Farmington River Kayak - Simsbury, CT

Date Kayaked: Saturday, July 29, 2017
Estimated distance:  3.37 miles
Weather: 66°F, cloudy
Resources: Farmington River Watershed Association, Map and Access Information
Highlights of the trip:  green heron!


A friend joined me for a kayak trip on the Farmington River in Simsbury.  We put in at Curtiss Park (see intermittent access point #25 on map and in description) and headed up-river toward the center of town.

Oops.  Forgot to shut off app.  Ignore GPS trail on Route 315.

When we got to Curtiss Park, we saw a couple of people fishing.  Apparently, the woman was putting the man to shame and she pulled out a largemouth bass as we were standing there.

We put in and started paddling upriver toward Simsbury.  Before too long, we passed under the Route 315 bridge.  I told my friend to be on the lookout for herons in the little cove on the left.  I almost always see one there, but they usually see me first and fly away.  Sure enough, we saw one sitting on a large log, but he ignored us.  We were able to float and watch him for quite awhile.

There is a Great Blue Heron on the log just to the right of the leaves.

A little farther along, we saw another bird fishing along the shore.  He'd watch the water and then shoot his neck out and nab a little fish in his beak.  I wasn't sure what kind of bird it was, but the curve in its neck reminded me of a heron, though much smaller than the Great Blue.  When I got home, I looked it up.  I am pretty sure it is a Green Heron.  A new bird to add to my list!

Green Heron with small fish in its beak.

I needed to rest my backside, so we took a break on a small "beach" area.  It was more muddy than the sandy shore at Curtiss Park.  The mud made it easy for us to spot animal tracks and I think the ones below are from a racoon. 

Racoon tracks.

After our break, we turned around and headed back.  We went almost 3.4 miles in total.  It was a nice relaxing paddle and it was fun to get out on the river.

2017 Hike #18: Tulmeadow Farm to Ethel Walker Woods - Simsbury, CT

Date Hiked: Saturday, May 20, 2017
Estimated distance:  5.84 miles
Weather: 60°F, partly cloudy
Resources: Simsbury Land Trust, Tulmeadow Farm Trail Map, Ethel Walker Woods Trail Map
Highlights of the trip:  hiking with a nice group
Progress toward 2017 Outdoor Goals:  18/52 hikes; 61.78/250 miles hiked

I am way behind in my posting, so I'll keep words to a minimum.

My hiking partner and I joined Simsbury Land Trust for their May Hiking Club Hike at Tulmeadow Farm.  We hiked through Tulmeadow and its woodlot, over to Town Forest Road, and into Ethel Walker Woods.  We had a good hike with a nice group of people.  I look forward to hiking with them again in the future.

Tulmeadow Farm

I love this tree as you enter the Ethel Walker property.

Some kind of azalea.

Lady's-slipper.

I'm thinking Hemlock varnish shelf.

Fringed polygala (Gaywings), I also heard someone refer to them as Bird-on-the-wing.

Town Forest Park

Tulmeadow woodlot.

Looking across Tulmeadow Farm to West Mountain Highlands.

2017 Hike #2: Great Pond and Wagner Woods - Simsbury, CT

Date Hiked: Monday, January 2, 2017
Estimated distance:  4.44 miles
Weather: 32°F, overcast
Resources: Massacoe State Forest, Great Pond Trail Map, Simsbury Land Trust, Wagner Woods Trail Map
Highlights of the trip:  Walking with ease on my MICROspikes!
Progress toward 2017 Outdoor Goals:  2/52 hikes; 8.55/250 miles hiked

With the trails still icy, I had thought a hike in a town in the eastern part of the state may would be a good idea. Unfortunately, I am not familiar with what is available and I was going to be by myself, so I ended up sticking closer to home.

I chose to hike at Great Pond and connect to the trails at Simsbury Land Trust's Wagner Woods property.  The parking lot at Great Pond was still open - I think they may close the gates once it really snows - but it was an ice rink.  I had put the MICROspikes in the car for yesterday's hike and never used them, but today I decided to break them in.  They are fantastic!  I had my poles with my, too, but I was able to walk across the ice with the MICROspikes on as I was extending my poles.  Not even the slightest slip.  Once they were on, I didn't really notice them.  This is in comparison to Yaktrax where I could feel the grip running under my foot and it actually made me feel a little unsteady, like my boot wasn't in full contact with the ground.

I headed off around Great Pond in a counter-clockwise direction.  The first view of the "pond" took me by surprise although it really shouldn't have.  I know there is a drought and had seen drastic evidence of it during my hike at Colebrook River Lake last fall, but it hit home again today.  The pond is empty except for a ring of water around the outside edge.  I am not sure it actually forms a complete ring.

The ground was pretty icy most of the way around the pond.  It started to get patchier in the last quarter of the circle.  I was able to keep the MICROspikes on, though.

After completing the walk around Great Pond, I took one of the side trails that brought me out just east of the parking area for Wagner Woods.  I had taken the MICROspikes off at this point because the trail was free of ice and snow.  I walked west along Great Pond Road and put the spikes back on at the entrance because it looked pretty icy on the red (Wagner) trail.  I was taking them off again a short time later because the blue (Boehm) trail was pretty clear and I kept them off until I was nearly back to my car at Great Pond.

