2018 Trails Day Hike - Overlook to Overlook

On a muggy and tropical National Trails Day, we had a challenging hike on the Paugussett Trail from Birchbank Mountain to Webb Mountain.   We had previously spotted cars at Webb Mountain Park in Monroe for the drive back to Shelton after the hike.
 
The map shows the route of the hike. It was 4 miles, with 800 feet of elevation gain, and 3 stream crossings.

Portions of the Blue/White trail up the hill from Birchbank Road were steep, and hot, but with a number of stops we arrived at the first Housatonic River overlook.  And there was a breeze!.

Birchbank Mtn overlook

 Following a short breather at the overlook we went down to Upper White Hills Brook.

Crossing Upper White Hills Brook (at the chimney)

This was one of three pretty streams that we crossed.  The two four-footed hikers with us enjoyed each stream crossing.

The first of the brief road walks

This stretch of the Paugussett involves 2 road walks through quiet residential neighborhoods.   We said hi to folks out mowing their lawns and doing yardwork as our party trooped past.  A little red fox was spotted running across one yard not too far from a road named Little Fox Run.  We then climbed some of the new stair along the "Poet Path" section (a number of streets in this neighborhood are named after famous authors).

Eventually we came out on Thoreau Drive, had another shorter road walk, and came to the crossing of Round Hill Brook.  Congratulations the party made it to Monroe.

New bridge at Webb Mtn Park

Our event was supposed to meet with a Monroe event near the new bridge that the girl scouts had constructed along with a trail blazing project.  They were up at the second Overlook when we arrived, but we still admired the bridge.  It was very sturdy.

Maple-leaf viburnum

The Maple-leafed Viburnum were starting to blossom along the trail.

Pink Ladyslippers

As were the Pink Lady Slippers near some of the campsites.

We met David Solek, the Monroe Park Ranger, up at Goat Rock and learned about the history of the park and Monroe's wayward livestock.

The views of the Housatonic River from Goat Rock were great, and there was another breeze.  We enjoyed a picnic lunch, and then shuttled back to Birchbank Mountain.  The number of cars was perfect for the number of hikers, and we arrived just as the thunderstorm warnings were being broadcast.  It pays to start the hike early sometime.

We had 23 people, plus 2 dogs, from Shelton, Monroe, Derby, Milford, Bridgeport, Stratford, and Haddam.  Talk about your Trails Day Tourism.  Everybody enjoyed the challenging hike, but the cold drinks and showers were welcome afterwards. Thanks to everyone who came out or helped.

Shelton Day, Eh

A raw and gnarly Saturday that felt like we were headed to northern Canada turned into a beautiful Fall Sunday for Shelton Day on October 4, 2015, and that brought out the crowds.

What had been forecast for possible showers turned into a warm afternoon when the sun was out and we might have had our biggest turn-out ever for Shelton Day.

Our booth was strategically positioned again between Dunkin' Doughnuts and Bricks and Barley Tavern thanks to Sheri's planning.  Bill noted that there seemed to be a number of new folks who just moved into town and were really interested in what we had to offer.  We had a record number of people who signed up to be on our e-mail list for upcoming hikes, events, and work parties.

We had a good time talking to all our friends and neighbors, trail volunteers and curious newcomers, tourists and local politicians stumping for office.   Thanks to Officer Wooden for coming up and letting us know about keeping the Pine Lake Kiosk filled with maps. We probably hit a record number of maps and other trail and open space literature that we handed out.

Rich had a display of all the fun activities of the past year and was giving away information on the websites and Trails Blog. Some of things people wanted to know about were which trails were handicapped accessible or bikeable (Riverwalk, Shelton Lakes Recreation Path).  Which were good for pets (Paw Path by the Dog Park, Nells Loop Trail, others).  Where you could go fishing (Silent Waters, Hope Lake, Gristmill Trail on Mill Street, Boehm Pond Trail).  Where was a rugged trail (Paugussett Trail).

One of the topics of discussion was how safe are the trails given the article yesterday about the flasher that the Shelton Police caught back in May.  Long Story Short : the trails are very safe and enjoyable, and we had a fun time coming up with different ways to describe the chase when the Police arrested the idiot.

We also talked about The Adventures of the Shelton Bear, bobcats, coyotes, turkeys, Eklund Garden, Birchbank Mountain, our farms, and all the other open space features that Shelton is known for.   

Here's Bill, Rich, Sheri and Jim working the booth.  It's tough taking good photos from bright sunlight into shadow, one of the downsides to the nice Fall afternoon.

We got to sample some of the food and beverages offered by all the booths and local businesses.  At times the Trails Committee was forced to go into "Executive Session" to check on the progress of the Giants game.

Rich was trying to make sure everybody got all the maps they needed and letting them know about the hikes.  Jim was willing to trade some of his sure-fire, can't-miss fishing tips in exchange for signing up for volunteer work parties.

Our trails are all maintained by volunteers, so if you enjoy using them consider coming out to help maintain them at one of our trail work parties; they can be a lot of fun.

It was a great day, and we were very successful in reaching out to a lot of local residents; some new and some old-timers, about Shelton's trails and greenways.  Thanks to the Derby-Shelton Rotary Club for letting us participate in another Shelton Day. 

Acadia Trails

It's always fun to go on a vacation to Acadia National Park. The Park offers some of the best hiking and biking anywhere with the dramatic views from the granite mountains to the Atlantic Ocean. The island has a rich history of highly crafted hiking trails and carriage path roads that is inspiring when it comes to trail building. Here's some examples of various trail construction that we can try around Shelton:

Dorr Mountain is the quiet mountain east of Cadillac Mountain - all the same great views, but without the crowds, because there is no road to the top of it. Here's the trail sign at the large cairn on the Dorr Mountain Summit. There are 5 really stunning trails up the east face that are the highlight of any trip to Acadia.

