Fixing Flooding

We had a lot of local street flooding a week ago Friday, which caused some washouts on some of the trails.  Some of the worst were along the Recreation Path near the Dog Park at Nells Rock Road.  And then it rained all day this past Friday when one of the volunteers checked out runoff issues with a member of the Parks Department.  So yesterday some of the Trails Committee and volunteers fixed some of the worst washouts along the RecPath.

Bill & Jim dug out the drainage ditch on the uphill side of the RecPath just above the Nells Rock Rd. parking lot.  The water from the hillside jumped out of the ditches capacity and scoured out the side of the RecPath.

Meanwhile, Mark and Jose used the Gator to ferry loads of crushed stone to fill in the wash outs where runoff from the Dog Park parking lot washed thru the big flower bed and eroded the RecPath.

Terry & Bill shoveled up washed out material from elsewhere and filled in the worst holes so nobody would trip.  Some more permanent drainage solutions are in order, but the most serious issues were fixed by volunteers yesterday.  There were a lot of folks out walking and running the RecPath in the unseasonably warm weather.  We got a number of thank yous from people going by.  Everyone should be aware if changing trail conditions and storm damage as they are enjoying the open spaces. 

Have you ever wondered about what being a on town committee in Shelton entails?  How glamorous and exciting is it?  Well here's Bill Dyer, Chairman of the Shelton Trails Committee fixing erosion on the RecPath over the Christmas Vacation.  I don't know if other City committee members actually have to fix the infrastructure they oversee, but the Trails Committee does.  And we're always grateful for the volunteers that have helped out.  Thanks to Jose, Mark, Jim, Bill & Terry for today's repairs.  Have a Happy New Year on the trails.

Wicked Windy Weather this Weekend

Sunday was wild on the trails.  The sky was clearing from the storm, the wind was whipping the trees about, the leaves were wet and slippery, and the temperature was dropping as the front came thru.  Occasionally branches were heard crashing down.  Not ideal hiking weather you would say.

Then you would be wrong.

Shelton's trails were almost mobbed Sunday and residents were out taking advantage of the weather.  I started at Buddington Road to finish up Hike #12 of the Lollipop Series to earn my hiking tag, and thought I would be the only one in the woods.  I couldn't have been more wrong.

The "stick" of this lollipop hike started at the kiosk on Buddington Road at the powerlines.  The trail then crossed on of our many bridges built by scouts and volunteers.

This was Josh's bridge.  And the vernal pool was full today so the bridge was really appreciated.  The trees were thrashing about as I continued thru the trails.  Care to guess how many bridges you'll cross if you do Lollipop Hike #12?

There were several residents and neighbors out using the trails.  Despite the wind's best efforts the oaks hadn't dropped all their leaves yet and some of the beeches were still holding onto the bright golden color of early Fall.

The hike contained scenic views of some of the rock ridges and stone walls that were now clearly visible without leafy shrubs blocking them.

Eklund Garden had been mowed and put to bed for the season awaiting next seasons wildflowers.

Some residents were out using the RecPath along Oak Valley Road.  The RecPath is going to get a lot more sunlight here following UI's clearing of all the trees along the overhead wires.  The City might have to rename Oak Valley Road something else, like Cordwood Road.

And as I said, a number of Shelton residents were out enjoying the trails.  Here's Crash taking his human out for a walk on the RecPath.  Crash was a little shy, but a nice hiker, and was probably the 5th four legged resident that I passed.  They were all making sure their 2 footed friends got out for some fresh air.  That was in addition to all the joggers, bikers, strollers, and others who were out using the trails.

Even with the wild weather there were a lot of great scenes along the trails; like this wetland pocket with the red Winterberry's growing around the edges.  It's surprising what you can see, even on a blustery Fall day, once you start walking about on Shelton's trails.

Visit the Event's page for the upcoming Thanksgiving Hike on the Turkey Trot Trail, and see some of the trails for yourself.

