Curtiss Brook Connector Work Continues

We got lucky and were able to squeeze in a "dry" work party before the Nor'easter hits tomorrow.  Volunteers met at Pine Lake on Route 108 to continue work on the Curtiss Brook Connector.  The Connector is a short, new trail that connects the RecPath trailhead with Rt. 108 going east toward downtown Shelton.  It gives people, mostly high school students, a safer option to walking along Rt. 108., where there's no sidewalk and a very narrow road shoulder.

There was a brief prep talk about today's tasks.  One group was cutting brush on the east end, another was expanding benching in the side of the hill along Rt. 108, and others were cutting things or clearing up trash.  

Sad to say, there is a lot, Lot, LOT of trash below this busy Rt. 108 roadside where the trail is going.  There was a work party here earlier in the year that collected a lot of debris, and it only seems to have grown more since then, along with all the new brush.

Mike Flament always wanted to work on a chain gang.  Today he got his chance.  The trail route is a steep hillside, and we need to bench the trails in with pick mattocks, trail adzes, and Rouge Hoes.  It is anything but easy work.  We were debating various songs about chain gangs why we were digging.  I went to Chrissie Hynde & The Pretenders, while Mike went straight to Sam Cook.  All we needed was to break into song.

 

Kiera, Kenny, Luis, Ellen & Bill were working up ahead cutting brush out to Rt. 108.  It's amazing how things grew since our last work party here in the spring.  Hopefully somebody else got pictures.

Here's Teresa & Mike on one of the improved sections near the end of the work party.  The trail has to get dug in on the uphill side and leveled out on the downhill side.  The trick is to make something that is stable, drains well, doesn't erode, fits in the landscape, and is sustainable over the long-term.  That's all, piece of cake.  It takes a lot of hard work sometimes to make a decent hiking trail.

Ellen and Mike bringing up yet another bag of trash along Shelton Ave. at the end of the work party.  Ellen thinks she found the first bottle of Ballantine Ale that George Washington threw out of his carriage while passing thru Shelton.  If this picture looks busy to you, you should see how tight it is further down the road.  That's why we need an access trail off the road here.

Note to Treasure Hunters:  There may be a lot of priceless antiques along this section of trail.  Feel free to go in and pick up all the stuff that you find.  Make sure that you have your tetanus shots.  Thank you Mike for taking all the junk down to the Transfer Station after the work party.

A more finished section of trail benched into the hillside. 

We didn't get pictures of everybody working hard but thank you Kiera, Kenny, Luis, Ellen, Bill, Mike, Teresa, and Terry for all your work.  We got a lot done today.  More work is needed to make this a good trail, but we want to improve pedestrian safety to the Pine Lake Trailhead.  

 A lot of high school students and other folks walk along the narrow shoulders of Rt. 108, and it's not safe.  In the longer term it would be great if the State and City added a sidewalk and shoulder here, but the trails volunteers are trying to get this pilot trail in for now.  Additional work parties are planned - stay tuned. 

 

 

 

 

    

Spring Cleaning; Fixing Split Rail Fences

The First Day of Spring was Friday, March 21st.  The next day was our first fence repair work party of 2025.

There was a number of damaged fence sections along the RecPath at Silent Waters.  Some sections were broken from the Fall/Winter storms, some posts and rails were just old and failing.  We had gotten replacement rails and posts last December, but then the frost set in, which made it difficult to replace posts.  Now the frost was out of the ground and now we could fix the fencing.  Ellen & Mark are off-loading the new fence sections.

First the old fence posts and rails that were broken were removed.  Bill and Steve are digging out the broken post stump with digging bars, post hole diggers, and by hand.  It takes a bit of effort, but they got it out.  

Mark was shuttling tools and fencing all morning.  We had split up into multiple groups to repair different sections of fence at the same time.  The RecPath was very busy this morning, but the public was good and pleased with the work to maintain the fence.  It probably was like driving thru a ConnDOT work zone.  All the work was done in a nice safe manner.

The Spring Peepers were going at it in Silent Waters.  The frogs and other amphibians came out last weekend.

Carter, Zane and Larry cleared out sections on the other end of the dam (the RecPath is build on top of the historic dam that used to supply water to downtown Shelton).  The fencing is there to keep people from falling off the dam.  

Mark had to cut some tree trunks that were in the way.  Jeff and Larry are spotting Mark while he's chainsawing.  We had just finished fixing some of this fence last year when the Micro-Burst Storm occurred in August and sent fallen trees smashing down on the trails and fence.  The trails were cleared fairly quickly, but some of the repairs took longer.  The broken tree trunk made a gratifying crash when we rolled it off the top of the dam using crow bars.  

 Zane & Carter did a good job digging out the old rotten fence posts and setting the new posts.

