Rattlesnake Mountain

Date Hiked: Thursday, May 24, 2018
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.

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.