An Independent Bunch of Scouts

The residents of Shelton were fortunate enough to have not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, but 5; count'um 5 eagle scout project completed in August, 2013.  It's a new record, with more on the way in the Fall.

Two separate projects from Troop 27 were completed north of Independence Drive along the Paugussett Trail Extension.  Wesley Sekelsky's team constructed two footbridges, re-routed trail, constructed an earthen ramp, and cleared bush for two stream crossings.

Daniel Vigezzi's team also constructed a bridge and moved a number of stones along the stream.

Both sets of improvements are part of a larger project to extend the Paugussett Trail from Indian Well State Park to Buddington Road this year.  

The earthen ramp down from the north side of  Independence Drive makes for a much easier walk or ride.

These two bridges criss-cross a pair of wetlands that we had to cross when the trail was relocated off the powerlines at the request of CFPA.  This should reduce our maintenance efforts because the powerlines always needed a lot of mowing in the Spring.

Dozens of groups and volunteer work parties have been chipping away at this 6 mile trail extension.  Good job Wesley and Daniel and all your team mates - thank you for all your hard work.

Update: A surplus of $373.55 was donated to the Conservation Commission and is ear-marked to be used for future Eagle Scout projects. 

Update 2020: One of the bridges was moved as part of a trail relocation.

Update 2025: One bridge was replaced due to rotting boards. 

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.

Scouts, Stones, Streets, & Stumphenge

It was a busy time in the woods this past Columbus Day Weekend. While the Trails Committee & volunteers were out working on the RecPath, other folks had created some eclectic woodland seating; but more on that later.

In another portion of the open spaces Ken Gregiorio and his eagle scouts were wrapping up a lot of hard work along the Blue Dot trail (formerly Dominick Trail). They were working on the stretch between the Eklund Native Species Garden on Oak Valley Road, and 4 Corners going toward the Abby Wright parking lot.

They brought in and placed over 10 Gator-loads of crushed stone to improve the footing through a boulderfield, and closed off a short cut trail that some users had made going though a wetland.

Ken and his friends, with a little help from Rich S. and his trusty Gator, marshaled a work team to get, carry, and place the stone well back into the woods. This was the last part of their project that included some restoration, creating a portion of a mountain biking bypass around a cliff, and building some stone stairs. Ken & his friends moved a lot of stone in this area. We think they wore Rich out.

Elsewhere new temporary posts were set to try to deter motor vehicles from driving on the RecPath. We're trying to make sure nobody gets hurt or does damage driving on the RecPath (see the earlier Boardwalk post). We are currently in the process of ordering new foldable/removable bollards for the road crossings. We also have new granite posts on the way and hope to have some of those in next month - just about the time that new construction starts on the RecPath.

And you may have noticed Iroquois Gas Pipeline Co. out mowing their Right of Way last week. Last month was CL&P's turn, this month it's Iroquois, so we may have a little clean up and signage to do along the Paugussett Trail so hikers don't get confused. Just bring one of our new maps and follow the blue blazes and you won't get lost (we hope - it's not our fault).

Which brings us back to Stumphenge. What happens when the Parks and Rec crew has a little time on their hands at lunch clearing for fencing at the new Bark Park. They get creative and do a little whittling, with chainsaws.

So you, or your pooch, may have a rustic seat awaiting you when the Bark Park opens. Not sure when that will be but the contract for the fence was awarded. Construction should start....Oh...., right about the time our RecPath construction starts, in the same place. It should make for an interesting Fall.

Roughin' It

Sunny, 65 degrees, light breeze - terrible day for a hike - I'd SOOO much rather be doing chores. But we had scheduled to help lead a guided hike for 2:00 at Abby Wright so off we went.

Here's the buffet line courtesy of Bertucci's Restaurant at Hope Lake at mid hike, but more about that later ....

Apparently a lot of other folks thought that today was a splendid day to go for a walk in the woods also. The Abby Wright parking lot on Nells Rock Road was packed.

We had about 40 people and a dozen well-behaved dogs. So we headed off clockwise around Nells Loop Trail.

The woods were lush and green with new, fresh leaves. We walked thru a canopy of huge Tulips, past some old stone piles (placed by tired farmers?, indians?, aliens?) and then headed over toward the Dominick Trail (was blazed orange but is now blazed blue) toward where the scouts had been working all morning at the J-Pond Bridge and the Eklund bypass.


Here's Nick Shigo of Scout Troop 55 at the just-completed J-Pond Bridge replacement. Nick was directing a team of scouts as part of his eagle scout project to replace a bridge that had seen better days and cutting in a new bypass trail up Eklund Cliff so it would be safer for mountain bikers to use.

Nick and the scouts had done a great job replacing the old bridge that morning, and were cutting in the bypass trail up the cliff (see Richard's Bridging It post for more photos). Here's the nice entrance to the bridge that we got all muddy.

Here's Burt & Nina Jackson of Milford coming up the Eklund Cliff (Trail Com. Member Bob Wilkins sent us some customers). Also in the back are the daughter & father who came out on our Frost Hike in January. Today was a much more pleasant day for a hike.


We then went up to the Eklund Native Species Garden where Teresa discussed the history of the parcel and showed off some of the plants that were in bloom.

Nope, it's not the fabled Shelton Trails Conga Line. It's the hike winding it's way up and around the paths at Eklund. Mr. Eklund must've wanted to get out of the house alot & he built of lot of stone walls and paths around the property.


Here's one of the Pink Ladyslippers that we saw along the trail. There were a number of attractive wildflowers still in bloom along the trails.

We went across Oak Valley Road to the southern point of Hope Lake & headed up to the parking lot and picnic tables at the trailhead where we met....

Christine and her colleagues from Bertucci's who were setting up a woodland feast. Christine had contacted Lynn Reid after one of our earlier hikes and volunteered to donate some food for one of our public walks.

And they didn't just bring some pizzas (which we also liked). They had trays of meatballs, zitis, stuffed shells, and all kinds of good stuff.

Just look at this! This wasn't just a picnic - it was a catered dinner. Thank you Christine & all the nice folks at Bertucci's. It's really great when a local business offers to help out like this. We can vouch for the tastiness of the food - go to Bertucci's on Bridgeport Avenue some night for dinner.

Everybody had a great time hanging out at the lake. Particularly that one retriever that pounced when Jim dropped his meatball on the ground. The dogs were very well behaved.

There were a lot of other folks out enjoying the open space at Hope Lake.

There were some guys kayaking. Other families were hiking or picnicking.

Some folks were trying to do a little quite fishing until we showed up. A lot of the fishermen were probably grumbling at the noise, but then when we explained the event they were joking about how we were "roughin' it" hiking.

On the way back to Abby Wright everybody was noticeably slower. Maybe we shouldn't have a big feed part way thru the hike - NAH. We stopped at a little vernal pool below the Eklund Garden and Terry showed off a red eft to the kids. This little area has a lot of wildlife in it when you stop to look around.

Everybody had a great time. I don't know how we'll top this for the next hike. There is a work party scheduled for next weekend, and then June 5th 2010 is National Trails Day. There are four hikes scheduled in Shelton this year. If we get weather like today's it should be a lot of fun.

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.