Boehm Pond Bridge Relocation

During one of the storms this winter Mother Nature decided our footbridge on Boehm Pond Brook was too low and decided to move it downstream about 100 feet.  It came to rest under a tree at the top of a scenic cascade.  The Boehm Pond Bridge was built 2 Years ago, had weathered a number of storms successfully and was pinned int the bank, but this time the stream was really whippin' and the pins didn't hold.

This was where the bridge used to be.  We thought it would be a pretty simple matter to have 2 guys pick it up and walk it back into place.  So on a bright and blustery Saturday morning Bill and Jim went to get it and lo and behold it was heavier than expected.

Here's Jim, Bill & Bob rummaging in the brush trying to get the bridge out of the stream by themselves.  That wasn't happening so we went to Plan B:  get more volunteers and a rope.  Where were all the high school students today? 

With the aid of more volunteer horsepower they were able to slide the bridge across a log, carry it back upstream, then down a slope and back across the brook where another team had raised the stone foundations higher so the bridge wouldn't get washed out quite so readily in the future.

The relocated bridge back in place on the new footings.

We took a some time to level up the bridge, add more rocks to the foundation, and improve the access approaches.  Jim brought some steel cable out and he and Mike attached one end of the bridge to a nearby tree so if the bridge got adventurous again it wouldn't wander too far downstream.  (We didn't ask Jim why he happened to be driving around with some extra steel cable in his car).

Then the crews split up and cleared brush and blowdowns along the White and Yellow trails.  Some went over to Boehm Pond and looked at the old bridge on the North end of the pond.  Jim was the bravest and ventured across and back successfully.  He thinks we can just replace some of the old deck timbers.  This would re-open fishing access around the far side of the pond, which is part of the public open space.

Other people went out and cleared some larger blowdowns on the trail extension out to Boehm Circle.  There's a pedestrian easement that leads back out to Farmill Street there.  Several trees were down blocking the way though.

Mark cut up one large ash jumble that was blocking the path.

You can see the "Blonding" for the woodpeckers looking for the Emerald Ash Borers that all killing off the ash trees.  What a shame losing all these nice trees due to an invasive insect and what countless hours are required statewide to clean up this mess.

We also cleared out some multiple birch blowdowns that were blocking a re-route across the Brook.  There's more brush to cut, but at least it's smaller stuff now.  This was a busy morning and we got a lot accomplished; a bridge restoration, cleared multiple blowdowns, and general trail clean-up.  Thanks to Val, Mike W., Bill, Bob, Mark, Jim, Mike F., and Terry.  Now people can go watch the NCAAs.

St. Patrick's Day Tree Chopping

If anyone was out walking the trails this Saint Patrick's Day weekend they may have noticed one or two tree branches blown down from the winds Friday & Saturday.  Some are small and some are larger.

This large-ish red oak branch was across the White access trail to the Paugussett Trail at Indian Well State Park; just above the staircase.

After a little gentle chainsaw work this branch was turned into fire wood and the trail is clear.  Some other branches and trees were also removed from the trail.

The weather is supposed to be good this week and people will be out enjoying the Spring sun along the trails.  Please feel free to pick up and toss any branches or sticks well away from the trails wherever you may encounter them, every bit helps.  And if you're out with kids make a game of it and see who can get rid of the most sticks.

Thanks to everyone cutting trees, branches or moving sticks from the trail this Spring.  It's appreciated.

The 2019 Marshmallow March is in the Bag

The 2019 Marshmallow March was a success.  We had over 42 hikers + doggies, the weather cooperated, and the hot cocoa was hot.

The weather had been iffy, but a couple of inches of happy snow and sunny 40 degree weather made it feel like an early spring.  We'd like to thank the Shelton Land Conservation Trust for allowing us to run the event at their Nicholdale Farm parcel on Rt. 110 again.  

Bo was ready to go.  Nothing like a cute happy dog to attract a crowd of younger hikers.  Joe Welsh, President of the Shelton Land Trust gave a brief talk about the Nicholdale parcel and

The snow was deep enough to be picture perfect along Nicholdale Brook, but not to deep to walk in.  It was slippery and the trails were soggy in places.

Sheep were once very common in Connecticut

Some excess toy animals were set out along the trail to give the kids something to look for.  We're competing with the Internet these days, after all. Tip: If you're taking the kids out for a hike, tell them it's just like a computer game, but in three dimensions.

Marshmallows!

We wound our way along the Blue trail thru the woods and reached the scout camp where our intrepid fire starters Mark and Bob had a good fire going.

