First Work Party of 2025

 The first work party of 2025 was cutting briars in the snow North of Constitution Blvd.  An earlier work party scheduled for Jan. 9th was canceled due to weather. 

We needed a new route to mow some of the trails following the Eversource powerline construction.  The big timber mats they put down to drive equipment on turned what was a usable road on City Open Space into a compressed swamp that was impassable at times.  So we shifted the route to slightly higher ground, which was a wicked briar patch.  The temperature was in the teens when we started, but it was sunny and the wind wasn't blowing.  So this was one of the best days of the week so far.

Bill was using his electric hedgetrimmer, but stopped to take pictures of our group.

Aidan, Nancy, Mark (& Mike) were going thru the thick stuff.  This was a day to wear the thicker, briar-resistant clothing.

A happy mid-winter work crew.  We split into 2 groups so we could use the brushcutters and hedge trimmers a safe distance from each other.

Bill & I also cleared out barberry along the Paugussett Trail from Constitution Blvd to the powerlines, and some of the other nearby trails.  Cutting back the barberry and other invasive species during the winter helps scheduling trail work in the spring when everything is leafing out.  Barberry is a pain to control, but cutting it now makes it easier to kill some of the fresh sprouts in the spring.

This stretch of the Paugussett Trail was pretty in the snow.  Some of the blowdowns that had been hung up in the trees finally decided to come down in December.  These will be added to the chainsaw portion of the To Do List.

There were a lot of prints on the trails in the snow (people and animals).  It's nice to see hikers and neighbors using the trails.

This is the path thru the thicket after the work party.  The gator path is re-routed around the wet spot N. of  Derby Junction (the power companies term for this spot).  Eversource is done with their work here, but UI Co. is still working on their powerline replacement project.  It should be easier to use and maintain our Gator/walking trail during this spring.

Thanks to Nancy, Mark, Bill, Aidan, Mike and Terry coming out to cut thick briars on a frosty morning.  It turned out to be a decent January day.  The first work party of 2025 is in the books.

Christmas Day Hikes - 2024

 There was a little snow for Christmas Day this year that made for a festive hike.

Quinn & I went for a walk on Oak Valley Trail.  On the way back we ventured out onto Hope Lake for a bit.  Quinn did a little sliding, but eventually got the hang of walking on ice.  It was his second hike of the day; he was having a good time.

Apparently, other folks did a little sliding too.  There were a lot of people and dogs out walking, running, and even some biking the trails.  Today was just hiking for fun, no trail work, but we did appreciate the recently repaired boards in the bridge and boardwalk on the south end of the lake.

Winter is a fun time to enjoy the trails and open spaces.  These buttonbush along the lake shore were very striking when viewed from the ice.  It's a different perspective from the summer hiking.

The snow was frosting the partially-restored kiosk back at the parking lot in the afternoon sun.  It'll look nicer when it's all fixed up.

So enjoy Shelton's trails this winter.  Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, & have a Beautiful Boxing Day.

10 Winter Workers on Oak Valley Trail

Getting it done

This February has had some erratic weather; cold, rain, cold, ice, warm, rain, cold.  Not much snow though.  Normally there's 6" to a foot of snow on the ground now preventing brush trimming along the trails (it's good to cut the stems close to the ground to avoid a lot of  "spears" sticking up.  But we took advantage of the nicer weather this weekend to clear out along Oak Valley Trail, and clean up some storm blow-downs.

Ten volunteers came out on a brisk Saturday morning at the powerlines along Rt. 108.  One group went in from the road and cleared out briars and other brush along the trail.  Cutting it now makes our job a lot easier in late Spring when everything is bursting out and it's hard to keep up with trail clearing. 

Owen using one of the brushcutters near the trail entrance along Shelton Avenue.  It was great to have help from someone on the cross country team that runs the trails regularly.

Another group went over to clear this multiple blowdown near Pine Street.  One dead pine tree fell over in a storm, knocked over a second, and the pair of them knocked over a maple, which shattered the top of another tree before getting hung up in a swamp.  It was a mess that people had to walk and bike around on one of Shelton's more popular trails.

The first step was clearing out some areas to work around the blowdown so we had a safe way to walk away when we had to.  Jim cleared out a stone ramp that some mountain bikers had built over an old fallen log next to where the trees had fallen.

Trail Tip:  Next time bring a crow bar when the ground is frozen.  The trail hoe worked pretty well though.  Or, wait till the ground thaws.

Terry and Jim remove one of the logs across Oak Valley Trail.

 
Mark & Jim cutting up the last of the fallen pine trees blocking the trail.  Mark had actually bought a longer bar and chain for his saw so it would be easier to cut the larger logs.  That worked out pretty good.  We were able to cut those from one side of the blowdown without having to go from side to side.  Which was a good thing because the trees moved and rolled some when they were cut free.

