Friday, January 31, 2014

Metacomet trail - Part 14

This hike occurred on January 25, 2014

Trail Heads:
2867 Albany Ave., West Hartford, CT - on Albany Ave, there is a parking lot by the Metacomet trail head with space for 5-7 cars.

560 Simsbury Rd., Bloomfield, CT - At Penwood State Park, there are parking spaces for 8-10 cars and plenty of curbside parking as well. 

Length/Distance: According the Connecticut Walk book, the route between the trail heads on Albany Ave and Simsbury Rd was 5.4 miles. According to my GPS tracking program, our route was 6.1 miles.

Summary: We hiked from Simsbury Rd towards Albany Ave. It was an overcast but warmer than previous days (low 30°s). We parked in the lot for Penwood State Park as the Metacomet travels through the park.


Penwood State Park is directly on the line between Bloomfield and Simsbury. 

We headed across Simsbury Rd and towards Talcott Mountain and Heublein Tower

 The trail meandered through woods, crossing the same stream three or four times. It would have been a very swampy area but everything was frozen. 


The trail began to ascend the mountain but did so in a fairly gentle fashion. There were no sharp steep climbs. 
The pine trees were covered in snow and beautifully green. 
We reached peak elevation while out in the woods maybe 10 minutes from the tower. 


We hiked up to the tower. The composing bathrooms near the tower are open all year around which was helpful. The tower wasn't open and won't be until May. 


The views from the cliff were quite nice though the overcast sky left something to be desired.  

From here, the trail traveled down towards the MDC's Reservoir #6
We saw signs indicating that starting in March 2014, this section of Metacomet trail would be redirected due to the MDC's tree trimming project near the reservoir. Around this point of the hike, we began encountering snow flurries which continued for the remainder of the hike. The blue trail emerged near the top of the reservoir and followed the main track down to Reservoir #6's parking lot. The view of the reservoir was beautiful. 
The geese were very vocal and were constantly making noise. This seemed to be THE gathering place for water fowl. 

There was some neat ice forming by this creek. 
While on the Reservoir #6 trail, we passed from Bloomfield into West Hartford. 

We reached the parking lot of Reservoir #6.
We then realized the Metacomet turned right before the yellow barrier. 
The trail lead us around the parking lot, straight to Albany Ave with the parking area across the road.

Overall, the hike was enjoyable and not too strenuous with rewarding scenery. After this hike, we only have 4-5 hikes left on the Metacomet. 

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Metacomet trail - Part 13

This hike occurred on January 19, 2014
Trail Heads:
Talcott Notch Rd., Farmington, CT - by the intersection of Metacomet Rd and Talcott Notch Rd, there is side-of-the-road parking available for 3-4 cars by the electric lines access road. 

2867 Albany Ave., West Hartford, CT - on Albany Ave, there is a parking lot by the Metacomet trail head with space for 5-7 cars.

Length/Distance: According the Connecticut Walk book, the route between the trail heads on Talcott Notch Rd and Albany Ave was 4.7 miles. According to my GPS tracking program, our route was 5.4 miles. 


Summary: We hiked from Albany Ave towards Talcott Notch Rd. It was a brisk day (20°s) but sunny. We passed by Welles Pond. 

The view from the pond of the parking area on Albany Ave. 
We followed the trail markers across a wide area of open space and then off the beaten trail to the right. The trail crossed over a stream which thoughtfully had a bridge. 
We hiked through woods for quite a while. We passed underneath the power lines a few times. 
 
There was a fair amount of ice around the trail since it snowed the day before our hike. 
The trail led back towards the West Hartford Reservoirs recreation area off of Farmington Ave. We passed a little Charlie Brown tree with blue trail markings. 
The trail climbed up and around a small cliff. 
There was a view from the top but it was mostly hampered by the trees. 
From here, the trail headed downward and out of the Reservoir land by way of a gap in the fence. We walked along Old Mountain Rd to connect to the next woods section. After a brief walk in the woods between houses, the trail emerged onto Talcott Notch Rd.  

Overall, the hike was an easy walk through the woods. While it was a bit chilly, the physical activity (along with multiple layers) kept us warm enough. Hopefully, we'll be doing a hike each weekend throughout the winter.