Paugussett Trail Work Party

While most of us would prefer to spend the day at the beach or lounge lazily in the back yard on such a great day, some hardy souls chose to work on improving a section of the Paugussett Trail in Shelton. Work started at the entrance to the trail on Mayflower Drive and ended at the crossover on Route 110 (Leavenworth Rd). (The accompanying photos appear somewhat distorted due to an erroneous camera setting by the knuckle-head photographer).

Most of the work involved cutting back stray vines and especially Japanese Barberry, an invasive plant that covers large sections of the woods, and is nasty to control. Loppers, weed-whackers, and hedge trimmers were put to use in this battle

Terry explains to Val and Sheri the safety measures he takes while using the weed-whacker

Mark works at clearing the entrance to the trail at  Rt 110. The area had been completely overgrown and was difficult to find from the street

Many thanks to volunteers Val, Luis, Mark, and Shelton Trails Committee members Sheri, Jim, and Terry. Knucklehead Richard was behind the camera

Another day, another clean-up. Hope to see you at our next event!

 

Short Crew of Minions on Saturday

We had a short crew on Saturday.  Actually we were probably of average height, but only 3 of us showed up.  We did get a fair piece of work done before we had to leave for our other weekend tasks though.

The goal was to mow the Paugussett Trail though the Wiecek Open Space on Constitution Blvd North, however since we had limited staff we focused on moving rocks and filling in ditches and walls left over from recent CL&P construction along the powerlines.

Here was a diversion ditch filled in with rocks to make it easier to walk, bike and drive maintenance gear over.

The farmer had started to hay the lower Wiecek Meadow last week so we left the upper meadow alone for now.  Follow the blue-blazed stakes along the perimeter of the hay field until we mow.

 The cut-out in the stone wall was cleared.  The viburnum and greenbriars were putting on a flowery show.

We then cleared out the trail from Constitution Blvd North toward Wellington Court, cut out down toward Dyer Straits, then the battery in the mower shorted out.  The brushcutter also wouldn't idle properly, so we used the string trimmer until that ran out of string.  It just wasn't our day.  Luckily the hedgetrimmer worked so we were able to convince Rich to keep working while we went old school and started cutting briars manually.

June is a tough month to keep trails clear.  Especially in the open areas when it rains and there's a lot of warm sun; everything just explodes.  Jim later cleared blowdowns by the Dog Park, and Teresa cut brush back on the Paugussett Trail, the RecPath, and at other trails.  So enjoy the trails, and follow Bill Dyer's ABC advice; Allways Bring Clippers.  Seriously, bring your clippers when you go bike riding, running, or walking because you'll need them.  Or plan to join us for a trail work party because we appreciate any and all agile active trail aficionados. See the work party page for more info.

And check out the Mountain Laurel on the RecPath south of the Dog Park this week.  You won't be sorry.

Trails Day 2016: Paugussett Trail North

Birchbank Trailhead

A group of intrepid hikers tackled Shelton's most difficult trail for Trails Day 2016, and one of our thirteen hikes of the 2016 Shelton Trails Marathon. The Paugussett Trail between Birchbank and Indian Well has some challenging footing in places, especially when the rock is damp and slick like it was for Trails Day.  We gave it the hardest rating in the CFPA Trails Day Guide: A black diamond. 

Upper White Hills Brook, Birchbank Trail

The hikers took Birchbank Trail up from Indian Well Road until the white blazes met the blue blazes of the Paugussett Trail at the chimney, where the Paugussett was recently rerouted. 

The Birchbank Chimney

From the chimney, the hike took a left turn onto the Paugussett Trail and continued up the hill to the overlook.

Birchbank Overlook

It's always hot on Trails Day, and this day was no exception. It was also muggy, with slugs and giant millipedes wandering about the trails. This made the next section more of a challenge, because there was a lot of damp rock, and all it takes is one slip to break a leg. 

Maidenhair Fern

Most of the uphill climbing was done by the time the hikers arrived at the overlook, but there was still a good rocky scree section. It's good to go slow with this type of trail and think about where you want to place each foot. Walking sticks are helpful, too. 

Up the mossy scree slope

First of The Boulders

After the scree, comes The Boulders. This is still in Birchbank, just before you arrive at Indian Well. There is one clump of boulders that hikers need to "scramble" over, meaning they need to use their hands. After the boulders, a few trail sections were overgrown, so Teresa stayed behind to clear the trail. 