Three down and one to go.  We then had a long and thoughtful chat about how to cut the last tree that was hung up.  We were not sure how the tree would roll, slide or move when it was cut.   There was now room to get under the tree safely and it didn't appear to be going anywhere.  So after much debate we decided that discretion was the better part of valor and left that one up for now.  We may come back and try it again if it's a problem.

Oak Valley Trail is now open again.  Mind your head if your mountain biking.

The other members of the crew cleared out a lot of bush along the trail; particularly under the powerlines.  This is an area that grows fast in the spring and this should help with early summer trail maintaining.

Mike Flament did a lot of wire brushing on the bog bridge over the stream just west of the powerlines.  The bridge was growing slippery due to moss buildup.

We got a lot done.  It was great that we had a good turn out.  Thanks to Kristel, Owen, Graham, Luis, Ellen, Val, Mike, Mark, Jim & Terry for coming out to help.

Does anybody know why coyotes like to poop on rocks and logs?  This little tidbit was just in the woods near the bridge.  Does anybody know why they do this?

Balmy February Morning at Pine Lake

It was 65 degrees Fahrenheit in Antarctica today, and nowhere's near that in Shelton, CT.  A few brave and intrepid trails volunteers ventured out to take advantage of the snowless (so far) winter and cut briars along the RecPath behind Pine Lake today.  The wind was still kicking up from last night's storm.  The wind speeds hit records (80 MPH on Cape Cod) last night.

 It was very pretty, but the wind across Pine Lake along Rt. 108 was pretty ear-chilling this morning, so we decided to get into the pine trees and start cutting right away.

With a variety of saws, loppers, hedgetrimmers, weedwhackers, chainsaws, bow saws, and other instruments of destruction we attacked the briars, poison ivy, Japanese knotweed, burning bush, barberry, and other invasive species growing into the RecPath.  We wanted to do a pre-emptive strike before everything bloomed out and started growing this spring.

Once we got out of the wind, into the trees and started working it warmed right up.  The sun came up and the pines looked great in the early morning sunlight.

We split up into teams and worked our way up to Constitution Blvd.  (and Val went to Hope Lake), cutting briars and invasive species growing into the RecPath.  A lot of people were out using the trails; dogwalkers, joggers, mountain bikers, and one really hard core biker wearing shorts.  He must have a robust circulation system.

We got a lot done, but there's more to do.  We have another work party coming up in two weeks on Oak Valley Trail if people would like to enjoy a brisk outing in the morning.  Thanks to Graham, Luis, Bill, Val, Mike, Mark, Jim & Terry for helping out today.

 

We didn't get a lot of good action shots of people working.  For some reason everyone just kept moving.  Val did get a picture of putting stuff away after the work party.  Thanks to everybody who came out. See you in a couple of weeks.

Shelton Winter Hike at Nells Loop Trail

We finally had snow yesterday just in time for our Winter Hike.  We schedule these events far in the future and hope that the weather will play along.  This year's hike was at Nells Loop Trail on Nell's Rock Road across from L'Hermitage Condominiums.

Thanks to Emma Gallagher for re-painting our snowman sign for the event.  It came out looking great.

After the snow the sun came out and it warmed up to around 40.  The snow wasn't quite enough to snowshoe in, but we did get in a good walk.  We had a great turn out of about 2 dozen hikers and 3 happy dogs.

We did the loop counterclockwise out to the powerlines, stopping at various trail junctions along the way.  The snow was soft but slippery in some of the steep sections.  It pays to have a trekking pole, walking stick, or micro spikes for differing snow conditions.

We didn't see any coyotes, but we did see a lot of coyote tracks along the trails.  We looped back crossing the Paugussett Trail (blue), and turned left (north) just before John Dominic Drive.

Winter Hiking Tip:  You can park in the cul-de-sac at John Dominic Drive off Buddington Road to access the trails in this area if the parking lot at the trailhead isn't plowed out.

The hike actually went quicker than anticipated (about 1 hr. for 2 miles), and everybody had a good time, fresh air, and seeing friends.  Thanks for coming out.  Now off to the football and hockey games on TV.

Before the Storm

Saturday morning, cold, mixed sky; some clear blue with wispy crescent clouds ahead of sheet clouds from the storm rolling in.  We're getting snow, but how much?  Will it stick?  There'll be rain, but will there be ice?  Gil Simmons where are you when we need you?  Or even Hilton Kaderli.   

People, and dogs, were not hedging their bets.  They were out hiking, dog walking, running, and biking before the storm hit.

 At Lane Street in Huntington Center, the bridge reconstruction project was quiet, but residents and trail users could still use the temporary pedestrian bridge to bypass the construction and reach the RecPath trailhead.

