2017 Hike #27: Peoples State Forest - Barkhamsted, CT

Date Hiked: Saturday, July 22, 2017
Estimated distance:  4.66 miles
Weather: 82°F, cloudy, humid
Resources: American Legion and Peoples State Forest, Trail Map
Highlights of the trip:  view
Progress toward 2017 Outdoor Goals:  27/52 hikes; 91.28/250 miles hiked

I joined the Simsbury Land Trust for a hike at Peoples State Forest.  We met at a pull-off on East River Road that had enough room for about 8-10 cars and was across from the Falls Cut Off and Jessie Gerard Trails.  It had been hot and humid during the week, but it was cloudy this morning which gave us a little reprieve.

We started our hike with the toughest part first (thank goodness).  We climbed the Falls Cut Off Trail and then headed north toward the lookouts.

Some tree clearing has been done and, at the first overlook, you can get a nice view of the West Branch of the Farmington River.  The second overlook that looks toward the town of Riverton has become a little more obscured.

After the overlooks we headed along the Jessie Gerard Trail, past the Veeder Boulders to Greenwoods Road.  We went through the Big Spring Area, crossed Beaver Brook Road and continued on the Charles Pack Trail.  We completed our loop by going west on the Agnes Bowen Trail to the Robert Ross Trail and then back down to our cars using the Jessie Gerard Trail.

A month has now passed since I took this hike and I realize I should have taken notes.  There was one woman in our group who was very knowledgeable about mushrooms.  We saw a lot of different varieties, but the coral fungus above is the only picture I took.

We also came across a foundation along one of the trails.  I can't remember the story behind it though!

Beaver Brook

Ledges near where we turned to go down Jessie Gerard Trail to our cars.

On our way down the Jessie Gerard Trail, we made a brief stop to see the Manitou Stones which mark an old cemetery.  This was near the Lighthouse Trail where there are some exhibits related to the old village that was here.  At this point many of us were pretty beat, and it had gotten fairly humid, so we skipped this short side trail.

Another great hike with the SLT.

Hike #26: Tunxis Trail (Lake McDonough) - Barkhamsted, CT

Date Hiked:  Sunday, April 24, 2016
Estimated distance round-trip: 3.10 miles
Weather: 55°F, sunny
Resources: CFPA Interactive Trail Map
Highlights of the trip:  Views of Lake McDonough
Progress toward 2016 hiking goals:  26/52 hikes; 94.11/250 miles; 16.9/25 miles on Tunxis Trail


My hiking partner and I continued our southward progress on the Tunxis Trail with the section that ends near Ski Sundown.

The following image shows that hiking north to south has its benefits, at least for this section of the trail.

We parked one car on Ratlum Road near Ski Sundown (room for 2-3 cars) and parked the other where we left off last week at the parking lot near the northern part of Ratlum Road.  Note, I would not suggest parking at Ski Sundown.  It is not designated parking, though it may be tempting.  The gate was closed when we arrived, but open as we were leaving.  I'd be afraid of getting my car locked in.  The last time I did this section, I did leave a car at Sundown and just lucked out.  There was a brewfest going on that day.

From the parking area, we crossed Ratlum Road and climbed the hill.  Before too long, we came to the Barkhamsted Reservoir Overlook.  It is much harder to see the water when the trees are leafed out.

Barkhamsted Reservoir.

About a mile from the end of our hike, we came to the trail register.  There aren't great views from this spot, but as you continue down the trail, a red-dot trail goes off to the right.  This leads to a bald area with fantastic views of Lake McDonough.

Lake McDonough and, on the left, a little bit of snow still on the slopes at Ski Sundown.

Lake McDonough.

We sat here for a few minutes talking and enjoying the sun and the view.  There were at least three  fishing boats in the lake below.

Our hike was fairly short at just over 3 miles.  I'm trying to figure out how best to break the hikes into sections based on where the parking is located.  Next hike we can either decide to do 3.5 miles, or continue and make it 6 miles.  I'll have to do some research on what is coming up.

Hike #23: Tunxis Trail (Indian Council Caves) - Barkhamsted, CT

Date Hiked:  Sunday, April 17, 2016
Estimated distance round-trip: 3.85 miles*
Weather: 60°F, bright, sunny day
Resources: CFPA Interactive Trail Map
Highlights of the trip: caves
Progress toward 2016 hiking goals:  23/52 hikes; 84.48/250 miles; 13.6/25 miles on Tunxis Trail**




I have completed the first section of the Tunxis Trail, and am over half way to my goal of 25 miles!

Rats.  I forgot to start GPS.  Parked near Legeyt Road.

