Nicholdale Cutting Party

The brush at the Nicholdale Land Trust Preserve can grow really fast at certain times of the year; like Summer.  And it certainly has this year.  It's been several weeks since the trails were last brush cut so today was the day.

We had eight volunteers on a cloudy morning to cut out the blue-blazed Nichols Loop around Nicholdale.

Ellen & Mike lead most of the volunteers along one end of the trail and a couple of us went the other way.  It's sometimes better to spread out when you're using power tools for work party safety.

The section of the trail that parallels Rt. 110 was pretty thick and overgrown.  Particularly where trees were cleared (by ConnDOT or UI) within the State Right of Way earlier in the summer.  The grass and brush exploded with the extra sunlight when the trees were removed.  Above is a before picture.

And the "After" picture.  We tried to cut the briars, thorns, and grass, and leave the wildflowers and native plants.

Bill was coming thru with his electric hedgetrimmer cutting out briars.

Anne, Athena, and Ellen at the end of the work party.  Everybody made it out at the end.  Another perfect work party without loosing anyone: 100% volunteer retention.

The Shelton Land Trust's Nicholdale parcel is a great location to observe fall wildflowers and bird migrations.  And the Preserve is easy to navigate now that the trails are cleared.  Thanks to everyone who helped out today: Aidan, Athena, Anne, Bill, Ellen, Greg, Mike & Terry.

2020 Marshmallow March Madness

It was a clear, cold, and blustery March First - perfect day for a walk in the woods, and for toasted marshmallows.  The wind was a little chilly, but that didn't stop anybody from hiking the trails at Nicholdale in the White Hills of Shelton on Sunday.

Dozens of families showed up.  We think it was about 60 people and 10 dogs, but after a while it was hard to keep up. 

Bill lead the pack seeking warm and food into the scout camp.

Where Mark & Jim had the fire going and ready.  And that's when The Marshmallow Madness began.

Families were having a great time toasting marshmallows.  Bob Wood brought graham crackers and chocolate.  Somebody brought hot chocolate.  Bill Dyer brought hot coffee.  I think that we even remembered to bring cups.  It was a great pit stop.

In a magnificent effort to up the sugar ante this year; Ryan & Joe Welsh brought locally-made maple syrup and mini-pancakes for everyone.  And, they were delicious. 

Joe even labeled some of the syrup with the Shelton Land Trust Logo since some of the trees that were tapped were at Nicholdale on the Land Trust's property.

The hike was good for families of all ages.  It's never too young to get the next generation of hikers outside.  The strollers were good in the open fields.  The blue trails were a little rougher.

All the doggies were well behaved and everybody got along fine.

Young Remington was on his first Marshmallow March, but he was here last year too.  He was born on the same day as the hike last year; so we feel that he should count as a repeat participant.

A number of the younger hikers kept coming over to Jim and Mark and asking if it was OK to add more wood to the fire.  The guys said "sure, go ahead", what could go wrong.  Well we did have to stomp out a few small leaf fires on a blustery day,  but everything turned out fine.  The Land Trust's property survived intact.   The gang was having a great time running around with flaming marshmallows, s'mores, hot chocolate, and maple syrup and pancakes.  I'm sure all the parents had a nice quite afternoon, once the sugar high wore down.

We had a great turn-out, possibly our most successful Marshmallow Marches ever.  We're glad that all the families had a great time getting outdoors enjoying open spaces and walking, running, and hiking.

Eventually we did complete the blue loop along Nicholdale Brook and back to the parking lot.  Other folks headed back thru the meadows.  Jim, Mark & Bill put out the fires.  And everyone made it home.

It was another get event on the Shelton Land Conservation Trust property.  They are a great local charity if people are interested in joining.  Nicholdale is a fine location to enjoy and observe scenic vistas and wildlife throughout the year.  Thanks to all the volunteers who came out,  and who the participants who got to explore the preserve.

Daylight savings is one week away and Spring is around the corner.  There's plenty of chances to come back again.

Pearmain Planning Parade

Winter is a good time for trail planning, leaves are down so you can see in the woods.  So to take advantage of the new open space grant that Shelton won in December members of the Trails Committee were reviewing alternative routes for the Pearmain Path off Pearmain Road.

This is the northern end of the existing path at the Shelton Land Conservation's Nicholdale Farm property.  We were looking at better routes to take advantage of natural features and create a better loop hike for the neighborhood.

 

One good point about bitter cold is that people stop talking and start walking sooner.  Bill Dyer, Mike Flament, and Val Gosset started walking up the existing Pearmain Path across Guy Beardsley's property.  Gotta get that blood flowing.

