Archive - August 13, 2015

  Arthur Dawley, Leighs grandfather and Billy’s great-grandfather, was a man of the earth, an old potato farmer from Connecticut and a wonderful man. I mention him because the shelter I chose to take Leigh to for her first overnight  in a backpacking shelter (lean-to) was named Dawley Pond Shelter. The name is, to the best of my knowledge, a coincidence and not related but I still thought it would be nice to celebrate his memory at the same time.

The day was brilliant, bright and the temperature was comfortable. The light was perfect to high lite the surroundings without being oppressively hot.

Leigh Cora, Billy and I headed out to Voluntown, CT, Pachaug Forest. We were on our way to one of  the several shelters and campsites provided by the state for backpackers.

The shelters name is Dawley Pond shelter and it is located on Great Meadow Pond which is fed by Great Meadow Brook which leads to Dawley pond later down the brook.

The shelter is on the Pachaug Trail and, with close by parking, makes a great overnight spot for parking and exploring the area, especially if you like to fish for bass and other shallow pond fish.

We started our day with a short hike from the car to the shelter and got ourselves set up.

There is a nice fire pit at the shelter so we gathered firewood to have a nice fire that night and then we went for a walk out to Porter Pond Road and Porter Pond then back to camp with a brief fishing trip. Then it was time for a fire and relaxing.

The first of August Leigh, Billy and I went to stroll around Purgatory chasm in Sutton, Massachusetts.
The weather that day was fantastic. The trails are great. Combine the two and you have a great day to walk some beautiful trails.

The trails at Purgatory chasm are short in distance but the boulders and the chasm itself make for some fantastic scenery and, while short, it makes for a great walk around the park. The trails are mostly flat and relatively easy to traverse.

Personally, I had a blast climbing and crawling around the rocks, walking the edges above the chasm and strolling along the stream.

There is about 3.25 miles of trails so on a nice day it may be very crowded but there are nice spots for a picnic so you can get off the trail and just enjoy the surroundings too.