out from the Lane Street entrance to the rec path. Maverick was more interested in exploring the hayfield than the trail

 

Jessica takes the lead through the meadows

The bypass is entered from the rec path

Look for the signs showing the way

The bypass offered a diversity of environments

Unfortunately, due to the lack of rain this season, one of the highlights along the trail, the waterfall, was bone dry...

...as was Basil Brook itself

The group poses at the end of our adventure. Missing from photo, Trails Committee members Lynn and her two pups, and Richard

We're hoping that with the return of substantial rain, the new trail will present a different and relaxing environment for all to enjoy, a welcome addition to the existing network of trails that we currently enjoy in Shelton. 

NOTE: These trails do not build themselves. We depend upon volunteer help in creating and maintaining the more than 14 miles of trails in town. Join us on a work party and feel the satisfaction in knowing you've somehow paid back for the enjoyment you find in using your trails.

Attack of the Trail Huggers

One of our trails, the closest to downtown Shelton, winds its way the woods at Riverview Park. The section behind the ball fields was overgrown and badly in need of a haircut. In spite of the proximity of poison ivy (which seems to be everywhere and in abundance this year)Trails Committee members and volunteers plowed into the jungle and cleared at least one overgrown section of trail.

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It took a lot of hacking to clear the Japanese Knotweed, a fierce invasive, from the entrance to this section. The pile in the foreground is just from the first few feet

Edmund and Joe plan the next area to attack

Joe utilizes a weed-whacker to clear a path

Bob finds battling the Japanese Knotweed a real challange

At the next ball field, weeds choked the narrow path right up to the fence

At this point, it became impractical to work here here without being right in the midst of the worst poison ivy growth

This was a bumper crop!

Although we were successful in clearing a substantial length of overgrown trail, we had to abandon a piece for the time being until we are prepared to attack the poison ivy without exposing any of us to the dreaded, inevitable itchy rash.

Attack of the Knotweed - Birchbank Trail

Japanese Knotweed obliterates the trail in just a few weeks

I think we can all agree that Japanese Knotweed is evil.  It's an invasive species that shoots up quickly each spring, with canes reaching heights of 12 to 15 feet in a very short time, and over an inch in diameter. The roots can go down eight feet deep and come up through pavement. It's extremely tough to kill: When you cut it back it just shoots right back up again.  

Birchbank Trail runs through an ever expanding patch of the stuff, starting at the entrance and continuing 350 feet down the trail. The above photo of Birchbank Trail was taken in June. Since we have an intern this year, we decided to finally tackle the cancer that is knotweed. The first emergency step was to just clear a path, which intern Stephen did with hand pruners. People could now find the trail, but the knotweed starting growing back over the trail lightening fast, about a foot a week. So we decided to get the big gun: the brush cutter. The two photos below are a before and after of the exact same location:

Before using the brushcutter

Exact same location after removing the knotweed

Because knotweed grows as a colony, we decided to cut every shoot we could in the patch. Just cutting part of it is like trying to slay a giant by hacking at his toe. But even this will all be a waste of time if we don't follow up with repeated cutting to weaken the giant, followed by applications of Round-Up in late summer and fall when the plant begins to draw nutrient down out of the leaves and into the roots. Most of this plant is underground, so we need to starve it by repeated cutting.

While cutting, I discovered several native species hiding down below the tall canes of knotweed along the periphery, such as Jack-in-the-Pulpit and Trillium. While cutting the knotweed frees these natives from certain death by asphyxiation, they are now vulnerable to deer. One thing we plan to do is install a deer exclosure around a small area to demonstrate the impacts of deer.

UPDATE June 2016: The battle continues. Repeated cutting! Here's what the area looks like now:

June 2016. 

Please Fence Me In!

Time and weather have taken their toll on much of our split rail fence along the Silent Waters dam. Periodically, the Shelton Trails Committee, with volunteer assistance, replaces the rotted and broken rails where they pose the most danger. It doesn't help that some teens (and possibly adults) test the strength of the fence by sitting or standing on the top rail. Our goal is to prevent serious injury from occurring by maintaining a solid fence line.

 Click on photos to enlarge

Wild foliage growth spreads onto the path. Poison ivy is a big concern this year

Bill and Jim cut a rail to fit a short section of fence

Mary assists in rail placement

Luis hacks away at the weeds with our gas-powered hedge trimmer

Meanwhile, a fisherman enjoys the serenity of Silent Waters (while we work!)

A repaired section of the fence at a favorite observation point

In all, we replaced ten rails this day, which doesn't seem like much, but the work can at times be strenuous and difficult. Some rails go in easy, others require military tactics. There will be future work parties involving rail replacement, and we could use more volunteer help if we are to be more productive. Come out and give us a hand next time! You'll feel good about it!

HAY JUDE, keep it mowing

All the trails are exploding with vegetation this June due to some of the recent rain.  It can be tough for a limited pool of volunteers to keep up with it all.

Here's Joe at the Lane St. Boardwalk trying to clear brush along the RecPath in Huntington Center.

 

Somewhere in this picture is our mowing crew, or Waldo, we're not sure which.

Here's the boys.  They are trying to clear back the hayfield that is overtaking our 8 foot wide RecPath.

Jim & Rich out mowing the trails with our DR Mower.  One of the drawbacks to a crushed stone path in open areas is grass growing into the trailbed.