Doh, a Deer

It was a splendid Saturday morning at John Dominick Drive for the beginning of the work party to cut brush along Nells Loop Trail.   The trail head at the end of the cul-de-sac made for a shorter haul to get tools out to the powerlines.  

Mike Flament noted that there was a blow down hanging over the trail by the Paugussett Trail crossing so we brought the chainsaw too.

This trail junction must be cursed for trees.  I think this is the third blow down that we've had at this spot in the last three years.  It was a smaller cherry tree that was partially hung up, but it came down without too much trouble. 

 

  

And it was another blazed tree too.   But the trails are clear now.

This portion of Nells Loop passes along the powerlines.  Ted was cutting brush and collecting trash to haul out.

There were some scenic views along the powerlines.  The trees and shrubs were just starting to turn color.

The greenbriar had little blue berries on them.  Other shrubs along the powerlines were also showing berries or seeds as their summer growth was starting to die back.

Ellen and Mike worked up along Nells Rock Trail.  The open sun along the powerlines creates a lush growing environment.  The others spread out along Nells Loop, Basil Brook Bypass, and portions of the Paugussett Trail and the RecPath.  

Bill noted that there was a small tree down across the Basil Brook Bypass.

Another dead ash tree - sigh!  You could climb over it, but it was an obstacle for mountain bikes so we cut it out.

After, much clearer.

There was a small bridge south of the tree that was in not so great shape.  The bridge was built by mountain bikers, not actually part of the trail system, and maybe should be replaced some day.

Going back to the group I heard some snorting and stamping noises as I collected the chainsaw and gear.

The deer was watching me like a trailside superintendent.  I couldn't tell if she was unhappy with my cutting job, or annoyed with all the noise we were making.  The doe just kept stamping and snorting, and for some reason a verse from a song came to mind.

We worked our way back toward John Dominick Drive cutting as we went.  We got a lot done.  Thanks to Mark, Mike, Bill, Ellen, Ted, Graham, and Terry to today's effort.  

There were a lot of people and dogs out using the trails later in the day around Shelton Lakes.  And a lot of activity around the farms in the White Hills too.  People getting apples, vegetables, pumpkins, wine, or just getting scared at haunted hayrides.  It was a fine weekend to get outside.
 

Local Residents on the Nichols Trail & Pearmain Path

Ran into a number of locals while walking along the Nichols Trail and Pearmain Path at Nicholdale on a recent morning.  I started at the Rt. 110 parking lot and followed the fresh blue blazes on Nichols Trail.

This little rabbit was enjoying breakfast along one of the grassy trails near the Tamarack trees, until I came tromping through.

Tamarack's; an evergreen tree that drops it's needles every year.  There's a line of them along Nichols Trail as it bends toward Nicholdale Brook.

A recent blow down across the bog walk had just been cleared by Joe Welsh before I got there.  It made it a lot easier to use the bog walk.

Ran into a number of chipmunks using the stonewall highways along the trail.  I wonder where chipmunks lived before colonial farmers built all the stone walls?

The Nichols Trail; blazed blue, was in very good shape and had received a lot of recent clearing.

The Pearmain Path was also in good shape with new signs, and the trail was getting a lot of use.

Encountered another local resident who was kinda shy.  This box turtle was taking Covid social distancing seriously.

There's also some new trails maps up showing residents and visitors (those residents who are taller than a box turtle), how the trails link up around Nicholdale.

Bill's Bridge out to Pearmain Road was being guarded by another local resident.

At least he didn't ask me to answer three questions before letting me pass.

This end of Pearmain Road is a quiet, gravel road that provides good neighborhood access to the trail network.

Another new sign marks the entrance to Pearmain Path from the road.

Going back up the Pearmain Path the trail is well worn and blazed yellow and reconnects with Nichols Trail (blue blazes) near the scout campground.

The Nichols Trail was very easy to follow around the perimeter of Nicholdale.

The wildflowers were growing within the meadows and provided a lot of habitat for butterflies, bees, and birds.

New arrows and fresh blazes mark turns around the meadow sections to aid hikers.  Particularly hikers who may be new to the mown paths that dot the property.

Hazelnuts were forming along Nichols Trail.  They are a source of food for many of the wildlife living around the preserve.

Nicholdale Brook was flowing low but was a cool respite from some of the open fields on this July day.  A number of bridges cross and recross the brook.

 The old stone bridge was dry today, but it had been cleared and was fun to walk across.

The path back toward Rt. 110 and the parking lot had been mowed and had a new marker post that was visible above the meadow wildflowers.  This apple tree was producing many green apples for the fall.

The Nichols Trail was in good condition all the way back to the parking lot.  The recent trail clearing, mowing, signs, blazes, maps, etc. make it a very easy walk.  It's a great place to explore on a summer hike.

Pre-Storm Paugussett Perusal

On Saturday, a small band of hardy trail maintainers walked the Paugussett Trail from Meadow St to Eklund Garden to check of issues and plan future improvements.

We encountered a large pile of brush blocking part of the trail from a road construction project, not good, but maybe there project wasn't finished.

Shelton's Highways & Bridges Department just finished putting in drainage along Meadow Street to control icing, and cut back the brush for better sightlines when crossing the road, which is a good improvement.  Now we just got to get the brush pile cleared.  We pushed on thru the Wiacek Woods and noted wet areas where we need more stones and a possible re-route to avoid some wet meadow areas.