Toad

Once the trail hits the Indian Well line (marked with yellow paint on a tree near a stream, with a Shelton Open Space marker looking in reverse), the footing is much easier until the descent down to Indian Well Falls, which is very steep and may be rerouted. 

Sadly, the Indian Well overlook was overgrown and there was no view. This is something we will bring up with CFPA and the DEEP, because we can't go in there and start cutting trees on state property.

Boehm Pond Woodpeckers

Woodpeckers were on the loose along the Boehm Pond Trail in Shelton yesterday.  The Farmill Open Space has a number of downed trees and some of them make great habitat for woodpeckers.  Signs of woodpeckers were everywhere.

The Conn DEEP has a good fact sheet on local woodpeckers.  Apparently we have 7 different species in Connecticut, and when they're not twacking on the side of our house at dawn they do a good job of helping recycle trees that have blown down in storms.  We may have discovered an 8th species of woodpecker yesterday:

A pair of Picoides volunteerus (Scruffy Volunteer Woodpeckers) were creating loud noises and sawdust along Boehm Pond Brook clearing a multiple blow down that had lodged itself across the Yellow Trail.

An oak tree had fallen in a storm, hit another tree, that then toppled a twin tree, which hit another tree which split the twin tree like a wishbone after Thanksgiving Dinner.  Nature can be messy in surprising creative ways at times.

After a while, and some side trips for extra gas, files for dull chains, and a backup chain saw, the mess was cleared and the trail restored.  You can see where the Picoides volunteerus have been at work as you hike the trail.

Meanwhile Jimmy, Val, Anthony, and Mike were clearing the rest of the White and Yellow trails to make the footing easier and clearer.  (They also made it easier for the birds, squirrels, and chipmunks to find the covered acorns).  The woods were bustling with wildlife after they finished.

The White Trail crosses Boehm Pond Brook at this rippling cascade (mind your footing) before crossing Winthrop Woods Road to get to the Pond.

Boehm Pond is tucked away in the woods and is a secluded fishing spot.  If you're quiet you may see some wildlife.  There were 4 deer who were hanging out at mid-day in the swamp near the pond.

Stop and look around in this park and you may see some interesting things, like this little wildflower along the trail.  There are some great locations where it's surprising quiet (when there's not a trails work party going on), and you can enjoy the birds, wildlife, babbling brooks, huckleberries, and maybe even catch a fish for dinner.  Take some time to explore the Boehm Pond Trail as part of the 2016 Shelton Trails Marathon.  You may be happy that you did.  Thanks to all our volunteers that took time on a beautiful Saturday to help with Spring Cleaning.



  




 

Birchbank Boogie

It was a beautiful Spring day for a hike, with the promise of emerging flora and fauna. Mother Nature was her usual mysterious self once again, though, and the flora part was less than anticipated (It's hard to predict!), but the hike itself was rewarding.

Click on photos to enlarge

14 hikers, 3 Shelton Trail Committee members, and 1 pooch gathered at the trailhead kiosk, with Terry warning about bears, alligators, and politicians possibly lurking in the woods

Into the woods

Terry points out some of the wildflowers that are found in this area

The smart hikers would check Terry's observations with guidebooks

We crossed one of two bridges built by Eagle Scouts

One of several hikers we encountered using the new Paugussett stream crossing

After a healthy climb, we reached the recently cleared overlook with a clear view of the Housatonic River. See the preceding blogs that detail the work done in preparing this overlook and the nearby new trails

This was the perfect spot for a break

Shelton High students did a terrific job in clearing and benching a new trail

It was downhill all the way as we made our way back to the start

 Though we didn't get to see Disney-esque fields of flowers, it was an exhilarating and educational experience. Hope to see you on our next hike!

Paugussett Reroute at Birchbank: Part 3

Are we done yet??? YES, we're done! SHS students have completed the Paugussett Trail reroute at Birchbank. Not only that, but they also completed an extra reroute of Birchbank Trail that had been flagged out just in case the other stuff got done. 

We split into two teams. The first team head down the hill to a deeply eroded switchbank on Birchbank Trail, where they proceeded to build a bypass trail.  The erosion is largely due to years of illegal quads and dirt bikes chewing up the trail. It's become too difficult to walk. 

