The Snowless Snowshoe Hike

We tried to plan ahead for a change and scheduled a series of winter hikes in advance.  The first hike of the new year was to be our snowshoe hike on January 17, 2016.  Unfortunately, Mother Nature was a bit fickle in the snow department this year (careful, don't curse us), and the woods were pretty dry.  But 17 intrepid adventurers (+ Teddy) came out to enjoy the nice winter weather.

We met at the Shelton Dog Park on Rt. 108 & headed out along the trails at Shelton Lakes.  Here's the before picture so we knew how many hikers we should finish up with.

Rich lead us off on the Dog Paw Path to a section of the Paugussett Trail and then west along Oak Valley Trail.

We crossed the powerlines and followed Oak Valley Trail between Rt. 108 & the red maple swamp.

Bill Dyer and Bob Wood circulating up and down the line as everyone followed the trail. 

Luis and I were sweepers for much of the hike.  And we didn't lose anybody this time.

We worked our way up to the old Cam homestead and discussed the history of the property and the people who lived there in the 1800's.  Much of the wooded area that we see today was cleared for farms and pastures at that time.  Next time you're driving by on Rt 108 just try to picture what the houses and woods of today looked like in the 1790's with freed black slaves farming their fields with herds of cattle along "Popple Hollow".

We continued down historic Oak Valley Road.  Bill showed the hikers how to hop over some of the wet spots near the gas pipeline, as we moved onto the RecPath, then over to the Flower Trail, and entered into Eklund Garden.

We assured the younger hikers that there were no alligators in the pond below; just wood frogs and spring peepers come Springtime.

Now here's some future gardeners and trail volunteers.  Maybe they can come back when the garden is in bloom later this year and take a similar picture.

We had a great time going over to the Paugussett Trail along Hope Lake, and back to the Dog Park.  Rich did a great job leading and we didn't lose anybody.  It was fun to go exploring with old friends, familiar faces, and some new hikers.  Our next hike is scheduled for February 14th.  Maybe we'll have some snow by then.

Let It Snow on the Paugussett Trail

This morning's work party on Oak Valley Trail was canceled due to weather; snow.  And not the light flurries topped with a some freezing rain that we usually get, but some real snow.

But the snow made for a very pretty backdrop for the new Paugussett Trail sign that was installed by the Connecticut Department of Transportation on Rt. 108 this week, just down the hill from Oak Valley Trail.  We've worked on miles of new trail construction and re-routes this year but somehow it looks much more official when we get a blue oval sign along the State Road.

Thanks to Clare Cain at CFPA for ordering the sign and Ernie Lagoja at ConnDOT District 3 & the sign crew for making sure it got in the right place.

The Paugussett Trail crossing is located about 500 feet west of the Constitution Boulevard/Nells Rock Road intersection.

The snow made for a picturesque Christmas card scene at The Red Barn just around the corner.  The Red Barn is located at the Nells Rock RecPath entrance and the Shelton Dog Park.  If the lot is plowed out it makes a good access point to explore the trails.  Maybe we'll have one of those impromptu snowshoe hikes in the near future.

Snowshoe U

It was a pleasant 40 degrees and sunny today when we ventured forth for our winter hike. We had to relocate the hike from the Land Trust's Nicholdale parcel to the Shelton Lakes Recreation Path to have some safe areas to pull off, but otherwise things worked great.

We met at the Shelton Intermediate School and took a little while to get organized.

Most people had snowshoes, and we had a number of doggies. The trails were packed down pretty well, and we added to that compaction. We crossed the street and went in by Silent Waters.

The conga line worked it's way forward to the Silent Waters Bridge where the Conservation Commission took their 2011 Team Photo (minus Ed & Jim).


Unfortunately, we didn't get a photo of everybody crossing Rt. 108 in snowshoes at the crosswalk, but it looked funny. We ventured past the Dog Park and headed up the RecPath past Hope Lake.

The route was pretty easy, although there were some soft areas if you didn't have snowshoes. At one point we passed other snowshoers going the other way. Traffic jams on Shelton's trails - in winter - who knew!

We went down to Oak Valley Road & then looped back along the Paugussett Trail on the backside of Hope Lake.


We stopped at various places along the trail to enjoy the scenery, catch our breath and enjoy a snack.

Some folks stopped at the Dog Park on the way back (it was busy), some walked back along the road, and the rest of us snowshoed or hiked back along the trail.

It was a fun afternoon & it was great that everybody could come out to explore the park in the winter. It was a good workout & I'm sure all the 2-legged and 4-legged hikers will sleep well tonight.