Busy Beavers at Boehm Pond

 It appears that the beavers have been busy recently along Boehm Pond Trail.

The water levels are up and there is fresh evidence that the beavers have been out grocery shopping.

There are fresh sticks on the dam located just upstream of Winthrop Woods Road.

It's an impressive feat of engineering.

 Wish we could hire them to clear trails for us.

The trails were in great shape this past weekend.  The beech tree leaves glowed in the late afternoon sun.

The "corkscrew oak" just off the red trail was really impressive.  It's a very large twin oak that has kind of grown into each other at at couple of locations with the trunks twisting around the tree.  Look for it as you're passing the timber flooded by the beavers.

Boehm Pond is a great trail area for fall hikes.  The best parking spots are on Farmill Street, or Winthrop Woods Road.  There are also neighborhood pedestrian connections from some nearby streets.  All the trails were clear, there are new signs, and fresh trail blazes.  Print out a map from the Blog before you go.

Helpful Trail Tip: Bring a hiking stick; the fresh dry leaves can be slippery when walking downhill.  

Boehm Pond Trail Extension

On Saturday Morning, a committed band of trail volunteers braved briars, raspberries, and saplings to complete the extension of Boehm Pond trail out to Boehm Circle.  It was a long-standing goal of the City's to improve neighborhood access to a particularly nice open space on the west side of Shelton. 

A pedestrian easement "along the old woods road" out to Boehm Circle was created during the original subdivision.  The old woods road had quite a few saplings growing in it when the work party started, but fewer after we finished.

If you knew where to look you could find the trail.  But knowing where to look and easily finding a enjoyable trail to walk can be two very different things.  The volunteers took out logs, saplings, and cleared out the old road to create a clear trail corridor.  Bob Woods continued his quest to clear Shelton open spaces of trash, despite having a couple of saplings dropped on his noggin by some yahoo.  The last couple hundred feet out to the turnaround at the end of Boehm Circle were particularly lovely with a dense patch of interlocking briars about 10 feet tall that we had to get through.  Thank goodness for leather gloves, thick clothing and brushcutters.

Here is the entrance being punched out to Boehm Circle.  This entry provides local residents a way to access the network of trails in their neighborhood off Far Mill Street.  A variety of potential loops are now possible with road walks and trails in the area.  Some of the footing just off the circle may be a little rough at first due to a drainage ditch; but it will improve with use over time.

Boehm Pond Trail passes a scenic pond (currently being modified by beavers), Winthrop Woods Roads, Boehm Brook and the bridge above, and a network of trails out to Far Mill Street and the surrounding neighborhoods.  It's a very pretty spot to enjoy in the Fall.  Thanks to Paul, Mark, Ryan, Vince, Val, Jim, Graham, Bob and Terry for helping out.

Helpful Trail Safety Tip:  Mind the Acorns going Downhill, or you may be on a roll.  Feel free to toss a few sticks off the trail when you can. 

Happy Trails from your Shelton Trails Committee.
 

Boehm Pond Bridge Relocation

During one of the storms this winter Mother Nature decided our footbridge on Boehm Pond Brook was too low and decided to move it downstream about 100 feet.  It came to rest under a tree at the top of a scenic cascade.  The Boehm Pond Bridge was built 2 Years ago, had weathered a number of storms successfully and was pinned int the bank, but this time the stream was really whippin' and the pins didn't hold.

This was where the bridge used to be.  We thought it would be a pretty simple matter to have 2 guys pick it up and walk it back into place.  So on a bright and blustery Saturday morning Bill and Jim went to get it and lo and behold it was heavier than expected.

Here's Jim, Bill & Bob rummaging in the brush trying to get the bridge out of the stream by themselves.  That wasn't happening so we went to Plan B:  get more volunteers and a rope.  Where were all the high school students today? 