Excessive Heat Warning: Perfect Weather for Trail Work

OK, so the National Weather Service has issued an Extreme Heat Warning for this weekend with temperatures in the upper 90's and humidity levels somewhere South of the Amazon jungle.  I love the part about avoiding strenuous outdoor work.

 

So a SANE Trails Committee might postpone mowing along an open field today, but not us.  Nope, nosirree.  We went ahead with cutting brush along the RecPath at Lane Street, where it was getting really overgrown.

Rich and Jim drove over with the Gator and DR Mower and cleared along the edges of the RecPath.  That left John, Tom, Luis and Terry clearing briars and taller stuff along the edges of the Path.  We worked from Lane St. up to the lower Wesley Drive crossing.  It was hot work with a number of water breaks, just like the NWS advised.

But by the end we had cleared out a lot of the overhanging brush, and you can now see some interesting things; like this flowering shrub in the swamp along the Boardwalk.  There were a surprising number of people out actually enjoying the RecPath in this heat; walking, running, and biking.  It was great to chat with people out using the RecPath.  The Path needs raking or leafblowing following all the cutting, but that will have to be another day when it's cooler.

Here's John and Tom Killian "enjoying" their first trail work party.  They should get overtime for this one, everybody was soaked and filthy by the end; except curiously Jim and Rich.  John and Tom also cleared out blowdowns at the Land Trust's Tahmore property earlier in the week.  They picked a great week to work on trails and we really thank them for their help.

So enjoy the trails, but bring lots of water and don't overdo it in this heat.  Maybe we need to get us some goats to keep up with the brush this summer.

Trail Volunteer Works Miracles

Last Saturday it rained 4-5" in Shelton and caused a lot of flooding on the trails. The good part was that we didn't lose as many trees as other towns in Fairfield County, but there was some damage. One of our intrepid Trail Committee Members; Rich Skudlarek, went out after the storm with his trusted retriever Molly to inspect the damage using his "special" abilities.

Here is Rich walking across the waters of the Means Brook Floodplain along the RecPath. We all knew he had hidden talents, but he's good.

The RecPath at the North end of the Land Trust Meadow had a major washout. We should fix this soon before someone breaks an ankle. It anybody wants to work on it this weekend let me know.

Large portions of Gristmill Trail on Mill St. also went under water from the flooding on the Far Mill River. The sound of the water was impressive - see the Shelton Trails page for video. This will need some repairs later this Spring, but this shows a good reason to keep floodplains as greenways. If a trail gets washed out it is a nuisance that can be fixed easily. If someone's home or business gets washed away it's a much greater personal loss.

We also had some pretty soggy areas on the Northwest Passage. Glad that we put off Saturday's work party. This week is shaping up to be beautiful after the wet weekend. If anybody wants to put a little time in on the trails sprucing up the damage please feel free to do so.

Rain Out

Having come off a fun week of debating the merits of having a Community Garden in Shelton, it was good to have a nice, uncontroversial trail work party scheduled for this morning placing stepping stones in a swamp. Unfortunately, when we scheduled this work party 2 weeks ago we didn't know that a big storm dumping several inches of rain was coming.


So, under soggy conditions, we decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and called a rain out this morning. We'll work on this stretch of the Northwest Passage in a couple of weeks.

Bill, Rich & I then headed over to Orange to Knight's Power Equipment to look at a used trail mower that they had. We have been trying to get this mower for a couple of years to help our volunteers. The briars along the powerlines are always tough to keep up with in summer, and with the addition of more miles of Northwest Passage & the RecPath the maintenance needs go up.

Knight's certainly has a lot of mowers. Some were real antiques. It looks like we'll be able to use the proceeds from one of our grants to get the trail mower, once a few details are cleaned up - hopefully next week. Here's a picture of Bill testing the mower with helpful guidance from Rich:

We also got our Gator back from Martinka's this week after it's annual maintenance, and getting a few odds and ends fixed. Hopefully we've had the last of our snow and we can get going with our work this Spring.