Shelton Winter Hike at Nells Loop Trail

We finally had snow yesterday just in time for our Winter Hike.  We schedule these events far in the future and hope that the weather will play along.  This year's hike was at Nells Loop Trail on Nell's Rock Road across from L'Hermitage Condominiums.

Thanks to Emma Gallagher for re-painting our snowman sign for the event.  It came out looking great.

After the snow the sun came out and it warmed up to around 40.  The snow wasn't quite enough to snowshoe in, but we did get in a good walk.  We had a great turn out of about 2 dozen hikers and 3 happy dogs.

We did the loop counterclockwise out to the powerlines, stopping at various trail junctions along the way.  The snow was soft but slippery in some of the steep sections.  It pays to have a trekking pole, walking stick, or micro spikes for differing snow conditions.

We didn't see any coyotes, but we did see a lot of coyote tracks along the trails.  We looped back crossing the Paugussett Trail (blue), and turned left (north) just before John Dominic Drive.

Winter Hiking Tip:  You can park in the cul-de-sac at John Dominic Drive off Buddington Road to access the trails in this area if the parking lot at the trailhead isn't plowed out.

The hike actually went quicker than anticipated (about 1 hr. for 2 miles), and everybody had a good time, fresh air, and seeing friends.  Thanks for coming out.  Now off to the football and hockey games on TV.