Wet 'n' Wild

On one of the rare temperate days of this July, the Shelton Trails Committee organized a fun Saturday, inviting all to join us in guided hikes, biking, and kayaking at Silent Waters. We had initially included sledding on the agenda, but the anticipated blizzard did not materialize. That aside, we couldn't have asked for better weather.

Enjoy the cruise? This father-son team won the prize for coolest looking boat. One of our goals was to get people out exploring the open spaces that they hadn't visited yet, and we think we succeeded.

Jim and Terrance inspect the flotilla before launching the first kayak.

In spite of the low water level, the hardy sailors were able to push off from our canoe launch. Bill was elected to test the waters and managed to keep his feet dry! (and his white sneakers shiny)

Terrance bids farewell to son Ryan, the sailor gone to sea.

Ryan joins father and son kayakers exploring the perimeter of Silent Waters. This small body of water attracts fishermen and floaters both, due to its serene and colorful nature. If not for its proximity to the road, you would think that you were in a primitive wilderness.


Emma has her learner's permit, but she hasn't attended the class on which side of the paddle goes up yet. "Why is this thing going in circles?"

While the Silent Waters Yacht Club was out paddling Teresa lead a group hike along the Turkey Trot Trail. Some folks got to explore some areas that they hadn't seen before. We passed a few trail runners, dog walkers, and other familys out enjoying the trails. We also had some mountain bikers, and two cute little girls on scooters enjoying the paved portions of the RecPath over by the Intermediate School.

Teresa points out a lurking alligator while Biscuit the Sea Dog is more concerned with the dock they are about to crash into.

It was a beautiful day, we did some new enjoyable things, and we had a nice turnout from a wide variety of folks out exploring and enjoying Shelton's greenways.

ALL IN ALL, ANOTHER GREAT TRAILS EVENT DAY!

Rich Brought Water to Riverview

It was a deceptively sticky morning today at Riverview Park. A bunch of us gathered to do maintenance on The Bluff Walk, a historic trail overlooking the Housatonic River. Fortunately for us Rich remembered his younger days in far-away tropical climates and brought along a lot of ice cold water (in smaller non-green containers).

The Bluff Walk was so overgrown in some areas it was hard to see there was a trail. We cut back the Japanese Knotweed, briars, and poison ivy behind the Little League baseball diamond using a variety of implements of destruction. We then brought in and placed mulch to make it easier to follow part of the trail, picked up garbage, fixed signs, blew off leaves and debris, raked, and generally spruced up the place. There's still some work to do, but we can save that until cooler weather this fall.

We had one customer and her dog come through as we were just getting one end of the mulched section finished. We timed it good and finished just as the storm was rolling in. Riverview Park on Rt. 110 is a great little urban park with some nice historic features and views of the Housatonic River - enjoy the walk this summer.

Jim, Rich, Bill & Sheri with a job well done. Enjoy The Bluff Walk- just bring some water.

A Cut Above

Now this is what we need for the Trails Committee. Turn those unsightly trees in the middle of your RecPath into valuable lumber. There was a neat demonstration of some portable bandsaw lumbermills at the Wooden Boat Show in Mystic this weekend. Just think of the money we would save on lumber. Hey, maybe we could even panel the inside of the Shelton Lakes Nature Center and Brew Pub at Nells Rock Road.

Here's the fancy sawmill with the hydraulics for loading and spinning the logs. We could cut a lot of boards with this one.

This is a early form of Mass Transit. Maybe we can get a grant to restore horse-drawn traffic on the RecPath between Downtown and Huntington Center? I bet the Shelton Historical Society has a wagon that we could use.

This sawmill is a little lower-tech than the others, but it converts trees into boards.

This was an interesting trail map at Pequot Woods in the neighboring town. So we could cut down the trees, saw them up into boards, and then route the trail maps into the boards. See - the mill would be really cost-effective. And we could sell the left-over boards from the sawmill for firewood at Beechwood Market. A true vertical industry. And that doesn't even take into account revenue from the Shelton Lakes Nature Center and Brew Pub. A true Shelton tourist attraction in the making.

Summer Brushing

Southern Connecticut get more that 45" of rain per year (which is more than Seattle), when, combined with recent warm weather and lots of sunshine leads to, you guessed it, plants growing out of control along Shelton's Trails. Since we were working on the Paugussett Trail all Spring the brush has exploded elsewhere. Today we struck back.

OK, maybe it wasn't killer Day of the Triffids 1960's horror film bad, but the plants were definitely getting uppity.

