Hike #16: Tunxis Trail (Roberts Brook) - East Hartland, CT

Date Hiked:  Saturday, March 19, 2016
Estimated distance round-trip: 4.61 miles
Weather: 32-40°F, sunny, but cold
Resources: CFPA Interactive Trail Map, Short Nature Walks in CT starting on page 11, CTMQ
Highlights of the trip: Roberts Brook
Progress toward 2016 hiking goals:  16/52 hikes; 53.91/250 miles; 8/25 miles on Tunxis Trail

The friend who hiked with me last weekend on the northernmost part of the Tunxis Trail, joined me again this week for the next section.  We left one car at the small parking area at the beginning of Pine Mountain Road and drove up to start our hike where we left one car last week, at the corner of Pine Street and Walnut Hill Road (old Route 20).

I was kicking myself at the start of the hike.  I started the MapMyHike app while we were at the car, but then paused it because we were getting stuff out of the back.  I forgot to restart it until we were down the trail a little way.  It makes it look like we went straight from point A to point B.  This only messes up the mileage toward my 250 mile goal.  The mileage for the Tunxis Trail is based upon the Connecticut Walk Book.

From the car we headed down old Route 20 and turned south when we got to the blue-blazed Tunxis Trail.  I really need to take notes as I hike, because I'm a little confused about Roberts Brook.  We hiked across one brook without much water and later came to a brook with much steeper banks, like a ravine.  I assumed this was Roberts Brook, because I had looked at topo maps ahead of time and thought Roberts Brook had steep sides.  There wasn't much water, so it was a little disappointing that this was supposed to be the highlight of the hike.  Somewhere along here (see, I need to take notes), you can see down to the reservoir.  It is probably hidden from view once the trees leaf out.

What I thought was Roberts Brook.

A little farther along the trail, we even came to a trail marker that indicated that Roberts Brook Ravine was in the direction from which we had just come.

Then we came to another stream.  This one actually had a lot more water than either of the previous two streams and it would make sense that this was Roberts Brook, regardless of what the sign said. 

The trail to the stream was not steep and continued on the other side of the stream.  It didn't seem the best place to cross, so we started walking up along the edge of the stream to find some good rocks to use as stepping stones.  We thought we found one place, but the bank was a little steeper on the other side.  We looked up the stream and, lo and behold, there was a bridge!  As far as I can tell, there was no indication on the trail that there was a bridge upstream.  I don't think there was a trail that led to it.  Did I miss something?  It is not mentioned in the Walk Book or any other place I have seen.

We crossed the bridge and took a few more pictures of waterfalls upstream, then bushwhacked our way back to the trail.  We came out on a woods road that I thought might be Pine Mountain Road, but looking at my GPS, I could see it was not.  We were not doing Pine Mountain today, so I didn't want to pass where our car was parked.  There has been logging in the area and there are a couple of spur roads (Roberts Spur Road and Pine Mountain Spur Road) that made things confusing.  The GPS was a big help.  We came to another road that I was able to confirm was Pine Mountain Road and we walked the mile or so back to the car.

I am not really sure what to make of the signage for Roberts Brook Ravine.  My pictures are time-stamped, so I know I came to the sign before getting to what I now believe to be Roberts Brook.  I enjoyed this hike, so I may have to go back at some point and take more detailed notes.

I know last week, I ended with "On to Pine Mountain!", but this time I mean it.  The next section of the Tunxis will include Pine Mountain and maybe Indian Council Caves.

Hike #15: McLean Game Refuge - Granby, CT

Date Hiked:  Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Estimated distance round-trip: 3.51 miles
Weather: 55°F, sunny
Resources: McLean Game Refuge, Trail Map
Highlights of the trip: beautiful almost-spring day
Progress toward 2016 hiking goals:  15/52 hikes; 49.3/250 miles; 4.6/25 miles on Tunxis Trail

 

Hike #14: Tunxis Trail (Hurricane Brook) - Hartland, CT

Date Hiked:  Saturday, March 12, 2016
Estimated distance round-trip: 5.46 miles
Weather: 60°F, sunny
Resources: CT Forest & Park Association (CFPA) Interactive Trail Map, CTMQ Hikes, Short Nature Walks in CT starting on page 15 
Highlights of the trip: driving Pell Road, streams and waterfalls
Progress toward 2016 hiking goals:  14/52 hikes; 45.79/250 miles; 4.6/25 miles on Tunxis Trail



One of my 2016 hiking goals is to hike at least 25 miles of the Tunxis Trail.  I have hiked sections before, but I'd like to start fresh.  This hike is the first step toward reaching that goal.

