I have not worked on the mail page but the map pages instead and it is coming along nicely.

Website

That is the map page until it is updated. You will find that it lists shelters, trails and parking areas with links to an individual page about each trail (or it will).

Right now I am having trouble with the elevation chart for the next, Pachaug trail, but should be able to suss that out soon.

the individual trail pages will look like this.

Trail Pages

This is proving to be a fun project but I would rather be out recording data!

I am hoping to get out this weekend and get some data recorded, maybe the Quinebaug Trail. Nice short and easy to walk in a day the Quinebaug is about 6 miles and, like most of this part of the state, moderate in incline.

We will see what the weekend brings.

On the Island the Nature Conservancy has set aside a 15 acre parcel to learn and teach the effects of fire on a habitat.

Trail as recorded by gps

There is a 3/4 mile trail that runs through this parcel of property covered in scrub oak, low bush blueberries, sweet ferns and other low growing brush and surprisingly some larger (still short comparatively) oaks.

The trail does a good job of demonstrating a savannah habitat an how fire plays a crucial role in maintaining those habitats. The interesting part is how settlement of the island by non-natives affected the frequency of fire and natural restoration.

The signs I posted pictures of are at the beginning of the trail. There are several more throughout the trail that build on those at the beginning. 

I don’t know how much foot traffic the trail sees. There were some very strong and thick spider webs!
In the following picture there is a white stripe vertically, that is one of the several webs we ran into. This one was strong enough to hold onto the stick we used to clear it so I grabbed a quick video.

I love a nice walk in the woods where I can learn something and having a modest understanding of backfires from my conversations with Peter, my stepfather who was a smoke jumper and long time firefighter, it was interesting to see a spot where they were put into practice.

  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.

Leigh and I have been busy but not much to post about. The past few weeks have taken us on a couple small camping trips and we have gotten a couple pieces of gear (I will post about them later) but aside from a somewhat ‘uncomfortable’ stay at the Pachaug forest Mt Misery campground, there are no real stories and certainly not any pictures.

The Mount Misery campsite is one of two public land campsites in the Pachaug forest and, if any of you know, it is the least private of the two with barely a bush between sites. It feels as though you are virtually on top of each other. This is not always a bad thing, especially when there is a family camping and they desire closeness but if said closeness leads to fighting at 3am, it can be a bit bothersome for all those surrounding the sites involved.

Bad nights sleep left behind, the day and night was not a wash. Leigh, Cora and i walked a bit around the Rhododendron Trail and some of the dirt roads. We stumbled upon two, what appear to be, storage sheds made of heavy timbers and galvanized corrugated steel and one of the two had a 1/4 inch plate steel door that was backed by heavy timber with a two equally strong hinges fastened by 1/2 inch carriage bolts. Maybe they are remnants of when this was a CCC (Civilian Conservation Corp) Camp? Camp Lonergan, I believe, around 1933.

All in all, that is the extent of what we have done lately, walking till we are tired and then

Cora and I play Go Fish until bed! A good time was had by all!.

My partner in hiking and fiance, Leigh and I raised money for seek the peak this year.

Seek the Peak is “New England’s premier hiking event” a Hike-A-Thon to support The Mount Washington Observatory (MWOBS).

We learned about the event late and were still able to reach $1200.00 for MWOBS.

So a touch of back story, Leigh is a novice hiker through and through but she has drive, determination, a willingness to learn, and the ability to use common sense.

I approached Leigh cold and out of the blue when a friend told me about the Seek the Peak event, told her about it and asked her if she wanted to hike Mount Washington. At first she said “YES!” which quickly turned into (common sense kicking in) “how bad is it?”

Trying to relay the severity of the terrain, we came to a good destination for someone that is just trying their first difficult hike, Hermit Lake.

Hermit lake and the caretakers cabin are 2.8 miles from Pinkham Notch. 2.8 Miles of uphill along broken rocks and in and out of culverts.

Trip planned and our route set we were ready to gather donations and eager to get the trip under way.

We left for New Hampshire on the 16th just ahead of the rain in Connecticut and got there, set up and were bedding down as the rain started. It rained Thursday night and part of the day Friday but that did not stop us from enjoying North Conway, NH and the MWOBS museum. We stayed at Dolly Copp campground which is about 4 miles from the Mount Washington Auto Road and about 8 miles from Pinkham Notch, convenient.

This is the first fundraiser I ever took part in that had sponsors and it was nice as there were prizes for dollars raised. Leigh and I each raised over $550.00 which entitled us to a “goodie bag” and a Hydroflask.
The hydro flask is one of the coolest (literally) drink bottles I have ever used. I have left the bottle in direct sun @ 90° for over an hour and the water inside never got higher than cool room temperature.

The “goodie bag” was a backpack donated by Eastern Mountain Sports (EMS) some granola bars and trail mix, pancake mix and Coffee (Good Vibes, great coffee) and a couple other goodies.

Back to the story at hand. Rain fell each night we were there and into each morning. Saturday morning was no exception. The day of the hike Leigh and I each woke up early to find it still raining so our 8:00am trail time turned into 9:00am while waiting for the rain to subside.

With a late start, some fine mist and a good bounce in our step, Leigh and I started out hike.

Having done this exact trail last yeah, I knew what to expect. Leigh did not. I feel as though my explanation of the pitch or the terrain might have been off or maybe she just couldn’t visualize the trail but Leigh, started happy and had to dig in more each time the hill said turn back.

Due to battery restrictions, I did not take a ton of pictures on the trail.

 Saying Leigh had to dig in is a great way of putting it as that is exactly what she did. Leigh pulled herself along this trail and vowed that she was going to make it to her destination, no matter how many times I offered her the out of going back.

We made it. More impressive, she made it. Remember that drive and determination I mentioned earlier? She used it to drag her butt up that hill and reach her destination.

We had a great time resting at the care takers cabin while we ate lunch and got ready for our decent.

Thoughts of turkey dinner from Harts Turkey Farm carried us down the mountain like we sprouted wings. We flew down the mountain and may I say we earned that dinner!

The dinner we ate was during an award ceremony where those that got the most donations were recognized and then there were more prizes.

We ate at the bottom of the mountain and may I say, the day that started shaky had gotten beautiful!

After the prizes were all doled out and the food was all gone it was time to head back to camp with one well deserved stop along the way.

A nice foot soak for Leigh and I!!