This little girl had to walk down the RecPath with her head cocked sideways in order to pass the shrubs. So before we had to call Indiana Jones out to clear the way the Trails Committee swung into action.

Jim & Rich did some aggressive pruning along the RecPath behind Pine Lake. They cleared out a lot of the brush growing into the Path.

The Wheeler St. entrance to the RecPath is across the street from the Shelton Senior Center and the Police Department. This was the area that a lot of work was done to make the RecPath easier to use for a wide range of users.

Bill Dyer & Lynn Reid tackled the Turkey Trot Trail along the powerlines. Lynn came in off Injured Reserve with 2 week old broken ribs to work on the trails. We think her doctor just told her to "suck it up and walk it off" (Lynn probably went with the cheaper physician).

We also took some millings on the Gator and filled out a wash-out behind Pine Lake from one of this Spring's storms. We tried to cover it with pine needles and stone so it looked the same as the rest of the RecPath. Can you find the repair.

We also cleared out brush to make the RecPath safer and easier to see around curves. It was nice to say hi to all the folks out enjoying the trails and open spaces today; either mountain biking, walking dogs, jogging, fishing, or just strolling about enjoying summer. It was great to see so many people out using the Shelton Lakes Greenway.

We're glad everybody was out enjoying the trails today, but remember that they have to be maintained by volunteers. Consider helping out sometime when you have the chance. All it takes is an email into Shelton Trails and Lynn will put you on our e-mail list for future work parties. Whatever you can do will be greatly appreciated.

Mill, Baby, Mill

Road millings from a paving project on Constitution Blvd South have been stockpiled at the corner of Nells Rock Road and Shelton Ave (in case you missed the towering black mountain driving by). Road millings are just old pavement that was ripped up and broken into little pieces.

The millings are being used to repair parking areas and build a foundation for the Shelton Lakes Recreation Path in the Nells Rock area.


The Parks & Rec Department is doing the work, starting from Oak Valley Road and working north along the yellow-blazed Rec Path towards the corner of Nells Rock Road and Shelton Ave. The picture above is the combined Rec Path/Oak Valley Trail section that has been nearly impassable on foot due to the deep muddy ruts. No longer.


View Rec Path millings project 2010 in a larger map

Shelton Trails Day 2010

The Shelton Trails Committee & Shelton Conservation Commission hosted 3 guided hikes as part of the 2010 Connecticut Trails Day celebrations. About 4o people took part despite the forecast of thunderstorms and muggy weather. Lynn Reid led the hike on the new Paugussett Trail section, Teresa led the Nature Loop at Hope Lake, and the rest of the Trail Com. led the Bridge to Bridge hike starting at the Community Center.

Victoria & Michelle Lown of Higgins Group Real Estate supported us by providing ice cold water. It was much appreciated. We then walked down the sidewalk, crossed Huntington St. at Lane St. and walked down Lane St. to RecPath entrance by the new sign kiosk.

Rich Skudlarek not only was our official Trails Day Photographer, but he also GPSed our route & created aerial overlays. Here's the beginning from Huntington Center, up Lane Street, and through Huntington Woods.

We had a few puppies along for the walk.

Here's Terry Gallagher at Lizard Head Rock explaining how the subdivision road was supposed to go through the cliff, but this piece was preserved as open space in the final approvals. He's also sporting the sylish CFPA "Hike Leader" shirt that was part of Trails Day. Connecticut Forest & Parks Association is one of the oldest environmental groups in the state & they sponsored over 160 events this year.

And here's where we left civilization behind at Crabapple Lane & headed off to Eklund.

The mountain laurels along the powerlines were spectacular. Here's Sheri, Bill, Aleta, and a younger hiker enjoying the views. It was a little hot, but this is definitively something people should visit again this week when it's cooler.

We passed a number of people out enjoying the open spaces. Here's one official-looking mountain biker over by Four Corners.

This is the third leg of the hike from the Eklund Native Species Garden on Oak Valley Road up to the White House on Rt. 108. We followed the blue blazes along the back side of Hope Lake.

And here we are at the Eklund Native Species Garden. The beds are starting to fill in this year.

We stopped at Hope Lake for a short break (and to catch a refreshing breeze). Jim Taradine was enjoying the view across the Lake.

A family was enjoying fishing at Blueberry Point on the south end of the lake.

And we met up with the Hope Lake Nature Hikers on the back side of the Lake. The trails had traffic today, but usually it's an easy quite walk to enjoy fishing or a view of the water.