Jeff & Larry would set the new rails in place between the existing and new posts.  We left the new posts loose in the holes until we got the rails set, and then tightened them up with fill.  We gently tweaked the fence posts and rails together using Fine Adjustment Tools (15 lb. and 6 lb. sledgehammers).  We do dainty work.  Gravel and crushed stone was dug out of a nearby ditch and carried by 5 gal. pail to finish filling in the holes.  The posts were tightened when the fill was tamped in place with digging bars, sledgehammers, and a driveway tamper.  

Ellen was cutting back invasive Burning Bush along the RecPath.  The invasive plant spreads out and takes over the woods along the trail.  Cutting it back now helps control it later.  Shelton could use a lot of help from volunteers controlling invasive species.  The Trails Committee tries to do what we can when we're running work parties.

The work party was successful.  We repaired all the damaged fence along the northern section of the dam (the southern section at the bridge will be on another day).  Here's Bill, Jeff, Larry and Steve at the end when the sun finally started to come out.
 

A finished stretch of repaired fencing.  Not a bad job.

The old rotten and broken pieces of fence were brought out to the road for disposal by the City.

Thanks to everyone who came out today; Carter, Zane, Steve, Larry, Jeff, Ellen, Mark, Terry & Bill.  We now have several newly experienced split rail fence installers ready for the southern section, and a lot less invasive plants next to the RecPath.  It was a good days work.

French's Hill Winter Work Party

2025 is off with a bang.  The groundhog sees his shadow and we start getting a snowy winter in February.  Saturday we met at French's Hill to cut back brush before it snows tonight.

We had a good crew to work on cutting barberry and blow downs.  The parking lot was a bit icy, but passable.  Thick pants and sturdy work boots are encouraged, along with warm gloves, hats, and safety gear.

It took a little while to get started, but we got squared away and broke into groups.  Mark & Ray went over to Granderson Place to clear a blow down and cut stuff going out on the Red Trail.  They also cut stuff later at Oak Valley Trail.  Bill, Aidan, and Kaden cut back brush and cleared debris along the entry drive and parking area.  Ellen, John, Danny, Bodie & Larry worked their way in along the trails.  Terry took the brushcutter away from the other folks so it was safer.

John is clearing briars along the trail entry.  The sickle bar attachment is good for getting the brushy stuff, and prevent an explosion of briars in the spring.

There were newer blow downs from recent storms.  We'll need to come back for this one on the White Trail, but it's passable for now.

Barberry was cut next to the trails, and a lot of clumps cut off trail.  The barberry will re-sprout in the spring, but it'll be smaller green growth that can get cut more easily with lighter tools.   This will make it less of a crisis during April to June when everything needs to be cut at once, and it may allow some native species to sprout and compete for space and help the forest environment.  

The 3-bladed brush knife and smaller guard are a better combo for cutting barberry.

The White Trail was nice and peaceful (when we weren't working with power tools).

Helpful Trail Tip:  Micro-spikes on your boots are great for packed down trails that are icy.  Mine, of course, were home resting in a nice dry warm drawer.

Judging from the tracks, a lot of local residents have been using the trails.  One of the reasons for preserving Shelton's Open Spaces.

Near the end of the end of the work party, a couple of younger volunteers wanted to try out traditional clearing techniques on a dead snag which normally we leave up for the woodpeckers (but we have a few snags to spare at French's Hill), so here's Bodie.

And Danny going at it.  Apparently, it was warm work.

Timber! (nice thumb)

Team work - The End.  Hopefully, they can shovel tomorrow.

Thanks to everyone who came out on a chilly morning; Mark, Ray, Ellen, Larry, Danny, Bodie, John, Aidan, Kaden, Bill, Terry.  There's more to cut, but this was a good start on our Pre-Spring Clearing.

Now we just wait for snow tonight and then the Super Bowl.  Have fun exploring French's Hill and bring your tracking guide. 

Nicholdale Cutting Party

The brush at the Nicholdale Land Trust Preserve can grow really fast at certain times of the year; like Summer.  And it certainly has this year.  It's been several weeks since the trails were last brush cut so today was the day.

We had eight volunteers on a cloudy morning to cut out the blue-blazed Nichols Loop around Nicholdale.

Ellen & Mike lead most of the volunteers along one end of the trail and a couple of us went the other way.  It's sometimes better to spread out when you're using power tools for work party safety.

The section of the trail that parallels Rt. 110 was pretty thick and overgrown.  Particularly where trees were cleared (by ConnDOT or UI) within the State Right of Way earlier in the summer.  The grass and brush exploded with the extra sunlight when the trees were removed.  Above is a before picture.

And the "After" picture.  We tried to cut the briars, thorns, and grass, and leave the wildflowers and native plants.