We left one car at the parking lot on Ratlum Road and drove up to Legeyt Road to start.  It seems kind of funny to me, but no one else parked on Ratlum Road.  Instead, they squeeze into the area on the side of 219 and then have to try and back out on to that busy road.  Also, no one else parked at Legeyt for the easy walk into the caves.

We walked down the forest road, freshly widened and graveled from tree work in the area.  We came to the pond we saw at the end of last week's hike and continued on to another.  There were a couple of old cellar holes nearby.

Shortly after, we turned right to the caves.  While not real caves, the boulders are still pretty impressive.  Think about them traveling along in a glacier and being left behind.  Pretty cool.

Indian Council Caves.

We climbed to the top of the boulders and had the place to ourselves.  There is not really much of a view from the top, mostly the tops of trees, but without the leaves, we could see one of the ponds.

View from top of boulders.

We were lucky to get the caves to ourselves.  It was a beautiful day and as we headed south on the trail, we ran into a slew of other hikers.  Everyone was very friendly and we had conversations with a couple of people as we crossed paths.

Another excellent hike with well-marked trails.  A little wet in spots, but nothing we couldn't navigate.  On to the next section which will take us to a view over Lake McDonough.



*Curses!  I forgot to start the GPS tracker when we left the car!  Using the website, Map My Hike, I was able to use the "Create a Route" feature to estimate that I had gone a mile before turning on the tracker. 

**I will true-up the distance on the Tunxis when I finish the next section.  We completed the northern most section in the Walk Book (Route 219 to the Massachusetts State Line), which is listed as 12.6 miles.  We also did part of the next section because we parked on Ratlum Road rather than deal with the limited parking on 219.  I estimate this added a mile.

Hike #22: People's State Forest - Barkhamsted, CT

Date Hiked:  Saturday, April 16, 2016
Estimated distance round-trip: 6.17 miles
Weather: 60°F, bright, sunny day
Resources: American Legion and People's State Forest, Trail Map
Highlights of the trip: beautiful day, views of river and Riverton
Progress toward 2016 hiking goals:  22/52 hikes; 80.63/250 miles; 10.1/25 miles on Tunxis Trail

I parked in the main parking lot at the Matthies Grove.  There was no one manning the booth to collect fees this early in the year (but the restrooms were open).

I crossed the street and took the trail up to the Stone Museum (closed and boarded up) and turned left to follow the Robert Ross trail to the overlooks.  One of the overlooks listed on the map is the Gothic Window Overlook.  There may have been an overlook there at one time, but the trees have grown up.  It is fairly young growth, so maybe it gets cleared out periodically. 

Shortly after I came to a large outcropping of rock looming above me.  It looked like other people may have tried climbing to the top, but I decided not to.  I knew there were good lookouts ahead that were free of trees.

Large outcropping shortly after Gothic Window Lookout.

Having done some climbing already, I was dismayed to see yet another descent.  I know I still have to climb to the overlooks, so I don't want to go down!

No.  I don't want to go down!

I did go a few feet down the Falls Cutoff Trail to take some pictures, though.  Not a whole lot of water, but still pretty.

Stream at Falls Cutoff.

I climbed to the first really good overlook.  Funny how the overlooks with the best views don't have names, but the one with no view does. (Actually looking at the trail description, they may be the Chaugham Lookouts).  When I got to the overlook there was a group of hikers already there.  They had taken a water break and were loading up full packs.  I asked them if they were training and it turns out they were Boy Scouts training for their trip to Philmont.  The views here were spectacular.  You could see the river down below and the mountains in the distance. 

Looking southeast at West Branch of Farmington River.

I left the Robert Ross Trail and took the Jessie Gerard Trail to the next overlook and came to another group of Boy Scouts. At this overlook, you can see the town of Riverton to the north.

Riverton

Continuing on the Jessie Gerard Trail I passed the pair of glacial erratics (Veeder Boulders) and came out on Greenwoods Road near the Big Spring camping area (outhouse available).

I walked down Greenwoods Road a little bit until I came to the Charles Pack Trail on the left.  I followed this down to Beaver Brook Road crossing a pretty stream with moss covered rocks.

Stream on Charles Pack Trail.

My plan had been to continue on the Charles Pack Trail, following it all the way down to the start, but I was starting to feel like I wanted to head back.  I ended up taking Beaver Brook Road to Greenwoods and picking up the Robert Ross Trail near the end to finish my hike.  The difference in distance between taking the trail and the road was probably not significant, but I was able to pick up my pace on the road.

This was an excellent hike and even though I took the road back, I was happy to have logged over 6 miles.

