Appalachian Trail - part 2

This hike occurred on August 16 & 17

Trail head:
395 Undermountain Rd (Rt 41), Salisbury, CT - Off of Rt 41, there's a large parking lot with space for maybe a dozen cars. In addition, there's also road side parking.

Length/Distance: According to the CT Walk book and the Appalachian Trail guide, the first section of trail we completed should have 3.6 and the second, 3.2. Our GPS tracking program said the first was 3.66 and the second was 3.42. However, it's worth noting that we only traveled a few miles on the AT.

Summary: 
We parked at the base of Undermountain Trail. We hiked up Undermountain trail, past the intersection with Paradise Lane Trail. 

We eventually made it to the intersection with the AT, Riga Junction. 

   

We went to the right and climbed up Bear Mountain. 

The view from the top of the rock tower was great. 

 

We met two SOBO thru-hikers, talked, and gave them some of our beer. One of my friends went searching for blueberries (as they're in season) and found a lot. 

From there, we descended the mountain, into Sages Ravine. 

 Shortly after that, we came to the campsite. 

We set up camp and then went swimming in the creek. 

 

Our campsite was quite nice, with a spring and privy nearby. 

We had dinner and then settled in for the night. It rained a little bit overnight but nothing major. In the morning, we made oatmeal and added fresh blueberries we'd picked the day before on the top of the mountain. 

After breakfast, we packed up and headed back to the parking lot, taking the AT to Paradise Lane to Undermountain Trail. We packed our stuff into the car and headed out. On the way home, we stopped for second breakfast at JDT's Brickhouse in Thomaston.  

Quinnipiac Trail - part 2

This hike occurred on August 2, 2014

Trail Heads: 
370 Brooks Rd, Bethany, CT - This road is a narrow, wooded residential road. There's space for maybe 2 cars on the side of the road near the trail head.

250 Mt Carmel Ave, Hamden, CT - We parked on the side of the road by Sleeping Giant State Park. Street parking is allowed during the weekend; we did this so we could avoid the park's fee. 

Length/Distance: According the Connecticut Walk book, the route between the trail heads on Brooks Rd and the entrance of the Quinnipiac Trail into Sleeping Giant State Park was 4.6 miles. According to my GPS tracking program, our route was 4.89 miles.

Summary: We started from Brooks Rd. The day was overcast; it had rained earlier in the day so underbrush was damp. Less than a mile into the hike, my companion was stung six times by an unidentified insect; most likely, it was a wasp. After treating the stings, we continued on with our hike. Towards the top of a hill, we found Lowbush Blueberries (Vaccinium angustifolium) 

There were a few ripe blueberries to be had. We also found bushes of American Red Raspberries (Rubus idaeus) along the trail. At 1.1 miles, we came to a T with the Quinnipiac and the northmost portion of Regicides Trails.

After a bit more hiking, the trail has a road walk along Paradise Ave; in the future, this is where we'd access the northmost point of the Regicides, given the trail intersection was ~0.6 miles from Paradise Ave. There's also a parking area at the dead-end. 

The trail entered the woods again at the end of the cul-de-sac, fairly quickly leading to a road walk along Old Coach Hwy, Nolan Rd, Shepard Ave, and Rocky Top Rd. We then entered the woods again to the left side of Rocky Top Rd. This took us up and over York Hill. This portion of the trail was relatively overgrown and very noticeably so because of the prickers. There was some nice Staghorn Sumac (Rhys typhina). 

Along this portion of trail, we also saw an old stone chimney and oven. 

The trail emerged onto Kimberly Ave, right down the road from the Quinnipiac York Hill campus with the TD Bank Sports Center. They had some nice Lilacs planted in the area. 

From there, we road walked down West Woods Rd, over Whitney Ave, and then into the woods by Sleeping Giant. The trail lead around Mill River back to Mt Carmel Ave. 

There was a deer in the middle of the path by the river. 

