Scouts open Eklund Bypass Trail

A big THANK YOU to scouts Kenny Giangregorio & Nick Shigo and their fellow scouts and families for all the hard work. They spent many weekends replacing the J-Pond Bridge, cutting in the bypass trail for mountain bikes along the Eklund Cliff, fixing the footing through the boulderfield, removing garbage, and restoring habitats. We should get some more of those photos on the blog. This will help make hiking and biking easier along the Blue Dot Trail.

Mayflies in My Throat (and other enjoyable outdoor excursions)

Teresa & I worked at the Eklund Native Species Garden off Oak Valley Road this Sunday. We cleared out an area for a compost pile and tiedyied up the working end of the garden. There were a lot of really pretty native wildflowers in bloom - see the Eklund Garden Blog for photos. Visit Eklund Garden in the next couple of weeks when you have a chance to enjoy some of the natural beauty that we have in Shelton.

Did I mention that there were Mayflies? There were Mayflies, a lot of Mayflies. And since this was May second that probably shouldn't come as a surprise. However it was the lovely combination of Mayflies, unseasonably warm 80 degree temperatures, sun, and humidity (why is it humid this early?) that made for a grinder of an afternoon digging post holes in rock skree for the compost bin. There is small pond just below Eklund that is a really busy vernal pool with lots of Spring Peepers, Grey Tree Frogs, Wood Frogs, various salamanders, etc., and they all eat bugs including mosquitoes, and, you guessed it; Mayflies. The pond was literally boiling with activity which was interesting, but the downside was the bugs. We just kept spitting the Mayflies out, drinking more water, and we finished the compost enclosure.

There are a lot of improvements that could be made at Eklund including resetting a stone bench, raking leaves, clearing, chipping brush, building waterbars on the current Dominick ( and soon-to-be-Paugussett) Trail, picking up debris, placing woodchips, etc. We'll have to talk to some of the scouts about this trail work opportunity. I think that they'd get a lot of satisfaction in contributing to this community project.

Nick Sligo and his fellow scouts started working yesterday on a more gradual mountain bike trail down the Eklund Cliff just south of the Eklund Garden.

They are doing a little of the building "the path to Grandma's house" with all the downhill rocks and timbers, but this is coming along fine for the first day. They will also be rebuilding the J-Pond bridge & we hope to showcase their efforts on the May 15th guided hike (see schedule for more info). This project is a first for Shelton in that we have TWO eagle scout projects going on simultaneously in the same location.

The scouts will be working Saturdays from 9 to 2 and on Sundays from 11 to 2, if anyone wants to help. Feel free to bring shovels, tools, etc., and water or whatever (I'd suggest bug spray too).

There were a number of hikers out and the fishing areas on Nells Rock Road were packed. It was great to see so many people out enjoying the open spaces along the Shelton Lakes Greenway.

On Saturday, volunteers were also fixing up the Northwest Passage north of Independence Drive; cutting brush, digging out stumps, cutting trippies flush with the ground, grading the trailbed, etc in a race to get the Passage ready for National Trails Day. It's only 1 month away and we have THREE events scheduled in Shelton - the most that we've ever had. There is still a lot to do.

The CFPA brochures should be out this week - hopefully we can have some for our Trails Committee meeting Weds. night in City Hall (Room 303 at 5:00 - the public is welcome).

If the mayflies are not enough wildlife for you then check out Diane Carlson & Bridget Kelly's excellent Wildlife Lane blog for some great photos of local wildlife that you might see (possibly tipping over your garbage cans).


And thanks to all the Shelton High School students and everyone else who helped with the Housatonic River Clean-Up on Saturday. It was a great turn out by the students, particularly considering that the SAT's, First Communion, Scout Tag Sale, and other events were going on at the same time. See the In the Field blog for photos of the work from the Sunnyside boat ramp. Now if only we can keep the crap from getting IN the river the rest of the year.

I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK

Yesterday the FBN Tree Clearing Service (a crack division of Shelton Trails) took down the remainder of an oak tree that was shading the Eklund Native Species Garden - (see the Garden Blog for more photos). The tree was leaning over the deer fence that we installed last spring, and taking it down was a little fussy to avoid crushing the fence. And to top it off our "cloudy" afternoon began to drizzle after we started; a nice 38 degree drizzle that left everbody soaked and cold at the end of the job.

Here's a photo of Rich putting tension on the 5/8" pull rope with his come-along as the tree is being notched. Rich looks official with all his safety gear, and he has positioned himself as far away from the tree as possible. Bill is even further away behind a 36" oak taking this picture.

Here are Rich & Bill setting up the pull line earlier. We used the pull line and wedges to steer the tree where we wanted it to go. It's good to work as smartly and safely as possible.