Twenty-five miles is certainly a modest goal, but one made slightly more difficult by wanting to round up a hiking partner.  I will often hike by myself, but being able to place a car at one end of the trail section and start at the other makes things a lot easier.  The northern end of the Tunxis is also pretty remote and a partner is a good idea for safety.


Before venturing out, I did some research using CFPA's CT Walk Book.  I wanted to start at the northern end of the trail near the Massachusetts border and hike south to either Route 20 (2.8 miles) or Old Route 20 - Walnut Hill Road extension (4.6 miles).  My hiking partner was up for the longer distance, so we left my mom-mobile (minivan, which currently only has seating for two because of the street hockey nets and other equipment loaded in the back) near the gate at the corner of Walnut Hill Road and Pine Street and headed off in her Jeep for the trail head.

According to the Walk Book, there is parking on Pell Road near the trail head.  For most of its length, Pell is a dirt road.  I had read Steve Wood's account of his mom driving her minivan along this road and figured we could leave the car at the corner of Pell and East Pell Roads.  Well...as we drove along, we started to wonder if the minivan would be able to get us back to the Jeep when we were done.  The Jeep was doing fine with its high ground clearance, but the van would be another story.  We turned on the GPS and noticed that East Pell was a lot shorter than Pell and would take us out to Route 179 (Granville Road).  We decided to drive out East Pell just to see how that road was and see if it would be easier for the van.  Well, hello!  Just a short distance down East Pell, the dirt road turned to pavement and there was a little parking area!  That would have been nice to know!

Looking at a screenshot of the Interactive Map from CFPA, you can see that the parking area actually appears in Massachusetts, just north of the trail head on McCarthy Road.  Looking at Google Maps, there are houses along this road, so it would probably work.  Where we ended up parking (after driving most of the length of Pell Road) was on East Pell Road, I would guess roughly at the edge of the green area on the map below.  It was a short walk in to the trail head from there.  If you decide to park on McCarthy Road, you need to drive around and not try to go up Pell Road.

Now, on to the hike!

At the trail head, there was a little sign giving mileage amounts to Route 20 and beyond and a trail register.  I signed in and we started hiking.  Before too long, we came to the CT/MA boundary marker.  On the Massachusetts side, there was a large field with a camper in the middle of it.

The trail started to head down hill.  It became steeper as we approached a stream with a nice little waterfall.  Check out this quadrangle map and see how close the contour lines are.  I think this might be the stream referred to as Trailhead Stream in the Walk Book.

Huge pieces of quartz.

Pretty little waterfall.  You can judge how steep the trail was here.

There were a couple of brook crossings and in one area we could see the DEEP lean-to.  I had hiked in to this point from the other direction in 2012, and the lean-to was in pretty rough shape.  We did not go over to look at it today, but I think it may have undergone renovation because it had a new metal roof on it.

Hurricane Brook

Hurricane Brook waterfall.  Bridge for Hurricane Brook Road is on the right near the top.

Hurricane Brook was probably the low elevation on the trail.  We then started climbing and made our way to the top of Trillium Hill (no view).  It is here on the interactive map (see above), that there is a trail notice indicating that the trail is closed for timber operations.  I did not know this before we started hiking, but there was nothing going on today as we hiked through there.

Unfortunately, I think the Trail Notices section of the CFPA website needs some work.  When I use the interactive map and see that there is a trail notice, there is a link for more information.  That takes me to a general page where I can click the link for Trail Notices.  The notice for this section of trail is not even listed.  There are listings for other trail closures, one dated from 2012.  Is the trail still closed in that location?  Maybe, but now I am not sure that I can trust this listing.