This reroute was a spur of the moment project set up just in case we had a good turn out and finished rerouting the Paugussett. Good thing it was all flagged out! Although this reroute wasn't very long, one section did need to be banked into the side of the hill, and that's always a big job.

We basically extended the switchback to an overlook of the water chutes of Upper White Hills Brook. This provided both a scenic overlook and better footing. It was a great place for a well-deserved break. This team got the better break location, but then had to walk all the way back up the hill when they were done to get to the parking area. 

The second team stayed up on the ridge and finished leveling off the Paugussett Trail tread. This is where we were working on our first day.  Some parts had been finished off nicely, but many other parts were still pretty rough. 

We spotted a coyote running along the hill down below us.  This was the third time a coyote was seen running through that area in the last month, so I think there may be a den nearby.

Although the trail reroute is finished, it still needs to be blazed. Blazing takes longer than expected if you're doing quality blazes. It took me 20 hours to blaze 3/4 mile of yellow/blue trail at Tahmore last November.  We'll also post some signs up alerts hikers to the new blaze colors.

The newly completed Paugussett reroute will gain a blue blaze. Part of this route joins Birchbank Trail and will have two blazes: one white and one blue.  The old Paugussett section that is being replaced will be demoted to a blue/white connector trail. It's still a good trail, but I think people hiking the Paugussett from Monroe to Shelton Lakes will enjoy scenic features of the reroute better, especially the restored Houstanic Overlook. 

Here's a list of all the students who helps out for the third work party: 

Derik Cerulli

Eric Silva

Dan Cerulli

Ryan Widomski

Justin Widomski

Justys Oritz

Joe Piccirillo

Jessica Visconti

Veronika Chapelska

James Bell

Angela Toth

Matthew Cho

Alexandra Kenealy

Tyler Nolan

Prashanna Kandex

Christian Spillane

Cameron Marro

Oscar

Paugussett Reroute at Birchbank: Part 2

Day Two of our Spring Break Paugussett Trail Reroute and the entire half-mile section of trail has been roughed in with the help of two dozen high school students. We had spectacular weather to make up for the rain on Tuesday. 

Earlier in the day, our Tree Warden Dean Cawthra (and I'm so sorry but I don't know who it was that helped Dean) cut down some big trees at the foot of the cliff to open up that beautiful view of the Houstaonic River. And I was there the day before putting up more work party signs and survey flagging for the crews so they don't get lost on the trails. 

This time I brought more tools, and some of the kids brought their own from home, which is a big help. Someone even brought a DeWalt power tool! 

This day was a lot easier than Tuesday. We cleared new trails sections that already had pretty good footing, so most of the work involved raking, sawing, pruning, and picking up sticks. The first work zone was a short stretch through mountain laurel. It looked intimidating, but the crew cleared it right out in quick time. 

They even took out a log using hand saws. Wow!

The second work zone was down by the chimney, and that was our break location. It's a great place to stop and relax, with the sound of running water. There is a shallow stream crossing at the chimney that will eventually get more substantial rock stepping stones, but as long as it's not flooded, it's pretty easy to get across. 

After clearing out the chimney section, we headed back up the hill to the overlook, cleaning up the trail as we went. We took another break at the overlook before heading back down to Tuesday's work zone to continue on with some unfinished business there. 

It is so nice to have that view cleared out! Hikers enjoy that reward after walking up a hill. 

The next work part is Saturday 4/16 10:00 to 2:00.  If we have a big turn-out we'll probably split the crew and start working on a small reroute of Birchbank Trail at the big switchback where the trail has turned into a gully.   Many thanks to everyone who came today, with special thanks one of the parents, Joanne who joined us and helped lead the crews. Here's the list of volunteers from our sign in sheet, as best as I can interpret the handwriting:

Justys
David
Eric
Derek Cerulli
Dan Cerulli
Joseph
Alex
Mike
Nick P
Angelo P
James Bell
Angie Toth
Richard McCarthy
Prashanna Kandel
Matthew Liscio
Matthew Cho
Zach Koziowski
Alex Kozlowski
OS?r ?
Sofia Ribeiro
Cameron Mano
Christian Spillane

Thank you!