Signs for Riverview Park Trail

I'll have some signs made up for 4x4 posts for this Saturday's work party. The work party will meet on 8/22 at 8:30 at the basketball courts in Riverview Park to make the trail easier to follow. The signs will read "The Bluff Walk" in honor of the name change to match the old historic path. I also have the 4x4's, post hole digger, and digging bar.

We'll need about 6 bags of Quickcrete for 4 sign posts. I can also bring the brush cutter. It would be good to have some crushed stone if we could get a load dropped off by the tennis courts. We'll need people to bring shovels, rakes, mattocks, pruners, & mulch forks.

We also need some quick-drying white paint for the footprints across the parking lot. Anybody want to bring the boots to make the prints?

Housatonic RR Rail to Trail Ride 8-9-09

Ryan & I went biking on the Housatonic Railroad Rail Trail Sunday. We started at Maple Drive in Monroe (near Wolfe Park). We parked down the street from this informally signed trail entrance so we wouldn't be impacting the neighbors. Armed with two working bikes, a mega-Monster, and a diet coke we set off exploring.

We crossed a small wooden bridge over the Pequonnock River & left the historic railbed as we followed the crushed stone path south through an industrial park (needs direction signs). The crushed stone has some wash-outs so be careful going down the hill. The industrial park road is Victoria Drive & is home to Swiss Army Knives. The ride along the edge of the open field was different & nice (some of the brush along the insides of the curves needs to be cleared for better sightlines). The path surface changed to bituminous pavement as we left the industrial park.

We crossed Rt. 111 & went down the drive toward Old Mine Park. There were only 2 cars in the parking lot. Hopefully Trumbull now allows non-residents to park here without ticketing. It seems like a waste to not allow the public to use a safe and convenient parking lot. Particularly given all the state & federal money that have gone into buying and building this greenway. All the Shelton Trail System is open to the public; Sheltonite or not. It seems more neighborly that way. The entrance to the rail-to-trail path is straight ahead at the end of the drive.

This Trumbull section of the path winds along comfortable curves through the trees with gentle grades. We passed an older couple using walking sticks who, while not handicapped, obviously were able to take advantage of the gentle grades to enjoy the park. The side slopes that had to be cut in were landscaped with grass or woodchips and looked attractive.

We crossed a number of boardwalks and bridges along this portion of the route. The 12' wide path goes straight onto the 12' boardwalk with nice cleared shoulders that allowed for a safe ride.

The path passes under the Rt. 25 bridges & parallels the Pequonnock River on the east side of Rt. 25. There was some elaborate graffetti under the bridge abutments. I can't say that I thought it was attractive, but Ryan admired the most creative artwork. I just wish that some of that energy could get channeled into more constructive uses, like trail maintenance.


Further south into Trumbull the surface of the path changed to stone dust & the traffic got busier. There were a lot of families out with smaller children, bicycles, & dogs. It was nice seeing people enjoy the greenway & saying hi. When it's busy you need to stay to the right so people can pass safely. A few people had trouble with this concept like the family above with the dog on the retractable leash taking up the whole path walking abreast. Most people understood that they should travel on the right, however we were able to get by these folks. We always let people know that we were "on your left" as we passed them so we wouldn't startle walkers or joggers.



This was a typical trail section on the southern end; big rock cut on the west side, and wooded slope down to the River on the east side. This is somewhat similar to what portions of the Shelton Lakes Recreation Path will probably look like in places.

It was a nice ride, Ryan though this was a little monotonous, but OK. The northern section below Old Mine Park was more interesting.

This section was the most heavily used due to the best public parking. There were some well marked public spaces near the Tait Road entrance (near Daniels Farm Road & Rt. 127). There were a lot of strollers, joggers, bikers, families, and dog walkers enjoying the Path, as were we. It was a nice Sunday afternoon & we managed to get our ride in before the thunderstorms hit. This was a pleasant trip that I would recommend to others.

Trail Planning

Members of the Trails Committee met with Jim Swift Saturday morning to review plans for construction of the Phase 3 portion of the Recreation Path and to identify existing and potential obstacles, hazards and wetland intrusions.

Jim Swift, Lynn, Sheri, Jim, Terry and Bill discuss possible approaches to the trail behind Huntington Woods

Scout-built bridges may require some reinforcement

It ain't easy making all these decisions!

Raspberries along the RecPath

Wednesday, we went bike riding along the RecPath from Pine Lake to Silent Waters. There is a bumper crop of plump, delicious raspberries just below the dam at Silent Waters (along Constitution Boulevard across the street from the Intermediate School). You may want to wear long pants and bring some hand clippers to work your way into the raspberries. The blackberries are thornier, but there aren't too many of them.



This is a view on top of one of the historic dams at Silent Waters. There was some storm damage from last weekend that has to be cleaned up, but the RecPath is mostly clear.

This is the crossing from the school campus to the Turkey Trot Trailhead at Constitution Boulevard.

If you want the raspberries then go quickly before they are gone. This is a good trip for families with kids on bikes. You can also combine it with fishing at the lakes. Take advantage of the nice weather for a bike trip.

Gate Repairs Done While You Wait

Q: How many guys does it take to beat some concrete with sticks? A: One, plus 5 other guys to stand around and watch.