Bill was coming thru with his electric hedgetrimmer cutting out briars.

Anne, Athena, and Ellen at the end of the work party.  Everybody made it out at the end.  Another perfect work party without loosing anyone: 100% volunteer retention.

The Shelton Land Trust's Nicholdale parcel is a great location to observe fall wildflowers and bird migrations.  And the Preserve is easy to navigate now that the trails are cleared.  Thanks to everyone who helped out today: Aidan, Athena, Anne, Bill, Ellen, Greg, Mike & Terry.

Nicholdale June 2024 - Stuff is Growing: Holy #$?!!&

It's June - there's water, and sun, and it's warm, and everything is freaking growing.  At once. Everywhere.  It's the busy time of the trail year.  

The trails on the Shelton Land Trust's property at Nicholdale and the surrounding trails are no exception.  Luckily, we had some wonderful volunteers to show up on Saturday to brush back the summer vegetation.  on the Means Brook Greenway.

Bodie and Daniel did a great job weedwhacking the trails.  The sections in the open sun were out of control in places.

 

This was a "Before" photo of a one of the trails connecting the Nichols Trail with the Stockmal Trail on the north side of Rt. 110.

Here's the "After" photo.    Much clearer where to go.

Cooper and Jeff were working on the Nicholdale Connector.  The cleared sections of the trail and cut away brush so you can clearly see the trail signs and painted blazes.

 

It's a big improvement when you're trying to find your way.  The Shelton Land Trust mows the trails in the fields with a tractor and mower, but they have a tougher time working in the woods.

John and Jeff lead the group across Rt. 110 where they worked on clearing out Stockmal Trail over towards Means Brook.  The sections at the Iroquois Gas Pipeline, the swamp before the bridge, and the fern walk afterwards needed to be opened up.

 Daniel and Bodie were clearing out the trails around the junction.

Luis cleared out over to the Nicholdale sign along Rt 110, then worked down to The Stone Bridge.  The other's came back from the north side of Rt. 110, and then worked their way on the Nichols Trail and cleared out the Pearmain Path too.

 

The Stone Bridge had been hidden in hay and weeds.  But not now.

Nicholdale has a number of waypoint nature signs explaining various features of the property.  Now access to them is all cleared out.

 

Ellen Cramp was clearing out briars along the trails with the new electric hedgetrimer.  It's a new addition to our trail tools and seems to be quite useful.

It's a busy time of the year keeping up with all the new growth along the trails.  But, we had a fine crew of volunteers today and got a lot of trails in the White Hills cleared.  It was a really productive morning.  We didn't get pictures of everybody, but their work is still much appreciated.  Thanks to Joe Welsh from the Land Trust for helping out, thanks to Annie, Cooper, Daniel, Bodie, John, Jeff, Luis, Terry, Ellen, and Ted.  Hot work, but well done.  And thanks to Jeff for bringing all the water bottles.

If anyone is doing the 2024 Shelton Trails Challenge the trails around Nicholdale are much easier to walk after today.

The Shelton Land Conservation Trust has another work party scheduled next Saturday to remove invasive species.  From what I saw today there are a lot of targets to remove.  Check the Land Trust's website for additional information.

Round 3 - Paugussett Trail Stone Hauling

 A sunny Saturday with no rain in sight; seems very abnormal.

This was the third work party in a row to finish up this section of the Paugussett Trail north of Constitution Blvd.  It's a very wet stretch that was hardened with crushed stone over the last two weeks.  This week we were putting a finish topping of finer crushed stone over the coarser sections.  This week was less muddy - above is the "Before" picture of the clean crew at the start.

Jack, Anne, and Val were loading the wheelbarrows and buckets with crushed stone.  Other volunteers were hauling it out along the trail to the end then working their way backwards.  Thanks to the Shelton Highways and Bridges Dept. for dropping off more processed stone.

We didn't get a lot of photos this time, but it was a lot of hard work.  And despite the cool weather it got surprisingly hot in the sun.  We need to bring more water next time.

Helpful Trail Tip:  Bring water, lots of water.  And snacks.  And dress in layers.

Some people cleared up the upper Eversource crossing, others raked, smoothed and tamped down the fine stone mix.  Everyone helped.  Devin was a big help wheeling the crushed stone.

Trail Hardening is hard work.  I could almost hear Bill Dyer cheering us on.  We kept going until lunchtime when we ran out of steam and water, but we got this section all covered.  Val & Ellen shoveled and moved a lot of stone all morning long.  Some of the younger guys could take a lesson from them on how to keep working and being efficient.

 It may take some more fine finishing but this was a huge improvement for the trail tread.

Thanks to Devin, Val, Ellen, Ivana, Andrijana, Anne, Teresa, Terry, Jack, Jaden, and Cooper.