Stillman-Danaher Preserve & Topsmead State Forest - Litchfield, CT

Date Hiked: Saturday, June 9, 2018
Estimated distance:  1.85 miles at Stillman-Danaher + 3.07 miles at Topsmead
Weather: 73°F, sunny
Resources: Litchfield Land Trust, DEEP Topsmead SF
Highlights of the trip:  gardens, wildflowers, birds
Progress toward NET Hike 50 Challenge: 10.5/50 miles completed

Nearly two months ago, my hiking partner and I headed over to Litchfield to check out two properties neither of us had been to before.  First, we hiked the trail at Litchfield Land Trust's Stillman-Danaher Preserve and then we drove less than two miles down the road to Topsmead State Forest.

The hike at S-D was fine, but there were no views, even from Pinnacle Rock.  I think perhaps this is a trail best done in the winter, where you might get a peek through the trees or other features may stand out (see Peter Marteka's article here).  One thing we did find of interest were some young trees that seem to have some kind of disease.  I'm not sure this would be noticeable in the winter without the leaves.  It only seemed to be happening on young trees.  The thin branches were all twisted and there was a mass of dead leaves with new smaller leaves growing above.  My pictures were terrible and I haven't identified the tree.  The Land Trust thought it may be a beech tree, but I am not sure.  I have searched the internet for something similar, but without success.  I may have to go back and take better pictures.

What is wrong with this tree?

Spider with large egg sac.

 Topsmead State Forest

At Topsmead, we parked and strolled up to the former summer home of Edith Morton Chase.  The "cottage" is beautiful and is surrounded by lovely gardens and fields.  There is also an area of cedar and yew that forms a bit of a cave that I am sure kids would really enjoy.

Neat little "cave" under the trees.

As we wandered around the house, we also saw that there were bobolinks at the edge of the field.  I first saw these birds last year at the Winchester Land Trust's Hurlburt Field.

Bobolink

From the cottage we went back toward the cars, but turned north past a field with wildflowers to end up at a little pond lined with yellow irises.

Leafy spurge.

Cow vetch.

We took the trail that went past the pond and looped around back to the road and then walked across the fields on the southern side of the property.  There were lots of wildflowers and more birds.  The birds were blue, but I couldn't get a good enough look to say whether they were blue birds or barn swallows.  I am sure a real birder could tell simply from watching their flight, but I can't.

Ragged robin.

Orange Hawkweed aka Devil's Paintbrush.

Path through the pines.

  
Topsmead State Forest is an absolutely stunning piece of property and well worth another visit.  There are picnic tables in various places, so I would recommend stopping and getting some sandwiches and enjoying a picnic.  I would think this would be an ideal place to snowshoe or cross country ski in the winter months.

2017 Hike #19: McLean Game Refuge - Granby, CT

Date Hiked: Sunday, May 21, 2017
Estimated distance:  3.53 miles
Weather: 71°F, scattered clouds
Resources: McLean Game Refuge, Trail Map
Highlights of the trip:  wildflowers, water
Progress toward 2017 Outdoor Goals:  19/52 hikes; 65.31/250 miles hiked

Cypress spurge?

Dwarf cinquefoil?

Log cabin near the parking area on Barndoor Hills Road.

Great laurel?

Starflower

Canada geese at Trout Pond.

Senator McLean's cabin at Trout Pond.

Field along Werbitzkas Loop.

West Branch of Salmon Brook near Barndoor Hills parking area.

Wildflower Walk with East Granby Land Trust

I was afraid the Wildflower Walk with the East Granby Land Trust might be canceled due to rain, but we lucked out.  I met the group in the East Granby Senior Center parking lot.  We started off by walking behind the Center and over toward the elementary school.  There is a little path there and a bridge over the wet areas.

Wood Anemone (Anemone quinquefolia)

Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris)

Some kind of grass - no idea.  Pretty though.

Canada goose and beaver lodge at pond near senior center.

After spending a few minutes in this area, we headed over to the Metacomet Trail on Route 189 north of Tarrifville.

Persicaria without flowers.