Hike #19: Tunxis Trail (Pine Mountain) - Barkhamsted

Date Hiked:  Sunday, April 10, 2016
Estimated distance round-trip: 3.85 miles
Weather: 40°F, bright, sunny day
Resources: CFPA Interactive Trail Map, Short Nature Walks in CT starting on page 13
Highlights of the trip: View to Springfield and beyond
Progress toward 2016 hiking goals:  19/52 hikes; 66.86/250 miles; 10.1/25 miles on Tunxis Trail

A nice hike on the Tunxis Trail today at Pine Mountain in Barkhamsted.  I had my hiking partner with me once again, so we were able to leave one car at Legeyt Road and took the other up to the start at Pine Mountain Road.

We debated whether to do this hike or stretch and go for the longer hike which would have included the Indian Council Caves and all the way down to the next parking area on Route 219.  In the end, we decided on the shorter hike.  For some reason, it did feel really short, maybe because we got the hardest part (Pine Mountain) over with early.

The view from Pine Mountain was quite impressive.  On the far left, we could see the white steeple of the church in the center of East Hartland.  We could also make out Springfield, MA in the distance.  I don't know how far beyond that we were seeing.  (I really need to check out the PeakFinder App).

Little white dot on left is East Hartland church steeple.

Metacomet Ridge?

We came across two Geodetic Survey markers.  The first one was in the open area at the top and the other was off to the side, just as we were about to head down the trail.

We descended and reached the other end of Pine Mountain Road.  We continued on the trail until we came to the pond at Roaring Brook.  We could see a beaver lodge and there were a couple of geese out on a little tuft of grass in the middle.  The trail looks like it splits with one way going over a bridge near the pond.  I believe the other way just goes a little farther down the brook and then connects back to the same trail.

Pond at Roaring Brook.

A short distance on, we came to the woods road that would take us back to the car we parked at the end of Legeyt Road.  There has obviously been some work done here recently.  The last time I was here, the road was much more overgrown.  A lot of gravel has been laid down and it is fairly wide.  (Taking the woods road in the other direction would lead to the Indian Council Caves).

Pond along woods road.

A good hike on a beautiful day.  We probably could have gone a little longer and done the caves, but we'll just save those for next time.

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 #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

Barkhamsted: Tunxis Trail - Ratlum Road South

Date Hiked: Saturday, September 21, 2013
Estimated distance: 3+ miles
Weather: sunny, cloudy, rainy (it's New England), 74°F
Resources: CT Walk Book West, CTMuseumQuest
Highlights of the trip:  view of Lake McDonough, catching up with a friend


On Saturday, I was casting about for a place to go hiking.  I wanted to try this hike on the Tunxis Trail, but my usual hiking companion was busy.  I don't mind hiking alone, but I would prefer to do it with someone else when it is an area I haven't been before.  I had resigned myself to a hike in McLean Game Refuge (which is very nice, but I go there a lot), when I received a call from my oldest and dearest friend.  Her husband was busy and she wondered if I wanted to go for a hike.  Perfect!

We drove over to Ratlum Road in Barkhamsted and left her car in the parking lot at Ski Sundown.  Sundown was having a brewfest at 4 p.m., but it was 12:30 and we figured we'd be done well before the crowd arrived.  We drove north on Ratlum to just before its intersection with 219 and parked in a little lot there to start our hike.

We started climbing and before too long came to the first overlook.  From here there was a somewhat obstructed view of the Barkhamsted Reservoir.

It was a nice ramble through the woods.  Some areas were a little muddy and are probably not very pleasant to pass in the spring.  At some point we came across the marker pictured below.  I believe the H.W.W. stands for Hartford Water Works.  I am not sure about the numbers.  I thought 1820 was the date, but from what I can tell, HWW didn't form for another 35 years.

This whole idea of creating large reservoirs by damming rivers and drowning towns has always intrigued me.  The Quabbin Reservoir, in my native Massachusetts, drowned four towns in the 1930's.  How can the powers-that-be do this, and what happens to the poor people that lose their homes?  The Barkhamsted Reservoir drowned two villages, Hartland Hollow and Barkhamsted Hollow.  After seeing a comment on Steve Wood's website, CTMuseumQuest, I have taken the book Water for Hartford by Kevin Murphy out of the library to get some more background.

Onward.  It turns out I am not alone in my fascination with mushrooms.  We made quite a few stops to take pictures of what we found.

Not sure.

Spindle-shaped yellow coral?

Signed the trail log.

Somewhere along the way we had donned our raincoats, but the sun came out just as we got to the lookout over Lake McDonough.  At the far end of the lake is Richards Corner Dam.

The view of Lake McDonough was fantastic.

I knew from my map, we were close to the end of our hike.  I do think that going from north to south on the trail might be easier (or maybe I was just distracted having someone to talk to).

We made it back to Sundown just as the brewfest was getting underway.  A beer might have been a nice way to end the hike, but it would have been a pretty expensive beer.  I think the tickets were around $30.

This was a great hike, made even better by having a friend along.