With the aid of more volunteer horsepower they were able to slide the bridge across a log, carry it back upstream, then down a slope and back across the brook where another team had raised the stone foundations higher so the bridge wouldn't get washed out quite so readily in the future.

The relocated bridge back in place on the new footings.

We took a some time to level up the bridge, add more rocks to the foundation, and improve the access approaches.  Jim brought some steel cable out and he and Mike attached one end of the bridge to a nearby tree so if the bridge got adventurous again it wouldn't wander too far downstream.  (We didn't ask Jim why he happened to be driving around with some extra steel cable in his car).

Then the crews split up and cleared brush and blowdowns along the White and Yellow trails.  Some went over to Boehm Pond and looked at the old bridge on the North end of the pond.  Jim was the bravest and ventured across and back successfully.  He thinks we can just replace some of the old deck timbers.  This would re-open fishing access around the far side of the pond, which is part of the public open space.

Other people went out and cleared some larger blowdowns on the trail extension out to Boehm Circle.  There's a pedestrian easement that leads back out to Farmill Street there.  Several trees were down blocking the way though.

Mark cut up one large ash jumble that was blocking the path.

You can see the "Blonding" for the woodpeckers looking for the Emerald Ash Borers that all killing off the ash trees.  What a shame losing all these nice trees due to an invasive insect and what countless hours are required statewide to clean up this mess.

We also cleared out some multiple birch blowdowns that were blocking a re-route across the Brook.  There's more brush to cut, but at least it's smaller stuff now.  This was a busy morning and we got a lot accomplished; a bridge restoration, cleared multiple blowdowns, and general trail clean-up.  Thanks to Val, Mike W., Bill, Bob, Mark, Jim, Mike F., and Terry.  Now people can go watch the NCAAs.

Boehm Pond Woodpeckers

Woodpeckers were on the loose along the Boehm Pond Trail in Shelton yesterday.  The Farmill Open Space has a number of downed trees and some of them make great habitat for woodpeckers.  Signs of woodpeckers were everywhere.

The Conn DEEP has a good fact sheet on local woodpeckers.  Apparently we have 7 different species in Connecticut, and when they're not twacking on the side of our house at dawn they do a good job of helping recycle trees that have blown down in storms.  We may have discovered an 8th species of woodpecker yesterday:

A pair of Picoides volunteerus (Scruffy Volunteer Woodpeckers) were creating loud noises and sawdust along Boehm Pond Brook clearing a multiple blow down that had lodged itself across the Yellow Trail.

An oak tree had fallen in a storm, hit another tree, that then toppled a twin tree, which hit another tree which split the twin tree like a wishbone after Thanksgiving Dinner.  Nature can be messy in surprising creative ways at times.

After a while, and some side trips for extra gas, files for dull chains, and a backup chain saw, the mess was cleared and the trail restored.  You can see where the Picoides volunteerus have been at work as you hike the trail.

Meanwhile Jimmy, Val, Anthony, and Mike were clearing the rest of the White and Yellow trails to make the footing easier and clearer.  (They also made it easier for the birds, squirrels, and chipmunks to find the covered acorns).  The woods were bustling with wildlife after they finished.

The White Trail crosses Boehm Pond Brook at this rippling cascade (mind your footing) before crossing Winthrop Woods Road to get to the Pond.

Boehm Pond is tucked away in the woods and is a secluded fishing spot.  If you're quiet you may see some wildlife.  There were 4 deer who were hanging out at mid-day in the swamp near the pond.

Stop and look around in this park and you may see some interesting things, like this little wildflower along the trail.  There are some great locations where it's surprising quiet (when there's not a trails work party going on), and you can enjoy the birds, wildlife, babbling brooks, huckleberries, and maybe even catch a fish for dinner.  Take some time to explore the Boehm Pond Trail as part of the 2016 Shelton Trails Marathon.  You may be happy that you did.  Thanks to all our volunteers that took time on a beautiful Saturday to help with Spring Cleaning.