The pedestrian path wraps around the construction site and you can walk down Lane Street to the trailhead kiosk for the RecPath.

You can also enjoy an up-close-and-personnel view of bridge reconstruction that you seldom see while driving past a typical construction site.

 Hey look, the bridge foundations are finally getting completed.  Means Brook flows under and thru the bridges.

There was a lonely Mallard drake hanging out in some open, unfrozen water upstream of the bridge.  It was a reminder that wildlife has to cope with the upcoming cold weather just as humans do after an unseasonably warm December and January.

Further downstream, the Far Mill River was flowing along at Gristmill Trail on Mill Street.  Water levels were low following flooding last month along the trail.

Typically more of a summer destination, Gristmill Trail is still very striking in mid-winter.

The RecPath along Silent Waters had a number of hikers and runners along it.

The RecPath going downhill to Meadow Street had a lot of leaves and debris on the paved portion, but was being used by a number of runners and dog walkers.  This will be the site of a future trail work party to clean up The Path, but it was open and used by a lot of people on Saturday.

Kylo was taking his family out for a walk on the Turkey Trot Trail & RecPath Saturday too.  Dogs have to make sure everybody gets out for an invigorating walk in the winter.  It was good to see everyone out enjoying Shelton's Trails & Greenways before the storm hit.

Hope Lake Jackhammer Party

It was a brisk morning in February, Groundhog Day to be exact, with the wind in the trees, the woodpeckers drumming, and the sound of jackhammer on concrete in the distance.  The Trails Committee was removing an old concrete bridge foundations out in Hope Lake.

In the old days farmers would wait for the cold of winter to move heavy objects over frozen ground.  After a lot of planning and logistics Mark Vallaro decided that today the ice would be strong enough to remove the old concrete bridge foundation out in Hope Lake.

Mike, Mark, and Jim are jackhammering the concrete foundation.  Mark, Joe, and Bill had gone over to Home Depot in Derby to rent an electric jackhammer and portable generator (more on that later), which were then skidded and rolled across the ice to the work area.

Portions of the removal were awkward, because the concrete was tilted at a funny angle.  It was a challenge to get the jackhammer positioned properly, and still have a place to stand.  And the electric jackhammer was heavy!  It didn't seem to bad at first, but it got heavier and heavier as the day went on.

We attacked the concrete from various angles trying to gradually break it into smaller pieces.  We though this would go quickly, but the concrete was very strong and didn't feel like giving up easily.

Mark did a lot of planning for this work party.  One of the things that worked out surprisingly well was a temporary walkway of OSB plywood screwed into the ice.  It gave great footing for moving wheelbarrows and buckets of concrete chunks back to shore.  A couple of us were wearing micro-spikes, but the rest wore regular boots and had good footing.

This is the typical setup with the portable generator and Hilti jackhammer.  A series of holes would be drilled in the top and sides of the foundation, and when necessary the concrete was encouraged to split with 12 lb. sledgehammers and rock bars.

Here's Jim with the jackhammer while Mark, Joe, and Mike are using bars to loosen the foundation chunks.  A number of people got a shot at the jackhammer, but Mark did the bulk of that work.  Everyone got covered in concrete dust or shot with flying chips.  We used safety glasses and ear muffs but it was dirty work.  It certainly makes one appreciate construction pros who work with jackhammers daily.

 The bigger pieces were carried by rebar (yes it had rebar too) or slid on the ice to shore.

 

   After about 5 hours we got the last of the concrete out.

 Finished!  Joe, Bill, Jim, Mike and Mark have the victory photo over the concrete.

There's still a bit of clean up for tomorrow, but the view up Hope Lake is improved by removing that old bridge abutment.  The other abutment will probably become a bench along the lake.

Some of the concrete debris hauled up to Oak Valley Road for removal next week.  This is about half of what was removed.

One of the biggest tasks was hauling the portable generator back up to the road.  There were 4 of us doing it and I think that we stopped 4 times just to catch our breath.  But everything and everybody got back OK.

Jim took the Gator and tools back.  Thanks to Joe for lending his truck to pick up the heavy jackhammer and generator.  Joe and Bill returned the jackhammer and generator back to Home Depot; who very graciously donated the rental time to the Shelton Trails Committee and Conservation Commission.  Thank You Nancy.    It's always great when a local business helps out trails volunteers. 

So we decided to do our part and patronize another local business; Bad Sons Brewery in Derby.   We completed a long-standing wish list project to restore a portion of Hope Lake.  We tried a new construction method and learned a lot.  We were dusty, dirty and tired.  There may be a lot of aches and pains tonight, but nobody lost any fingers or toes.  Today was a success.  Cheers from your friendly, neighborhood Shelton Trails Committee.