2017 Hike #12: McLean Game Refuge - Granby, CT

Date Hiked: Sunday, April 2, 2017
Estimated distance:  3.58 miles
Weather: 52°F, clear
Resources: McLean Game Refuge, Trail Map
Highlights of the trip:  red eft and wood frog chorus
Progress toward 2017 Outdoor Goals:  12/52 hikes; 35.59/250 miles hiked

It has been a few weeks since I took this hike and I am relying on the pictures to jog my memory of what I saw.

I entered the refuge from Canton road and decided to make a clockwise loop.  At the bottom of the hill, before getting to Spring Pond, I took a left and followed the woods road toward Barndoor Hills Road.  The recent rain and melting snow have swollen the streams and taken this area of CT from Extreme to Moderate drought conditions.

Bridge over Bissell Brook

I didn't go all the way to Barndoor Hills road, but instead continued my loop from the woods road on to the purple trail.  I followed this through the woods and around a field before coming down to Kettle Pond.  Last fall, the pond was a field.  Now it has water in it and the wood frogs were making a racket.

As I approached the pond, I almost stepped on a little red eft.  I hadn't expected to see him out with snow still on the ground.

Red eft near Kettle Pond.

Kettle pond full of wood frogs.

I continued on the purple trail to the main woods road that runs between Trout and Spring Ponds and then back up to Canton Road to complete my loop.