We repaired the gate at the Abby Wright parking lot on Nells Rock Road yesterday morning. It had been vandalized when some nitwit tried to drive through it. The Nells Loop Trails are open to non-motorized customers, and the gate is there to keep trucks and ATV's from tearing up the trails - particularly after a rainy night like the one we had Friday. We try to keep the gates locked to prevent vandalism, but permit access for maintenance or to fight wildfires. Rich is seen here doing his Bill Dyer imitation of poking the quickcrete with a stick while Jim is telling him where to poke. Pete is looking busy with the shovel & Lynn is admiring their handiwork after clearing weeds out by the road. Luis was clearing brush from the trailhead out of sight.

We had planned on doing a variety of tasks, but found out recently that some eagle scouts will be able to complete some improvements to trail entrance by this October, so we focused on the maintenance end. We cleared brush to make the trailheads more visible & filled in some of the wetter areas to improve the footing just beyond the parking area. The scout improvements are construction some drainage work at the trail entrance and building a sign kiosk. We always try to dovetail our efforts with others when they're willing to take on a project. A girl scout troop planted the slope along the parking lot with flowers this year, and another eagle scout built this fence a few years ago.

Here's another photo of our This Old Gate crew with Jim, Rich, Luis, Pete, and Lynn at the repaired gate. Now all we have to do is get Jim & Rich to smile when someone points a camera at them.

Most of the good work that has been done to open this park up for the public is the work of volunteers, bit by bit over the years. This saves the Shelton taxpayer a lot of money each year by having volunteers do this work rather than using paid staff, and it frees up town staff to do things that they are better equipped to tackle. The area along the road looks like it was recently mowed by the Parks & Rec Department, which is great. This roadside area would be ideal for flower & shrub plantings if some group wanted to adopt it. Unlike in the Harry Potter movies, good things don't occur by magic. If you want Shelton to be a good community to live and work in, then you need to volunteer to help make it that way. The Shelton Trails Committee is always looking for a few good volunteers to help make a difference. People of all ages can e-mail the Shelton Trails website if they want to help - Lynn Reid is our volunteer coordinator. It can be a lot of fun, and you can learn a lot about the area that you didn't know.

Abby Wright & the Nells Loop Trail seem to have become the de facto Big Dog Walk. While we were working four cars came in and everybody seemed to have a big dog that they were taking for a walk, or, in one case, a rather excited dog who was taking their human for a walk. We also get a lot of mountain bikers in there. The trails are level, wide & have dry surfaces which makes them good for users of all ages. Visit the Shelton Trails website at www.sheltontrails.org for maps and additional information.

The parking lot still needs additional millings brought in for drainage by the Shelton Bridges & Highways Department. That is beyond the stuff that we can do as volunteers; unless the city gives us a backhoe to play with, and a truckload of millings. The parking lot at Hope Lake down the street is also a mess with potholes & needs major repairs.

Another issue for the parking lots is entrance signage. The Shelton Conservation Commission should also get some nice, professionally-made wooden carved signs at all the major parking lot entrances similar to what other towns have to highlight their greenways. This is one area where spending a little money to show some community pride in our award winning trails and greenways is worthwhile.

Sunday Update 7/26/09 - somebody came & stole the gate that we just got done repairing yesterday!!! I guess because the posts were fixed they felt they had to mess with something else.

Monday Update 7/27/09 - Rich & Luis found the gates in the woods off the trail and reset them. Hopefully they stay put for a while. There are no magic city workers fixing this stuff - when it's vandalized, even if it was a prank - it eats up volunteer time to fix it. That time is a precious commodity that shouldn't be wasted fixing vandalism if we want Shelton to be a good place to live. If you see vandalism taking place call the Shelton Police at 924-1544.

Sparks a-flyin

Emma took a picture of me cutting a number of the rebar pieces in half last night (into 20"-24" lengths). My neighbor; Rick Swanson, was kind enough to loan me his cut-off saw & it worked well with the rebar.

(Rick has helped the Trails Committee before. He is an auto body artisan and restorer of Model T's & classic cars. One of his Model A's won the First-in-Show prize at the History Center this Sunday. He also welded up our pile masher that we used on the Lane St. Boardwalk. If anybody needs quality work done on their car I would highly recommend him.)

It takes a little while to cut the rebar in half, but it should make it easier to drive pins into stony soil when building steps. We used some of the rebar to set the new stairs at Riverview, but it took a while to pound in the 4 foot pins. Kelly Walsh generously donated the scrap rebar for our use on the step repair.

HELPFUL SAFETY TIP: Did you know that rebar gets REALLY HOT when you cut it with an abrasive saw? I did something stupid & picked up the end of one of the pieces after I cut it. My goggles were fogged up & I was rushing to do something else, and I thought I was picking the cool end of the bar with my bare hand, but Noooooo. I dropped the rebar like a hot rock, & headed for the first aid cabinet. After a couple of hours of soaking my hand I now have a nice blister impression of rebar corrugations in my left palm. It's not quite as bad as the evil Nazi from Raiders of the Lost Ark, but it was another of life's little learning experiences that I will avoid repeating. See the photo below of ear muffs, goggles, GLOVES, and rebar laying on the ground until they have FULLY cooled. I've read that most accidents happen near the home - that's because that's where the knuckleheads live.

Early Morning on Silent Waters

A break in the weather brings out a kayaker to fish the tranquility of Silent Waters