The Joy of Moving Rocks at The Sheep Pen

The Trails Committee is rebuilding a wetland crossing on Oak Valley Trail know as "The Sheep Pen".  It's know as that because there are piles of zig zag rocks crossing the trail that indicate that there used to be split rail fences enclosing some type of livestock, probably sheep, in the late 1700's or early 1800's in this location.  For more on the Sheep Pen go here.

Back in the Day intrepid Connecticut Yankee Farmers would wait until later winter or early spring, take their teams of oxen, stone boats, and 10 children, along with assorted Indians and slaves and pluck the rocks that the New England Frost moved up to the surface of the fields every year.  They would then roll the rocks onto the stone boat and have the oxen haul the stone boats to piles of rocks  or stone wall locations along the edges of the fields; usually where it was wet, or it dropped off, to create more usable and plow-able fields.

Above is one of the many fine pictures from Eric Sloane showing how hard the original Yankees worked in yesteryear eaking out a livelihood from New England's hillside farms - from The Seasons of America Past. This is how it was traditionally done in the past.  I'm SO glad that we have electricity and gasoline powered engines now.  I'd hate to be doing this muddy rock work, AND smelling Ox farts all day.  Today's volunteers have it so easy.

Fast forward 200 years and the cleared fields have reverted to wooded forests.  The subsistence farmers in search of food moved to Ohio, and the current residents have evolved into nature loving suburbanites trying to work some food off.  Hence the hiking trails, and the need for crossing the swamp.

We tried a fairly low-tech project to cross the swamp a couple of years ago, but the boards were in the mud and that let to a lot of complaints regarding the crossing.  A sturdier, and more robust solution, similar to what we had in place over by Rt. 108 was discussed and approved in 2022-23.  

The Sheep Pen crossing after a large storm. The Bane of White Sneakers.

#1. Decide to build a bog walk:      a number of options were debated.  One option was to bridge the whole swamp with a single span, that that longer span was more expensive than shorter spans.  The trouble with shorter spans was then you were trying to build in organic muck; which settles when you put a load on it.  We poked about trying to find the most cost effective solution.

#2.  Get your gear in to the work area.  The John Deere Gator was getting an engine rebuild at the time so, it was drive in part way and roll or drag the rest of the way. Did I mention that there was little to no snow this winter, but lots of rain? 

#3. Inform the public about is going on.  Some people looked at the stockpiled rocks and decided to dump them in the swamp "trying to help?"  That just doubled the work because the rocks had to get fished out of the water and moved to the proper location.  So the nice notices went up.  We still have to move some big rocks out.

#4. Poke about in the Muck.  Some checking of the muck thicknesses with a digging bar showed that there usually was something solid about two feet deep in some areas.  The trick was to put a solid foundation those spots on which to build a new crossing.

#5.  Locate some rocks:     Not a problem in Shelton.  We are blessed, or cursed, with lots and lots of rocks.  Find a supply pile (Site B) uphill of the construction site (Site A), because it easier to move rocks downhill rather than uphill.

 Helpful Trail Tip:  A 12 lb. digging bar is great for prospecting for rocks.  It's light enough to carry, but sturdy enough to move some well-established rocks from their beds.

#6. Move the rocks from Point A to Point B:    You can pick up some rocks and carry them. That gets hard on the back after a while.  Or you can go old school and slid the rock on a stone boat using a team of oxen.

#7 Slide the Rocks. Teams of Oxen being scarce in 2023 we used a plastic toboggan.  This normally works well in a snowy winter, but we had some tough sledding this winter in the year of no snow, so the toboggan had to slide on dry oak leaves, which were sufficiently slippery.   Two ropes were used on the sled to keep it from building up too much momentum and breaking away downhill.  The sled was steered back and forth on the downhill route with controlled momentum.

Trail Safety Tip:  Mind your toes and downhill co-workers.  A plastic toboggan filled with heavy rocks on a steep slope can develop a mind of it's own and take off exploring, often over or through anything in it's path.

#8. Use a hand truck and wheel them over.  Other options are using a hand truck.

The hand truck works great over fairly level, firm surfaces.  

#9 Roll Them.  Bigger rocks can also be rolled on steel pipes or logs across planks or hard surfaces.  Rolling is much easier on the back too.  I think the conduits were saved from an earlier bat house installation - save those scraps - they may come in useful someday.#5 Dig a Hole.  The cutter mattock works well to cut tree roots.  The shovel and rock bar work well too.

Here's one pier excavated in muck down to some firm bottom between two embedded rocks.  A layer of silt fence was placed across the bottom of the excavation prior to placing the rocks.  The silt fence helps the rock act as one stable foundation and keeps the individual rocks from sinking down to China in the muck.  This silt fence was scavenged from City Open Space behind Sinsabaugh from an earlier construction project.

The silt fence is flipped up over the rocks and more rocks piled on top of them to create a sandwich of rocks that acts as one stable unit.

#10.  Identify where the foundation piers will go and how to bridge them:      The mucky spots would get dug out, place some old silt fence across the bottom of the excavation to keep the stones from sinking out of site, backfill the hole with stones, and wrap the silt fence so the footing would act as one unit.

#11 Oh yeah - Enabling Work.  Move the old bog walk out of the way of the new construction, but keep it safe to use for moving stone and letting the public pass thru while you're working.

There were a lot of people out using Oak Valley Trail this past Sunday.  Mostly walkers, generally positive about the improvements.  Willing to waltz thru the work zone.  

 It was nice to talk to everyone out using the trails.  I am really impressed with how some people are able to keep their dogs out of the muck and ooze, despite it being an inviting destination, and then not bound over and shake muck or shower you with happy paws afterwards to show their undying love.  Their dogs are much more civilized than ours.

.    #11 Place the Rocks .   Move the rocks into place with rock bar, pick, and back.

After a while you get a complete bog walk pier.  The wooden bog walk will be built on the piers above the water over the next few weeks.