Estimated distance: 2.4 miles
Weather: 73°F, beautiful and sunny
Resources: CT NET: Section 16,
Highlights of the trip: View, Will Warren's Den
Progress toward NET Hike 50 Challenge: 10.5/50 miles completed
I'm going to try and start blogging again. We'll see how it goes.
Recently, I have joined a facebook group called Take a Hike! Farmington Valley. Today, I joined five people from that group for a hike up Rattlesnake Mountain in Farmington. They were a nice group of people and it was a good hike.
We started our hike by parking along the side of Route 6 just east of Pinnacle Road. There is a short trail that parallels the road before heading away from it.
There were several large rock outcroppings, but you have to get almost to the overlook before you come to Will Warren's Den. Here is a short video from the kids at Farmington Alternative High School that talks about the mountain and Will Warren's Den. In the video, you can see one of the boys crawling into the den. The idea of doing that did not cross anyone's mind today.
The view from the overlook is fantastic and we were blessed with a beautiful clear day. The picture below is a view to the south and shows East and West Mountains in Hubbard Park in Meriden. The Tilcon quarry in Plainville is in front of the mountains. We did not head over to Pinnacle Rock today, but it can be seen as a small outcropping just right of center.
Looking north, you can see the city of Hartford.
On our hike, we ran into another group that was hiking all the way through to Route 372. Here, a few people are standing on the traprock ridge. If you continued on the trail, you would go right down under these cliffs. Later, when we got back to the parking lot, we saw two people carrying what looked like large black mattresses folded in half. We asked what they were and they said they were crash pads for climbing. I didn't notice that they were carrying any other equipment, so I assume they were going to be free climbing. It would have been interesting to see.
One of the people I hiked with spotted a Lady's slipper on the trail.
Near the bottom of the trail, there was a small clearing that gave a good view to the north. In the picture below, you can see the Barndoor Hills in Granby at the center of the picture.
We could not have had a better day for this hike. I look forward to getting out more and getting some miles for my NET Hike 50 Challenge.
Ahh, maybe you'll inspire me to start blogging again! I did this hike in April with the Burlington Land Trust, going all the way to Pinnacle Rock and taking the "secret" side trail to Hospital Rock and then returning. My friend and I were so tired on the way back that we told the group to go ahead without us. It was our first time out in a while and my legs were like jelly. We're repeating it this week, but doing the shorter route to Rattlesnake Cliff and back, as it looks like you also did. A few weeks ago we did the southern approach to Pinnacle. Thus I'm able to take the group to see all the sites without wearing us out LOL.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you will see this Sue. When I went in to my blog today, it said I had a bunch of comments from LAST YEAR awaiting moderation! What?! However, some seem like I had published them. I don't know if it is me, or whether something went a little whacky with blogger. Sorry!
DeleteNo problem! The comment section on my blog was an issue also. A few people emailed me directly to say their comments wouldn't post at all. I was never able to figure it out.
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