We came onto the other improved end of the RecPath at Rt. 108 by the White House (city open space). The mountain of road millings in the background was from construction earlier this week. We have been trying to get some for construction of the Recreation Path base, and they were supposed to arrive "sometime in June". Well be careful what you wish for because this mountain got plunked on our RecPath 3 days before Trails Day, but we were able to walk around it.

This is the improved section from Rt. 108 to Pine Lake. Here the RecPath is about 8 feet wide and is surfaced with crushed stone or paved for handicapped accessibility.

This guy & his dad were just finishing kayaking at the Silent Waters Canoe Launch when we passed.

Here's the end of the hike at the Pine Lake trailhead on Rt. 108.

Here's Teresa Gallagher & Lynn Reid; two of our other hike leaders, at the Pine Lake parking lot helping shuttle people back to their cars at the start. Jim is pointing out some of the critters from the vernal pool that Teresa was showing people on the Hope Lake Hike.

And of course there was the post-hike get together at the Huntington St. Cafe after all the shuttling was done. All the hikes were interesting and a lot of fun - enjoy your trails.

Happy Trails - getting ready for Connecticut Trails Day

National Trails Day is next Saturday June 5th & there are a record-setting FOUR events in Shelton to enjoy. We've been racing around cutting, mowing, painting blazes & getting our trails in shape for Connecticut Trails Day. Join us on one of these fun events.

1. Nature Hike on Oak Valley Trail: 10:00-12:00 for an easy 2.2 mile nature hike lead by Conservation Agent Teresa Gallagher including a trip to the Eklund Native Species Garden – meet at the trailhead at Hope Lake on Nells Rock Road. For those who were there, this is the parking lot where Bertucci's catered that wonderful hike earlier this month (sorry, not catering this time). Take a hike and learn about the native plants and wildlife to be found along the trails. The mountain laurel should be in full bloom. It's more fun to go for a walk if you know what you're looking at. For information contact teresa@borntoexplore.org or (203) 926-9572.

2. Hike on the NEW Paugussett Trail Extension from Indian Well State Park to Shelton Lakes: 9:25 – 1:25 for a fun but challenging hike led by Lynn Reid of the AMC. Meet at the Maples parking lot before Indian Well State Park (Tip: spot a second car at the powerlines on Rt. 108 to shuttle back). Only 17 years in the making, volunteers have been working all winter and spring to restore the link between the White Hills and Shelton Lakes. Registration Recommended – contact lreid@sbcglobal.net.

Here's the Paugussett Trail along the edge of one of the meadows on the Wiacek property. The trail needs a haircut, but it is a great example of how Shelton's open space and farmland preservation program work together to preserve the quality of life in our community. One of Shelton's farmers is in the process of haying the fields right now.

3. Hike or Mountain Bike the Shelton Lakes Recreation Path; 10:00 – 1:00. Meet at the Shelton Community Center in Huntington Center and we’ll explore the new construction off scenic Lane Street on our 4.5 mile hike. (Tip; spot a second car at Pine Lake on Rt. 108 for the ride back, but we will have a shuttle running also). The beginning & end of the hike are on the handicapped-accessible gravel portions of the RecPath, but the middle portion is a non-accessible dirt trail that is suitable for mountain biking and hiking. The Lane St. entrance was just constructed this Fall thanks to the generosity of local contractor Barry Mucci, and we'd like to encourage people to enjoy one of the prettiest open spaces in town along the Land Trust Meadow. Victoria Lown of the Higgins Group Real Estate office has kindly volunteered to provide water again. Contact Terrance Gallagher at tg@borntoexplore.org or (203) 926-9572 for information.

Leashed dogs & kids (OK - the kids don't have to be leashed) are welcome on all the hikes. A rain date of June 6^th is scheduled for all the hikes if there is heavy rain. For more information visit www.sheltonconservation.org or the Shelton Trails Blog at http://www.sheltontrailscom.blogspot.com/.

June 5^th is a Greenway Day in Shelton. There are a number of other events scheduled including

• a hike at Jones Family Farm in the White Hills,
  
• the 5 K Family Fun Run at the High School,
  
• the Derby Sculls Rowing Regatta on the Housatonic River at Indian Well State Park, and
  
• the Relay for Life at the Riverwalk downtown.
  

Get outside and enjoy your greenways and open spaces this weekend. Visit the Connecticut Forest and Parks website at www.ctwoodlands.org for a listing of over 160 events around the state.

This year's theme for Trails Day is Find Your Happy Place, but we decided to just go with Happy Trails. See you Saturday.