Since we had previously hiked the entirety of the Sleeping Giant Blue Trail/Quinnipiac in years past, that finished our hike. We have two more hikes left to finish the entire Quinnipiac.    

Quinnipiac Trail - part 1

This hike occurred on May 11, 2014

Trail Heads:
102 Chestnut Lane, Hamden, CT - There is parking on the side of the road for 2-3 cars to park off the road. There's also enough space to park along the side of the road.

6 Banton St, North Haven, CT - This parking area is in a dead-end area directly behind a service station on Rt-15. There's quite a lot of parking available. 

Length/Distance: According the Connecticut Walk book, the route between the trail heads on Chestnut Ln and the beginning of the Quinnipiac Trail was 5.4 miles. According to my GPS tracking program, our route was 5.27 miles.

Summary: We began from Chestnut Lane since it had higher elevation and the hike would be all downhill or flat. 

We hiked along the trail until we came to a road.

There was a bit of a road walk along a busy road with poison ivy along the edges but we managed to get to the next portion of trail without incident. 

At the trail entrance into the woods by the road, there was a sign warning that portions of the trail might be impassable but it had no date to indicate how long it had been there.

We decided to press on. The trail wasn't bad for the next mile or so. Then we came to an area where the water crossed the trail and there was no way around. 

We decided, what the hell, we'll ford it. So we went through the water; it came up to our knees. We pressed onward. There was more water. 

And then more water. There was some really cool flowers blooming underneath the surface of the water. 

The amount of water we slogged through was impressive. First there was a few sections where we waded through waist deep water, then later rib deep water. Eventually, there was one place where the water came up to the top of my 6'1" hiking companion's shoulders. I ended up swimming/bobbing across that portion of water. 

It was an adventure, rather like an application to participate in the next Survivor. It seemed Amazon-esque, without the poisonous/highly dangerous creatures to avoid. Though the mosquitoes got progressively worse throughout the hike; by the end, we felt like mosquito buffet tables. There was also knee high poison ivy, practically dripping with urushiol. Perhaps it was the regular dunking in the river but neither me nor my hiking companion developed any urushiol-induced contact dermatitis (poison ivy rash).  

It was not a hike I'm eager to repeat. Thankfully, the rest of the Quinnipiac Trail doesn't parallel the river. 

Metacomet trail - Part 15

This hike occurred on February 1, 2014

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

56 Mountain Rd., Tariffville, CT - There are plenty of curbside spots along Mountain Rd. It's a lane-and-a-half quiet residential road so parking isn't a problem. 

Length/Distance: According the Connecticut Walk book, the route between the trail heads on Simsbury Rd and Mountain Rd was 5.3 miles. According to my GPS tracking program, our route was 6.6 miles.

Summary: We hiked from Simsbury Rd towards Mountain Rd. The day was overcast and in the high 20°s/low 30°s. We followed the blue blazes through Penwood and up to a ridge. The trail went by some ruins where people had piled up the rocks. 

The trail followed along the ridge and emerged near Lake Louise.

There was a display board with a map of the Penwood State Forest's portion of the Metacomet trail. 

The trail wound around Lake Louise and crossed from Bloomfield into Simsbury for the first time. Over the remainder of the trail, we crossed between Bloomfield and Simsbury six more times, with a sign to designate each one.

Right after this sign, the trail began a steep assent. The stone stairs were reminiscent of the Stairs of Cirith Ungol from Lord of the Rings. 

The view from the top was quite nice. 

Off in the distance, we could see last hike's Talcott Mountain's Heublein Tower. 

There was a fire ring which looked like it has seen recent use. 

There was also remnants of a radio tower. 

We eventually came to a board with a map of the next section of trail. 

We passed a bunch more signs indicated the Bloomfield/Simsbury line. 

The trail passed by an old recreation tower/facility. 

We passed by one more Bloomfield/Simsbury sign as the trail descended to Mountain Rd. 

Over all, this was a decent hike. It was much longer than expected (by 1.3 miles) but the elevation shifts were fairly minor and the trail was well marked.