We looked at woods roads, swamps, icy stream crossings, deer stands, evergreens, sightlines to nearby developments, lumpy ground, mushy spots (technical terms), and verified property lines along road Right of Ways.  Not all property lines fall right on the stone walls.

We finished up back at Pearmain Road where a second crew was getting ready to walk potential trail routes on part of the Jones Farm property with the owners.  It was a good day to have a warm hat.

The Trails Committee left to find warmer locations, while Terry, Jamie, and Jackson Jones along with Joe Welsh and Teresa Gallagher walk the "Little Knoll" property for the best trail routes.  The net result of all this planning and grants is that more open space will be preserved and made accessible in and around the farms in the White Hills.  Thanks to the Beardsley and Jones families for working with the Shelton Land Trust, City and State to make this possible.  Now if it could be just a little less windy...

Nicholdale Hike - Part I, or "Life Moves Pretty Fast"

We had a great hike at the Shelton Land Conservation Trust's Nicholdale Preserve on Rt. 110 in the White Hills on Saturday.  It was one of the required hikes for the Shelton Trails Marathon Challenge, so we hope that everyone who attended is trying to complete that and earn a special trails medallion. It was particularly fitting given that this was the closing weekend of the 2016 Rio Olympics.

A lot of people view "The Challenge" as a fitness test, to see how many miles they can do, or how fast they can do the trails.  Which is fine; two guys who were on the hike Saturday plan on doing all 13 hikes this fall in one day shooting around town, which sounds crazy, but I think they'll be fine.  Whatever gets you out in the woods.  Just consider, no matter how fast you go, remember to look around and enjoy the moment.

Just like Usain Bolt; the fastest man alive.

One of the good things about these hikes on the Shelton Trails Marathon Challenge is that you get to try out new open spaces, new trails, and see things that you may not have noticed before.  On the Nicholdale Hike we got to walk around the open fields (on nicely mowed paths) and see a number of wildflowers; Joe Pye weed, Ironweed, Milk weed, and others.  Since it was mid-summer there were hundreds of butterflies, moths, bees, and other insects feeding on the wildflowers in the meadows.

We had a fold-out guide to Common Butterflies of New England which some of the kids used to identify the butterflies that they saw.  We stopped from time to time to check out each one that they identified.  It was fun having them explain to us what we were looking at.  So everybody got to get some exercise, check off a hike on the list, learn a few things, and enjoy a great summer morning out with friends and family.  It's amazing how enjoyable the trails are when you slow down and look around - and it's free.  As a Famous Philosopher once said "Life moves pretty fast, if you don't stop and look around once in awhile you could miss it". More photos to come from this hike when our erstwhile photographer gets around to uploading them.

Tahmore Hike

We had a great day for a guided hike at Tahmore Place on Sunday, Oct. 17th. Almost 2 dozen folks showed up to enjoy a nice warm, sunny, and much less windy day than Saturday.

Lynn Reid goes over the pre-hike preamble and takes a head count. She doesn't need to bring all the same people out of the woods that she likes to lead in, but she likes to come out with the same number that she started with.

If you every see a hiker walking briskly with 3 dogs on the trails around town; say hi. Lynn is one of our most active Trails Committee leaders.

We had people of all ages and most of them had not been on Tahmore before. The property is owned by the Shelton Land Conservation Trust, a private charity, who generously allowed us to lead this public walk. The Tahmore Loop is about one mile long and joins up with the Paugussett Trail above Indian Well State Park.

There were nice views of the Housatonic River, cows, a small footbridge, and lots and lots of acorns. Thanks to the trails work party that blew off the trails yesterday morning. It made a big difference in the footing.

It was a nice hike for families. The trail is set up as a figure 8 pattern so you can do a short or longer walk, depending on your leg size.

One big hemlock came down across the trail after the work party. The wind was pretty wild yesterday & we had wind gusts of up to 45 mph at times. I spoke with Hank Lauriet, the overseerer of Land Trust Monitors who lives next door & he said that he didn't hear the tree crash down. I asked him benignly if he was in the woods at the time, and he said no. That's when I said "so, it's true, if a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, it doesn't make a sound". Hank muttered something and walked away, one of the few times that he was at a loss for words.

We had a great walk. Thanks to Rich Skudlarek for being the official trails photographer. The Shelton Land Trust is a private organization that is separate from the City of Shelton, and they take care of dozen's of properties like Tahmore. Consider becoming a member, it's tax deductible & you get to explore some hidden corners of Shelton.