Success!: First Public Hike of 2023

The first guided public hike of 2023 was a success.  We had about 29 people show up for the Mid-Winter Hike at Tahmore Preserve, and we didn't lose any of them, we think.  Ellen was our sweeper, we'll have to check with her.

There were good views of the Housatonic River from the Tahmore Trail and Paugussett Trail.

 

There was a good turnout at the Tahmore Place cul-de-sac to start the hike.  Nothing like a 50 degree day in January to bring out the crowds.   

 

A lot of guided hikes were postponed or eliminated during the Covid epidemic the last couple of years.  We're going to try getting back to a more normal schedule this year and see how it goes.

 

 

Luckily, we had some crack guides show up to help manage the crowds.  This hike went pretty well.  The next one scheduled is The Marshmallow March on March, wait for it ..., Fourth.  See you then, or sooner on the trails.

 

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Mid-Winter Hike at Tahmore Preserve

It's been a weird, wet winter in 2023.  Will there be snow for the Mid-Winter Hike on January 29th?  We don't know, but the first public hike of 2023 is on for this coming weekend.

Meet at the Tahmore Place cul-de-sac in the White Hills at 1:00 on Sunday January 29th.  The hike is moderate and will take about 1 hr. (individuals can extend their hike on their own if they wish).  The Tahmore Preserve is owned by the Shelton Land Conservation Trust and joins with open space at Indian Well State Park.  See the Trails Events page for more information, and print out a trail map to bring along.  It should be fun.

Shelton 2020 Trails Day, in 2022, Finally

The Shelton Trails Committee celebrated 2020 Trails Day finally on June 4, 2022.  The series of trail improvements and re-routes along the Paugussett Trail at Indian Well State Park along with the Tahmore Trail on the Shelton Land Trust Preserve were completed in 2020, but all the public hikes were cancelled due to Covid and the resulting shutdowns.

There have been a lot of hiking on the trails during Covid, but not a lot of organized public hikes in groups, for obvious reasons.

 So today, under perfect sunny skies, in 2022, a public hike finally took place to enjoy all the improvements as part of the National Trails Day celebrations.

Two dozen happy hikers and 3 more-so happy dogs came together at Indian Well State Park to enjoy a great Saturday morning outside.

Teresa Gallagher gave a run down of the hike route, along with the trail improvements that were done before and during Covid.

We made it up the stairs and worked our way toward the trail junction.  The woodlands were amazing well lit due to the leaf wilt blight hitting the beech trees along the hillside.  It may be a forerunner of another massive die-off of an native tree due to invasive pests.

The view of the Housatonic River from the overlook was fine, if a little hazy.  You could see all the way to downtown Shelton.

Folks enjoyed the view of the river.

We then hiked up to the high point on Tahmore Trail the Shelton Land Trust property.  The views are better here in the Fall when the leaves are down.

The Mountain Laurel were starting to bloom in places.

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There were multiple groups depending on your hiking speed.  Some took the trip to the waterfalls, and others came back to the parking lot on the blue/red trail.

Everyone made it back successfully, and all had a good time.  Thanks to everyone one who helped out: Val, Ellen, Luis, Teresa, Bob, & Terry.  And thanks to everyone who came out to help us celebrate our 2020 hike, rebooted, so to speak.