We took the free shuttle bus to Sieur du Monts Springs where they have the Nature Center, the Wild Gardens, the Spring, and the indian museum. There is a beautiful carved sign at the Wild Gardens and it's worth going in there even if your'e not a big plant person. Their volunteers do a nice job with the place and Teresa came back with some good ideas for the Eklund Native Species Garden.

We hiked out along the Kane Path from the Springs to the Tarn to get to the foot of our climb. The Park Service recently replaced this rustic looking footbridge over a stream.


Ryan & I did Kurt Diederich's Climb this time. The trail was constructed as a memorial in 1916 & contains some of the largest stones used in trail stairs anywhere on the island (and they were all built using hand labor).

There is a great paperback book titled "Trails of History" by Tom St. Germain and Jay Saunders for $14.95 that lists the history of all the trails in the park. One of the amazing facets of Acadia was that most of the land, and a lot of the improvements, such as the trails and carriage roads were built and donated to the Park Service by wealthy individuals and families that enjoyed Mt. Desert Island and wanted to see it preserved. Today it is one of our most heavily visited National Parks. Taking any of these trails will allow you to enjoy the park far from the crowds.

The trail follows a series of faults and cliffs using an ingenious series of granite stairs. It's a fun hike but bring lots of water. The blueberries and huckleberries along the trail were a great treat.

Here's more of the stairs going thru a crevice in a rock slide. And this is only one of 4 trails up the mountain face on this side that are like this. The others are Homans Path, Emery Path, and the Ladder Trail. All show amazing craftsmanship in providing ingenious solutions in scaling the mountain.

We passed two guys from the Parks Dept. trail crew who were on their way back down to mountain to carry up more gear for their days work. We later stumbled across their tool cache & Ry had to model the model the stylish Smokey the Bear hat. The Park guys had to buggylug a gas-powered rock drill, gas, water, bits, etc. on their backs up a mountain, and then go back for more stuff, just to start their work. Talk about logistics! I was sweating just hiking up the trail - those guys really work. We carefully put their stuff back and left them a little something for their trouble. Hope they were able to enjoy a cold one at the end of the day. Support your local trail builders.

Here's a section of granite stairs further up the trail that have been restored. You can see where holes were drilled in the granite boulders, then split using iron wedges and pins. The granite stairs hold up well, but everything takes maintenance after a century of use. The Park Service seems to have put a greater emphasis on restoring some of these historic trails the last few years, and that's a really good thing.

The Climb joins the Schiff Path which gradually winds up to the Dorr Mountain Summit. On one side is the mountain and on the other side just air. It's a really dramatic trail that you would not want to take a wrong turn on in the dark. In a number of places the granite boulders were set like paving stones. It took a lot of work to do this, but it works to prevent erosion.

Here's the view of Bar Harbor from the Schiff Path. I don't know why there's not more post cards, tee shirts and posters of these trails because they are amazing climbs. Sieur du Monts Spring is in the lower right hand corner and The Great Meadow is in the center.


Following the Summit we returned using the West Face Trail, and then went north on the Gorge Trail. The Gorge trail was a cool ravine that was a refreshing change from the hot summit. We had been experiencing some hot, dry weather when we went up, but I can see where the Gorge Trail would be tricky during high water.

We came back and hiked into Bar Harbor. The Jessup Path looks like it got a recent upgrade with this boardwalk.

We walked back thru The Great Meadow using portions of the Jessup Path and the Great Meadow Loop. This trail is an elevated crushed stone path through the marsh & was a unique persective that you don't get when driving by on The Loop Road. This is a good reason to fill in a little wetlands & we saw a nice buck in velvet. Too bad they prohibit dogs and bikes on this trail - Biscuit would've had a great time. Maybe the Parks Service should consider loosening this rule up a bit if people take care of their dogs.

The walk back along the roads into Bar Harbor was most difficult portion of our hike, but at least this hike ended in a trip to the ice cream parlor for a Pina Colada Smoothie. Now we could copy this experience in Shelton with our Shelton Lakes Nature Center, Brew Pub & Ice Cream Parlor..........

A Cut Above

Now this is what we need for the Trails Committee. Turn those unsightly trees in the middle of your RecPath into valuable lumber. There was a neat demonstration of some portable bandsaw lumbermills at the Wooden Boat Show in Mystic this weekend. Just think of the money we would save on lumber. Hey, maybe we could even panel the inside of the Shelton Lakes Nature Center and Brew Pub at Nells Rock Road.

Here's the fancy sawmill with the hydraulics for loading and spinning the logs. We could cut a lot of boards with this one.

This is a early form of Mass Transit. Maybe we can get a grant to restore horse-drawn traffic on the RecPath between Downtown and Huntington Center? I bet the Shelton Historical Society has a wagon that we could use.

This sawmill is a little lower-tech than the others, but it converts trees into boards.

This was an interesting trail map at Pequot Woods in the neighboring town. So we could cut down the trees, saw them up into boards, and then route the trail maps into the boards. See - the mill would be really cost-effective. And we could sell the left-over boards from the sawmill for firewood at Beechwood Market. A true vertical industry. And that doesn't even take into account revenue from the Shelton Lakes Nature Center and Brew Pub. A true Shelton tourist attraction in the making.