We came out to Route 20 and turned left, walking just a short distance up the road and crossing where we saw the CFPA tags on the trees.  The trail on this side of Route 20 was a lot easier than the other side.  We came to what I thought might be Balance Rock Road (mentioned in the Walk Book, but not included on their map!)  I was using the MapMyHike app, so I pulled out my phone to see if I could tell where we were and sure enough, it had us standing on Balance Rock Road.

Before long, we came to a nice little stream (Morey's Brook?) with several areas of little waterfalls.  There were signs here indicating an alternative trail for high water, which takes you over a bridge.  We opted to stick to the main trail and we crossed the brook just below the bridge.

We hiked a little farther and came out on old Route 20 (extension of Walnut Hill Road).  The road here is beat-up asphalt and there was an SUV driving toward us (we had seen that the gate was open when we dropped off the van).  I was hoping it was a DEEP employee dropping off a bear (see Steve Wood's description of what he saw), but no, it was just a couple out exploring.  They soon turned around and came back.  We took old Route 20 back to the van and drove up Route 179 (NOT Pell Road) and picked up the Jeep.

This was an excellent hike!  It feels really remote and the waterfalls, while not showstoppers, are very nice.  The trails were very well blazed and extra information was written on the blazes in a couple of areas (for high water by-passes).

I used the Walk Book when planning this hike and I would make a couple of recommendations.  I would suggest looking at the interactive map on the CFPA website.  It is probably more up to date and you can also see elevations listed on the contour lines.  For some reason, the maps in the Walk Book include the contour lines, but no way of determining the actual elevation.  Also, Balance Rock Road is not shown on the printed map, but you will see it online.

On to Pine Mountain!


Elevation Data:

I'm still trying to figure out the elevation graphic on MapMyHike.  As I mentioned somewhere else, the graph does not match the numbers printed below it, but I think that is because two different methods are being used.  One way probably uses GPS info and the other maybe uses some kind of underlying terrain map of the area.  I really have no idea.  What I had not paid attention to before was the elevation gain.  I assumed it was the difference between the max and min, but it is not.  Perhaps it is cumulative elevation gain?

My guess is the low point on the graph is Hurricane Brook and the high point to the right is Trillium Hill.  After Trillium Hill you make your way down to Route 20.  Everything to the right is the trail between Route 20 and old Route 20.  You can see it was a lot easier than the first part of the hike.

Hike #13: McLean Game Refuge - Granby, CT

Date Hiked:  Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Estimated distance round-trip: 2.23 miles
Weather: 60°F, sunny
Resources: McLean Game Refuge, Trail Map
Highlights of the trip: just a beautiful, sunny day
Progress toward 2016 hiking goals:  13/52 hikes; 40.33/250 miles

Just an absolutely gorgeous day, especially for this early in March.  I hiked in the morning and the temperature was probably around 60°F.  I believe it got up to around 80°F later in the day.  For March 9th!  Crazy.


Here are two pictures of Kettle Pond for comparison.  The top photo taken today and the bottom taken exactly two months ago on January 9.  We've had a bit more rain, so you can see I wasn't able to stand where I took the picture in January.

Hike #12: American Legion State Forest - Barkhamsted, CT

Date Hiked:  Saturday, February 28, 2016
Estimated distance round-trip: 1.96 miles
Weather: 50°F, sunny
Resources: American Legion State Forest, Trail Map
Highlights of the trip: streams, cliffs
Progress toward 2016 hiking goals:  12/52 hikes; 38.1/250 miles


Today I was joined on my hike by a friend and her husband.  Our original plan had been to hike the Henry Buck Trail at American Legion State Forest and then walk up Legion Road and hike the Turkey Vulture Ledges Trail.  Unfortunately, as you can see from the screen shot below, it took us over two hours to hike less than 2 miles! 

By way of explanation, I will just say we had a lot of catching up to do and spent a fair amount of time pausing to talk.  The trail was also tricky in places especially at the stream crossings.  My friend's husband was a good sport and did not complain about how slow we were going.  He was looking for geocaches, so that kept him a little busy, but we'd also find him waiting for us at different points along the trail.  The result of our slow progress was that we decided to save the Ledges for another day.