Everyone had collected sticks along the way and were toasting marshmallows and enjoying hot cocoa.  We think the dogs were also satisfied with the pickings around the campfire and under the picnic tables.

And after putting the fire (they did put the fire out, right?) Our hardy crew of trail volunteers (Mike, Mark & Bob) dragging all the gear and paraphernalia back to the cars in the parking lot.  Thanks to everybody who helped out or came to The March.  Thanks again to the Shelton Land Trust for letting us use their property for this hike.  And thanks to Ed McCreery for plowing out the parking lots; hope your cold got better.

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.

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.

Pearmain Planning Parade

Winter is a good time for trail planning, leaves are down so you can see in the woods.  So to take advantage of the new open space grant that Shelton won in December members of the Trails Committee were reviewing alternative routes for the Pearmain Path off Pearmain Road.

This is the northern end of the existing path at the Shelton Land Conservation's Nicholdale Farm property.  We were looking at better routes to take advantage of natural features and create a better loop hike for the neighborhood.

 

One good point about bitter cold is that people stop talking and start walking sooner.  Bill Dyer, Mike Flament, and Val Gosset started walking up the existing Pearmain Path across Guy Beardsley's property.  Gotta get that blood flowing.

We looked at woods roads, swamps, icy stream crossings, deer stands, evergreens, sightlines to nearby developments, lumpy ground, mushy spots (technical terms), and verified property lines along road Right of Ways.  Not all property lines fall right on the stone walls.

We finished up back at Pearmain Road where a second crew was getting ready to walk potential trail routes on part of the Jones Farm property with the owners.  It was a good day to have a warm hat.

The Trails Committee left to find warmer locations, while Terry, Jamie, and Jackson Jones along with Joe Welsh and Teresa Gallagher walk the "Little Knoll" property for the best trail routes.  The net result of all this planning and grants is that more open space will be preserved and made accessible in and around the farms in the White Hills.  Thanks to the Beardsley and Jones families for working with the Shelton Land Trust, City and State to make this possible.  Now if it could be just a little less windy...

2018 Summary and 2019 Goals

Here's our summary of 2018 and some goals for 2019. 

Total Hours and Value: The Trails Committee recorded 1200 volunteer hours for 2018. This does not include meetings, events, trail monitors, or anonymous volunteers. The value of this volunteer labor is $36,288 (based on $30.24/hr value for Connecticut volunteers per Independent Sector.) There were 23 formal work parties held along with numerous smaller ad hoc work parties.

Events: There were six public guided hikes, including the National Trails Day hike held in June, a full moon hike, spring wildflower hike, and a marshmallow march.

2018 Accomplishments: 

• Volunteers maintained 28 miles of trails during the 2nd wettest year in Bridgeport history.
• Stockmal and Willis Trails were created
• Cleared extensive tree damage from February storms (7 hrs/mile)
• Implemented a Trails Monitoring programs
• Kept vegetation at bay throughout a very wet summer
• Cleared more fallen trees after a severe storm in May
• Installed routered trail signs at Nicholdale Farm and Willis Woods
• Repaired erosion damage after a 7" rainfall in September
• Rerouted steep sections of the Paugussett Trail at Birchbank, Indian Well, and Thoreau Drive
• Constructed steps for the Paugussett Trail at Princess Wenonah drive
• Installed artwork along the Poet Path (Paugussett Trail) at Princess Wenonah Drive
• Installed a trailside fence along the property line south of Thoreau Drive
• Installed a Birchbank entry side at the border of Indian Well and "roadwalk ahead" signs at Birchbank and the Poet Path. 
• Rerouted a section of Turkey Trot trail to bypass a wet section

Scout Projects

• Josh Andes constructed benches along the Rec Path

2019 Trail Goals 

• Create a new Pearmain Path loop, making use of the new Pearmain Preserve open space
• Begin the "Big Loop" trail connecting Nicholdale to Indian Well. Also, rename the trail.
• Address wet area on Paugussett Tr. north of Independence Drive and add a bridge. 
• Fix up all traihead kiosks and landscape trailheads
• Encourage the City to beautify the Rec Path entrance at Pine Lake (including gate house and filtration house)
• Install additional signage at Rec Path trail junctions
• Secure a contractor to provide more routine Rec Path mainenance during the growing season.
• Promote a pedestrian bridge across Means Brook to connect Stockmal Trail to the Trombetta Woods open space (currently not accessible)
• Create new trail map and brochure for Shelton Lakes
• Support extension of the Paugussett Trail south of Buddington Road, which would require a significant redesign of the Shelter Ridge proposal.