Along the blue trail.  No water.

Witches Butter.

From the blue trail, I looped around to the yellow (Stierle) trail and then to the orange (Hop Brook) trail.  I took that down to the Hop Brook Overlook.

Hop Brook.

I backtracked up to the field and reconnected with the red trail and followed that out.  Along the red trail there are signs identifying some old foundations - one for the Boehm home which was destroyed in a fire.  It made me sad to think of the family losing the home that sat on this beautiful property.

Around the site of the Boehm home were the trees pictured below.  Does anyone know what they are?  The bark is what drew my notice.  Very thick and deeply furrowed.  Black locust?  I didn't walk over to investigate what leaves may have been lying about.

Foundation for an old barn and silo.

I carefully negotiated the ice near the entrance to the red trail, crossed the road and headed back to my car over at Great Pond. 

I had been meaning to connect these two sets of trails for awhile, and now I have done it.  It made for a nice hike.  You can add a little more mileage if you do some of the side trails at Great Pond instead of just sticking to the trail around the pond.  Something to investigate next time.

Hike #51: McLean Game Refuge from Broad Hill Road to Canton Road - Granby

Date Hiked: Sunday, November 6, 2016
Estimated distance:  6.62 miles
Weather: 50°F, overcast
Resources:  McLean Game Refuge Trail Map
Highlights of the trip:  connecting trails
Progress toward 2016 hiking goals:  51/52 hikes; 197.97/250 miles; 31.37/25 miles on Tunxis Trail


My hiking partner and her husband joined me on this hike.  I don't have any pictures, but I enjoyed the hike.  I was glad to finally pull together different sections of the McLean Game Refuge trails.  We started at the gate on Broad Hill Road in West Granby, hiked over Weed Hill and along the Eddy Loop to the (non-existent) waterfall on Firetown Road in Simsbury, and then along the Firetown Trail to the corner of Simsbury and Barndoor Hills Roads, and finally on the woods road to Canton Road in Granby. 

There were no real views, but if there was water you would see several waterfalls along the way.

A good day, with a fair amount of mileage.

Hike #49: McLean Game Refuge - Granby/Simsbury, CT

Date Hiked: Tuesday, October 11, 2016
Estimated distance: 6.02 miles
Weather: 55°F, sunny
Resources: McLean Game Refuge Map
Highlights of the trip:  fall colors
Progress toward 2016 hiking goals:  49/52 hikes; 186.15/250 miles; 31.37/25 miles on Tunxis Trail

Today, I worked on my quest to see how the trails in the main part of McLean Game Refuge connect to those over near Broad Hill Road.  I wrote about my Broad Hill Road hike (#44) and how I went part way on the white-blazed Eddy Loop Trail.  If I had continued I would have ended up on Firetown Road.  In this hike, I started on Canton Road, hiked through the main part of the Refuge over to the corner of Barndoor Hills and Simsbury Roads.  I crossed Simsbury Road and hiked over to the parking area on Firetown Road.  By wallking just a short distance on Firetown (I could see the sign), I could connect to the Eddy Loop Trail and keep on going over to Broad Hill Road.

The field in the main part of the Refuge just before heading down to Barndoor Hills Road.

After crossing Simsbury Road, I climbed up and over a small hill and wound my way down to a small field.  Pretty view with the trees changing color.

I continued over to Firetown Road and crossed over to look at the (non-existent) waterfall.  The Eddy Loop was just up the road to the right.

After looking at the waterfall, I headed back.  It is a really nice trail and I wonder how much it gets used.  I saw no one out here today.

I think my next step will be to have a friend join me so we can spot our cars and hike all the way through from Broad Hill to Canton.  Based upon my out and back mileage for this hike and the one on Broad Hill, I am guessing a through hike would be a little over 6 miles.

Hike #36: Hedgehog Trail - Simsbury, CT

Date Hiked: Thursday, June 30, 2016
Estimated distance: 1.00 miles
Weather: 77°F, sunny
Resources:  Simsbury Land Trust WalkBook
Highlights of the trip:  view
Progress toward 2016 hiking goals:  36/52 hikes; 137.49/250 miles; 31.37/25 miles on Tunxis Trail


My son asked if I would join him for a hike.  I couldn't pass that up!  I know he likes something that provides a "wow" factor and he wanted something relatively close to home, so we decided to climb up to the lookout on the Hedgehog Trail, part of the Western Highlands in Simsbury. 

It was a relatively quick up and back, starting from the end of North Saddle Ridge Drive.  We parked in the cul-de-sac and climbed up past the non-existent waterfall.  The views from the top are excellent.  Looking north, you will see the Barndoor Hills in Granby and farther west and north you can see Mount Tom in Massachusetts.

Mount Tom is far left just above the tree branch.  Barndoor Hills in the middle of the picture.

This wrapped up my first six months of hiking in 2016, so my next post will take a look at the progress I have made on my hiking goals.

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.