Foundation ruins of cheese box mill.

Part of the reason for doing this hike was to start working on the DEEP's Sky's the Limit Challenge.  In order to complete the challenge, I have to visit the 14 listed state parks and take two pictures of myself at each park.  One picture at the trailhead, and one picture at a designated place along the trail.  In the case of the Henry Buck Trail, the picture was to be taken on the wall across from the Henry Buck plaque.  The picture below shows the plaque as the black rectangle high on the stone cliff.

A little farther along the trail (after some rather treacherous climbing), we came to a view out over to Ski Sundown in New Hartford.   There must be a lot of snow-making going on because there was no snow on the ground anywhere else in view.

Ski Sundown in the distance.

We came out of the woods and had to walk down the road to our car.  There was a man in a kayak practicing his turns in the West Branch of the Farmington River.  We also stopped and talked for quite a while (didn't pause my trail app, so this explains part of the 2 hour time) to a woman who had done last year's Sky's the Limit Challenge.  She was at American Legion to get started on the 2016 challenge.

Man in kayak visible on right side.

Although I wish I had made more mileage, I am happy to have gotten out on this beautiful day.  I am also glad to have had the chance to catch up with my friend.  I don't really mind hiking alone, but it's nicer to have someone to share the experience with.

Other American Legion Hike recaps:
Farmington Valley Homeschool Hikers
The A to Z of CT State Parks
Greenhorn, Blue Blazes
CTMQ

Hike #11: Talcott Mountain State Park - Simsbury, CT

Date Hiked:  Saturday, February 27, 2016
Estimated distance round-trip: 3.98 miles
Weather: 30°F, sunny
Resources: Talcott Mountain State Park, Trail Map
Highlights of the trip: tower and the views
Progress toward 2016 hiking goals:  11/52 hikes; 36.14/250 miles


Another great hiking day.  In February, no less!

I have been to Talcott Mountain State Park many times over the years, but today I hiked on a trail I had not been on before.  I decided to take the Metacomet Trail - now part of the New England Trail - on the way up, and come back on the yellow trail.

Given the lack of snow and the nice weather, I had forgotten that the gate to the park would be closed.  The gates are part way up the road, but not nearly as far as the first parking spot indicated on the map.  I did a three-point turn and parked along the side of the road (Summit Ridge Drive).  I got to Talcott sometime around 11:00 and I am glad I arrived in the morning.  The parking situation as I was leaving around 1:00 was a lot tougher.  Cars were lined up on both sides all the way down to the entrance on Route 185 and it made turning around once you got in there pretty difficult. 

Part of Trail Map from DEEP Website

From where I had parked the car, I walked down the hill back toward Route 185.  I was hoping I wouldn't have to walk along the busy road to get to the Metacomet, and I spied an area that looked like it had been cleared and might be the start of a trail.  Don't go there!  The cleared area peters out pretty quickly and there are pricker bushes everywhere!  I back-tracked and walked along the road on the inside of the fence.  The Metacomet Trail is clearly marked and I was soon heading away from 185.
 

Only 2.4 miles to the Heublein Tower.

Unlike last week, there was no snow, but I was happy I brought my hiking poles.  The trail was rocky and we recently had a lot of rain.  I had to cross a stream a couple of times and in some places the trail was the stream.  The poles allowed me to keep my balance over the rocks and on slippery areas on the trail.

Icicles.

I wound my way along the Metacomet and climbed to the top of the ridge.  I had no idea there was going to be a view up there, but truth be told, the views down below on the yellow trail are better because you can see the floor of the valley.  The advantage to the Metacomet is lack of crowds.  I met only one other person on this section of trail.  They yellow trail can get quite busy.

I made it to the beautiful Heublein Tower.  If you come during the summer months, you can go in for a look.  I was most pleased to find that there were composting toilets available and they were clean and stocked with toilet paper.  Much appreciated.

Heublein Tower

After spending a few minutes walking around the tower and looking at the view, I headed back along the yellow trail.  There were a couple of nice view points along the way.

