Hike #35: Metacomet Trail (Rte 6 to Rattlesnake Mountain and Pinnacle Rock) - Farmington and Plainville, CT

Date Hiked: Sunday, June 26, 2016
Estimated distance: 4.21 miles (although it felt twice that)
Weather: 82°F, sunny
Resources:  CFPA Interactive Trail Map
Highlights of the trip:  view from Rattlesnake Mountain, people met along the way
Progress toward 2016 hiking goals:  35/52 hikes; 136.49/250 miles; 31.37/25 miles on Tunxis Trail

This relatively short hike kicked my butt.  I'm a slow hiker, but today I was REALLY slow.  It was probably the heat and not having had enough to drink that did me in.  I thank my hiking partner and her husband for being so patient.  Sorry guys!

Today's hike was Rattlesnake Mountain in Farmington to Pinnacle Rock just over the line in Plainville.  It is part of the New England/Metacomet Trail.  On the elevation chart above, the little hump in the middle is Pinnacle Rock.  This was an out and back hike, so the two sides should be a reflection of each other.

We started our hike on the side of Route 6 just east of Pinnacle Road in Farmington (there is a nearby Pinnacle Road in Plainville).  The parking area is a little west of where the Metacomet crosses the road, but a newer trail has been blazed from the parking area to the Metacomet.

My hiking partner pointed out all the poison ivy on the side of the trail, but thankfully someone had done a nice job of cutting it back.  My friend's husband was geocaching and all the rock formations along the way provided plenty of great hiding places.

Not long before reaching the top of Rattlesnake Mountain, we came to Will Warren's Den.  You can read about the den here and here.  This nice little video put together by Farmington Alternative High School shows just what you would have to do to get into the cave.  Maybe another time.

Will Warren's Den.

The views from the cliffs at Rattlesnake Mountain are worth the hike. Looking north, you can see the city of Hartford.

Hartford, just left of center.  (Looks better than camera shows).

Looking south, you can see East and West Peak at Hubbard Park in Meriden, and in front of those the Tilcon quarry in Plainville.  On the small hill just south, you can see the bare area of rock that is the Pinnacle.  We headed there next.

When you leave the cliffs, you end up making a fairly steep descent right underneath them.  One of the unique areas of this trail comes here, when you go through a small tunnel made by the rocks.  No standing up straight to go through.

The trail coming down from the cliffs.

Going through the tunnel.

Of course, this is when you realize you will be doing this in reverse if you haven't spotted a car at the other end of the trail.

After reaching the bottom, we crossed an area of weeds and shrubs under the power lines and started climbing up the other side.  We stepped to the side to make way for a couple of hikers coming from the other direction and took a few minutes to talk.  The man in the lead was 70 years old and on his final section of the Metacomet Trail.  He was on his way to Route 4 in Farmington.  Wow!  Congratulations to him and I hope I am able to do this when I am 70.

Looking back at radio towers that dominate the mountain.

We made it to Pinnacle Rock and I have to say it was a bit of a disappointment.  I am not sure why, but it just didn't have the same wow factor as Rattlesnake.  Maybe because it didn't feel as remote with the homes just below.  I would blame it on being tired and thirsty, but my hiking partners felt the same. 

On the way back to the car, I really struggled.  Even so, I was quite offended when I heard what the "woman" on the MapMyHike app had to say.  I was climbing back up to the cliffs at Rattlesnake and was not too far past the tunnel, when she said I had reached 3 miles and my split was "not moving".  Hey!  If she recognized that I had passed 3 miles, I must be moving a little bit!  (I wonder if there is another voice on the app.  It might have been easier to take from a nice Scotsman named "Angus").

We met a few other hikers on the return.  Our recommendation for most of them was to definitely hike to the Rattlesnake lookout, but that it wasn't really worth the extra effort to get to get to Pinnacle Rock.