President's Day Prance

On another "I can't believe it's winter!" day, 30 folks (not counting canines) came out to join us on a cloverleaf hike starting and ending at the Abbey Wright parking area on Nell's Rock Road. Our ramble included several trails, a section of the Rec Path, and Eklund Garden.

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Our route

Anxious to go at the parking lot

One of many bikers enjoying the trails on this day.

To think that this was once all pasture!

As we traversed the unfinished section of the Rec Path at Great Ledge, we encountered others just drifting by.

Some had a free ride!

A pleasant day, good company, healthy exercise! What more could you ask? Look forward to more hikes ahead in the coming months.

Marshmallow March - 2012

Considering that the previous day had seen up to 8" of snow blanketing the area, causing postponement of our sometimes annual Marshmallow "March 'til you drop and are revived with hot chocolate and burnt marshmallows" hike, an impressive turnout made the event a success. It was cold, but not excessively, and the fire and hot chocolate helped take the chill out of the air.

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The Shelton Land Trust property at Nicholdale Farm was the ideal location for this event. The trek began from the parking area just off Rte 110, leading over a stream and through the woods to grandma's fire pit.

This bridge was built as a Boy Scout project. The trail we followed was also created by the Scouts.

It appears that we had a professional snow-shoer in our midst!

I had to trudge back to the parking lot and leave Nellie with a horse-sitter!

Meanwhile, the fire crew was preparing the bonfire and dusting off the picnic tables.

The gang started arriving, eager to get to the promised hot chocolate and marshmallows.

...and they kept coming...

...and coming!

"Hey! Where's the marshmallows!"

The kids, as well as the adults, enjoyed creating lava-filled charcoal briquettes.

Appetites sated, bellies warmed, mittens and gloves steaming, everyone headed back to the parking area, having enjoyed a relaxing walk in the winter woods with a warm ending.

Nicholdale Marshallow Hike Today!

Snow Hike Today at 1:00 at Nicholdale.

After a winter of no snow - we're in luck! The hike was postponed from yesterday to Sunday at 1:00 to allow 9" of fluffy white stuff to be placed at Nicholdale for the first hike of 2012. The parking lot on Rt. 110 will be plowed and open courtesy of the Shelton Land Conservation Trust, so come out and explore winter with us today.

Last weekend a number of volunteers from the Trails Committee & the Land Trust were out clearing up blowdowns and vines in preparation of the hike. Here are Martin & Joe clearing out a new relocation around a wet spot leading to the Cattle Pass.

We also had help from Alex, Bill, Jim, Rich, Sheri, Bill & Terry. It was a good turn out - I think we had 5 chainsaws going so we got a lot accomplished.

There will be a bonfire going at the Scout Camp, marshmallows & hot chocolate will be provided, or you can bring your own. So pack up the kids, load up the snowshoes and cross country skis, leash up the sled dogs and join us for an invigorating hike before heading indoors to watch football.

Silent Waters Goes Up and Down

 

We had always read that after the Silent Waters dam burst in 1903, it was never repaired.  In most places the water doesn't get anywhere near the dam. Yet here is an aerial from 1934 (courtesy of the State of Connecticut) showing a completely full reservoir. It's bigger than Hope Lake!  

Here's a close-up with the current school and dog park locations shown for orientation purposes.  You can see the water lapped right up to the dam wall, which is now a part of the Rec Path with a split rail fence to keep people from falling off. The dam is actually two dams with a break in the middle at high ground, but the total length from end to end is close to 1/3 mile. Where the spillway is shown we currently have a large pedestrian bridge serving as a scenic overlook. 

What happened to the reservoir?? From the 1965 aerial above you can see that the reservoir was nearly completely drained and was mostly marshland with some open water in the center (there is white snow and ice in the photo on the water surface).  We don't know exactly when this happened, but we can assume it was done because the water was no longer needed and the dam posed a safety hazard (in 1903 it burst and flooded out businesses downtown).

Here's another aerial, this one from 2006 (we can tell because work on the bridge abutments at the spillway can be seen in preparation for the Rec Path bridge installation in late 2006).  In this picture you can see a lot of trees in the water because when the school was built, a new weir was installed at the spillway to increase the stormwater storage capacity of Silent Waters.  That rose the level of Silent Waters a few feet and flooded a lot of trees.   Great wildlife habitat.

Nells Rock in 1868

Here's an overlay of a map from 1868 on Google Earth in the Nells Rock area.   The overlay is not exact because of the scale of the old map, but it's pretty close. Hope Lake had not yet been created, and it looks like the old Nells Rock Road (previously spelled "Knells") may now be under water.  Shelton Ave was later straightened out.  Here's a test for our trail enthusiasts:  See if you can identify two old roads that have been recycled as hiking trails. First one to get it right gets one of our famous free hiking passes. (Click to enlarge). 

Take a Trot

It's beautiful weather for this late in the Fall - so get outside.

This family was one of many out enjoying the Nells Loop Trail this morning. It's a little muddy in spots but most of the blow downs have been cleared.

The Trails Committee was out yesterday blowing off the Turkey Trot Trail & clearing some remaining blow downs in preparation for this afternoon's guided hike. Join us at 1:00 on Constitution Boulevard North near the High School Driveway.

Reverse "TIMBERRRR!!!"

This time of the year, it's not unusual to see members of the Shelton Trails Committee and volunteers doing the much beloved leaf-blowing and raking along the various Shelton trails and the Rec Path. This year we had the additional task of clearing blow-downs from the tropical storm and the early snowfall. Mostly it's been a matter of pushing aside fallen branches and chainsawing the larger limbs that had obstructed the path. The Boehm Pond Trail, accessed from Far Mill Street, was in need of some work.

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We started the day clearing leaves and brush, occasionally having to do some heavy-duty cutting and moving of the larger blow-downs.

Whoa! A monster tree had been uprooted right across our trail, and there was no easy way to bypass it!

Bill ponders the situation. Should we cut down, or up? There was a chance the the chainsaw could get pinched and irretrievable (temporarily, at least) if we cut the wrong way. Bill correctly concluded that we should cut downward.

Rich is about to cut through the last inch when, BOING!, the trunk, now topless, snaps back to a position of attention!

The weight of the root ball was enough to bring the trunk, now minus the weight of the rest of the tree, back to its original position.

Job well done, everybody go home!