Looking north.

Looking south from a different view point.

The yellow trail had a big icy patch as it headed down the hill toward the parking.  I got my hiking poles back out and used them to help me navigate the ice.  Two more composting toilets at the bottom near the trail head  (just in case you wanted to know).

Here is a screen shot of the elevation for this hike.  I guess the graph and the values listed below must be calculated using different methods (one uses GPS and the other somehow overlays a terrain map?).  The graph seems to indicate a minimum elevation of around 300ft and a maximum elevation of around 800ft.  The values below the graph are 431ft and 945ft, respectively.  The total gain seems to be in the ballpark.

Again, I didn't manage to make the 5 mile mark.  If I had continued past the tower and down toward the reservoir on Route 44, I certainly would have.  I have never done that before, so I may have to try that another time.

Hike #10: Roaring Brook Nature Center - Canton, CT

Date Hiked:  Saturday, February 20, 2016
Estimated distance round-trip: 2.81 miles
Weather: 55°F, sunny
Resources: Roaring Brook Nature Center, Trail Map
Highlights of the trip: waterfalls
Progress toward 2016 hiking goals:  10/52 hikes; 32.16/250 miles


After last weekend's below zero temperatures, I had to take advantage of today's nice weather and get out on a trail.  I didn't want to drive too far since I wasn't sure what I would find for trail conditions, but I wanted to do something I hadn't done in awhile.  Roaring Brook fit the bill.

I turned the map on its side to better match the GPS trail.

I have been to Roaring Brook many times over the years.  We have attended the Hobgoblin Fair and several concerts.  My kids enjoyed classes and camps here and have volunteered with friends to work in the Butterfly Garden.  We also came here to go hiking, just doing the Werner Pond Trail to begin with, the perfect length for little legs, and then expanding to include the trails on the other side of Bahre Corner Road.  It surprised me today, that there were still new things for me to discover.

I started at the nature center and headed counter-clockwise down the Werner Pond Trail (red).  The trail was covered with about an inch of slushy snow.  While not hard to hike in, it did slow me down.  My feet tended to slip as I pushed off.  I had brought my hiking poles with me and I was glad I did.  They provided some extra stability especially when going downhill or crossing over streams.

Along the Werner Pond Trail.

I took the Werner Pond Trail to Quarry Trail and crossed Bahre Corner Road.  I continued on the Quarry Trail in a clockwise direction and soon came to Jim Brook.  There were a lot of little waterfalls and even a small chasm.  I just wish I had brought my camera rather than having to rely on my phone for pictures.

Jim Brook

Note how the icicles are wider at the bottom.

I turned away from the brook and made my way past the old quarry and, after a moment of confusion, turned left onto the Orchard Trail (green) just before the stone wall.  This trail led south through the woods then turned north and crossed through an old orchard that seems now to be filled with weeds and oak saplings.  Upon entering the trees again, I came across a magnificent old Wolf Tree.  I love these big old trees that dwarf the younger trees around them.

I love this old Wolf Tree.

I came to another field and got confused.  I was looking for the Plantation Trail (gray), but looking at the trail map, I was thinking I needed to cross another field before turning left.  I think I see where I went wrong now.  The green trail took me to the rock wall closer to the Plantation Trail.  If I had just turned left when I came into that field, I would have ended up at the Plantation Trail.  No matter.  A little extra walking around the fields and I found the Plantation Trail.  I did that loop and came back to the field.

View upon leaving the Plantation Trail.

A little more confusion crossing the fields as I tried to find my way back to the yellow Quarry Trail.  I did eventually figure it out and came out on Bahre Corner Road again.

Back on the other side of the road, I decided to take the small Dish Mill Pond loop.  How had I never done this before?  The water flowing over Dish Mill Dam was stunning.  I have been to Roaring Brook with my kids countless times, but I have never been on this little trail.

I was out on the trail for almost two hours and didn't even go three miles!  I did stop to take a fair number of pictures, especially along the stream, but I think the slippery snow is what really slowed me down.   It felt great to be out on such a beautiful day and I'm looking forward to more hikes as the weather improves.