Beyond the powerlines we came across the first of some smaller blowdowns and large branches across the trail.  Wonder how many more blowdowns there are after the storm?

South of Wellington Court there was a small stream where we noted it would be good to add a small footbridge.

There are three other bridges built by Eagle Scouts that are holding up well. 

Sometimes you find unexpected things when you go to clean out a partially clogged culvert.  Like this wood frog hibernating inside the culvert under a rock.  At Polly's request we re-covered the frog for the colder weather soon to arrive.

But many other trail users were not hibernating this day.  Here's a warm puppy having a great time out walking his humans by Silent Waters before the storm.

Continuing south, we crossed Rt. 108, around the Dog Park, admired the new wood chips placed by the Parks and Recreation Department and came toward Hope Lake, where more people were out enjoying the trails.

These younger hikers were having a great time.  A little cold wasn't stopping them out enjoying Hope Lake and the Paugussett Trail.  Who knows, we may have a future trail manager somewhere in this photo.

Hope Lake - frozen.   In the coming days the ice will thicken and let us work on some planned improvements.  We ended at Oak Valley Road and looked at some recent repairs to the Eklund deer fence.

So even during the colder days of winter; people hike, dogs walk, frogs sleep, and trail work is planned for the coming year.  Keep checking the Trails Blog for upcoming events or shoot us an e-mail if you'd like to be notified.

Nicholdale Hike - Part I, or "Life Moves Pretty Fast"

We had a great hike at the Shelton Land Conservation Trust's Nicholdale Preserve on Rt. 110 in the White Hills on Saturday.  It was one of the required hikes for the Shelton Trails Marathon Challenge, so we hope that everyone who attended is trying to complete that and earn a special trails medallion. It was particularly fitting given that this was the closing weekend of the 2016 Rio Olympics.

A lot of people view "The Challenge" as a fitness test, to see how many miles they can do, or how fast they can do the trails.  Which is fine; two guys who were on the hike Saturday plan on doing all 13 hikes this fall in one day shooting around town, which sounds crazy, but I think they'll be fine.  Whatever gets you out in the woods.  Just consider, no matter how fast you go, remember to look around and enjoy the moment.

Just like Usain Bolt; the fastest man alive.

One of the good things about these hikes on the Shelton Trails Marathon Challenge is that you get to try out new open spaces, new trails, and see things that you may not have noticed before.  On the Nicholdale Hike we got to walk around the open fields (on nicely mowed paths) and see a number of wildflowers; Joe Pye weed, Ironweed, Milk weed, and others.  Since it was mid-summer there were hundreds of butterflies, moths, bees, and other insects feeding on the wildflowers in the meadows.

We had a fold-out guide to Common Butterflies of New England which some of the kids used to identify the butterflies that they saw.  We stopped from time to time to check out each one that they identified.  It was fun having them explain to us what we were looking at.  So everybody got to get some exercise, check off a hike on the list, learn a few things, and enjoy a great summer morning out with friends and family.  It's amazing how enjoyable the trails are when you slow down and look around - and it's free.  As a Famous Philosopher once said "Life moves pretty fast, if you don't stop and look around once in awhile you could miss it". More photos to come from this hike when our erstwhile photographer gets around to uploading them.

Boehm Pond Woodpeckers

Woodpeckers were on the loose along the Boehm Pond Trail in Shelton yesterday.  The Farmill Open Space has a number of downed trees and some of them make great habitat for woodpeckers.  Signs of woodpeckers were everywhere.

The Conn DEEP has a good fact sheet on local woodpeckers.  Apparently we have 7 different species in Connecticut, and when they're not twacking on the side of our house at dawn they do a good job of helping recycle trees that have blown down in storms.  We may have discovered an 8th species of woodpecker yesterday:

A pair of Picoides volunteerus (Scruffy Volunteer Woodpeckers) were creating loud noises and sawdust along Boehm Pond Brook clearing a multiple blow down that had lodged itself across the Yellow Trail.

An oak tree had fallen in a storm, hit another tree, that then toppled a twin tree, which hit another tree which split the twin tree like a wishbone after Thanksgiving Dinner.  Nature can be messy in surprising creative ways at times.

After a while, and some side trips for extra gas, files for dull chains, and a backup chain saw, the mess was cleared and the trail restored.  You can see where the Picoides volunteerus have been at work as you hike the trail.

Meanwhile Jimmy, Val, Anthony, and Mike were clearing the rest of the White and Yellow trails to make the footing easier and clearer.  (They also made it easier for the birds, squirrels, and chipmunks to find the covered acorns).  The woods were bustling with wildlife after they finished.

The White Trail crosses Boehm Pond Brook at this rippling cascade (mind your footing) before crossing Winthrop Woods Road to get to the Pond.

Boehm Pond is tucked away in the woods and is a secluded fishing spot.  If you're quiet you may see some wildlife.  There were 4 deer who were hanging out at mid-day in the swamp near the pond.

Stop and look around in this park and you may see some interesting things, like this little wildflower along the trail.  There are some great locations where it's surprising quiet (when there's not a trails work party going on), and you can enjoy the birds, wildlife, babbling brooks, huckleberries, and maybe even catch a fish for dinner.  Take some time to explore the Boehm Pond Trail as part of the 2016 Shelton Trails Marathon.  You may be happy that you did.  Thanks to all our volunteers that took time on a beautiful Saturday to help with Spring Cleaning.