Violet of some kind.

Spring Beauty (Claytonia viginica)

Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum)

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)

Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum)

Toothwort? Although, I don't remember that name coming up.

Purple Trillium (Trillium erectum)

A look at the Farmington River as it flows through Tarrifville Gorge.

This was a nice, informative hike.  Now, I just have to try and remember what I learned!

Thanks, East Granby Land Trust!

Hike #32: Sessions Woods WMA - Burlington, CT

Date Hiked: Sunday, June 12, 2016
Estimated distance: 6.89 miles (2.87 of which was on the Tunxis Yellow-dot and Black-dot trails)
Weather: 80°F, partly cloudy, temperature started dropping as wind picked up
Resources:  Sessions Woods WMA Trail Map, CFPA Tunxis Hiking Map - Burlington re-route
Highlights of the trip:  Tunxis black dot trail, wildflowers, beaver marsh
Progress toward 2016 hiking goals:  32/52 hikes; 126.56/250 miles; 31.37/25 miles on Tunxis Trail

An excellent hike today at Sessions Woods Wildlife Management Area!  I hadn't been here in awhile and I forgot all that it had to offer.

My hiking partner and I were joined by her husband, who likes to geocache.  There were quite a few caches to find in the area and he found the first ones when we took the short Forest Meadow Trail. 

Sessions Woods Trail Map

Then we followed the Beaver Pond Trail and he found another cache at the junction with the Crosscut Trail.  That one took a little hunting, but he eventually found it.  He was going to continue on the Crosscut Trail while we kept to the Beaver Pond Trail, but his trail became impassable before too long and he caught up to us.

Sheep laurel (Lambkill)

We decided to back-track and pick up the Tunxis Yellow-dot trail, which would take us around the far side of the beaver pond.  This was a fantastic decision.  This trail is quite different from the wide cindered trails you find in Sessions Woods.  Unlike the fairly heavily traveled Sessions Woods trails (a lot of joggers and dog walkers), we had the Tunxis Trails to ourselves.  Another cache was found on the far side of the pond and we continued to loop around and picked up the Tunxis Black-dot trail.

Pink corydalis (aka harlequin corydalis, rock harlequin, pale corydalis)

The Black-dot Trail was the most impressive area.  A lot of rocks and caves that my pictures just can't do justice to.  Very rugged terrain which makes it more interesting.

Looking back up the trail from which we came.

We re-entered Sessions Woods at the camping area and took the Beaver Pond Trail back in a clockwise direction toward the beaver pond.  My friend's husband left us to continue on while he searched for a couple of caches.  We told him we would continue and maybe stop at the waterfall and fire tower before heading toward the beaver pond.  It had already been a decent hike, so when we saw the warning about the trail to the waterfall being in disrepair, we decided to skip it.  As we came to the trail for the fire tower, we skipped that, too.  So, we went straight to the beaver pond, noticing two turtles on the path along the way.  They had probably left the marsh to come up and lay their eggs.

There were both pink and yellow water lilies, though my photos show them as white.

The beaver pond is my favorite part of Sessions Woods.  We walked across the boardwalk to the viewing area and then found a place on a rock to sit, relax, and look at the pond.  There were a lot of high bush blueberries and huckleberries.  Not ripe yet, though.  The water was much higher than I remember it being the last time I was here.  Some extra planks had been out down to allow access to the boardwalk as the start of the boardwalk is under water.

We thought we were sitting in a place that would make it easy for my friend's husband to find us, but I guess not.  It had become really windy and after about 45 minutes, we decided we had better get up and head back to the car.  We ran into him on the trail headed back out.  He had gone to the car looking for us after going to the waterfall and fire tower and passing the pond and not seeing us.

Almost 7 miles of hiking today, and probably closer to 9 miles for my friend's husband. (Sorry.)  We started our hike around 11 a.m. and finished around 3:30.  As a bonus at the end of the hike, we stopped at Dunkin' Donuts and got drinks for the ride home.  An excellent day of hiking. I'd highly recommend taking the Tunxis Trail around the outside of Sessions Woods.