Helpful Trail Tip: Bill had a bright idea to bring his extendable pole saw along to set the rope high on the tree trunk. The higher on the tree you can set the rope the more leverage you get during felling.

Well the tree landed almost where we wanted it too. But, the garden was still frozen and shouldn't be too disturbed. The main point was that it didn't crush the fence. Terry and Rich are bucking up the tree while Bill hauled off everything to the brush pile.

This should make a nice fire next winter. An occasional load of firewood is one of the benefits of being a trails volunteer. All we need now is for the Parks and Rec guys to chip up the brushpile when they have time in their schedule.

After we were done at Eklund we went over to Silent Waters to look at clearing some of the vines and briars near the bridge. We want to set a bench on top of the dam so people can enjoy the view, and we wanted to see the best way to do the work. Maybe this is something that Parks & Rec could tackle over the winter as a filler job, otherwise we trails volunteers can handle it. We also looked at the condition of the old Curtis Brook Bridge. Some joggers still like using it even though there's a new solid bridge right next to it.

Bill wanted to just patch the hole, while Rich & I were for taking it out. They were able to jump up and down on it without falling into the Brook - this time. Maybe we'll leave it in place as a science experiment in how long something will last without maintenance. Something to discuss at the next trails meeting I guess. With that, we decided to head home to get warm and dry. Hopefully Bill didn't come down with Swine Flu.

Bill sent out an e-mail about our next trails work party - This Saturday at 9:00 at the end of Constitution Boulevard by Summerfield. More flagging and clearing for the Northwest Passage -see you there.

And if you want singing lumberjacks click here. We're far too serious for this silliness.

Do deer fences really work?

Saturday was busy. I stopped at the dump to drop some stuff off. The dumpkeepers didn't have any more rusty tools saved for us, but I asked them to put aside any rock bars, rakes, or shovels that come in that they think can be recycled. If anybody from Trails is going there soon see if they have anything for us. The picks that Pete picked up (no pun intended) work fine.

I later visited Eklund Native Species Garden & Dominick Trail yesterday on Oak Valley Road. I was there to scope out the best way to take down the remainder of a leaning oak tree that was shading the garden. The oak tree is leaning toward the deer fence & it's a little tricky to take down without hitting the fence.

You can see the tracks where they are milling around outside the fence after walking down the driveway & then walking around the perimeter of the garden on the outside of the fence. They were even using the lower bypass trail around the garden, as were most of the people and dog walkers. The gates were a little sticky with the snow, but folks were keeping them closed - which is good. A lot of trails volunteers put in some hard work installing the fence and preparing Eklund last Spring & they can see that the fence is working fine so far.

There were a number of animal tracks around on Dominick Trail in this area. Visit the Eklund Garden Blog for more photos & guesses as to which animal goes with which track. Winter is a great time to take kids outside to hunt for wildlife.

Animal Tracks of New England by Sheldon, et al is a handy reference. It's only about $7 and its a small book that fits nicely inside a coat pocket.

The Parks & Rec crew has continued creating their own weight in woodchips clearing for the Bark Park at the White House on Nells Rock Road this week. They have left the pear trees alone, but still have to take down the big dead tree by the parking area. Hopefully there's some screening left between the Recreation Path and the Bark Park fence. We still need to have a meeting with the Mayor, Aldermen & everybody involved so that this key parcel in the Shelton Lakes Greenway is managed properly, but if the Bark Park is done properly it should be a good addition.

Here's a view of the clearing toward our Red Barn & the White House. This would make a great location for a Nature Center, or a Shelton Lakes Greenway Center some day. This would be similar to what Trumbull is now experiencing on their Housatonic Rail Trail project. Trumbull is in the process of buying a historic house on Tait Road that were serve as a Greenway Center. The Shelton Lakes Recreation Path has gotten a lot more use this year due to the recent improvements & as peoples use increases so does the need for facilities like parking, phones, bathrooms, and water fountains. Which is why all the different things talked about for the greenway need to be planned and coordinated so they work out well with each other.

Some of us on the Trails Committee have joked about a nice brew pub as a tourist attraction. Perhaps take Fido to the Bark Park & have a Shelton Lakes Lager on the porch?

And while I was out getting a new rope to help take down that oak tree at Eklund I saw this little baby in the front yard of the Newtown Power Equipment. They carry a wider range of rope, tools, and tree equipment than some of the local dealers. Wouldn't this compact tractor make a nice addition to the Shelton Trails Committee Tool Arsenal? I could see Bill on this all day puttering around in the woods. Hmmm, maybe we could put it in our next grant application......