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.  

Metacomet trail - Part 12

This hike occurred on November 29, 2013

Trail Heads:
Parking for Metacomet Trail, Colt Highway (RT-6), Farmington, CT - This Metacomet trail head has both a small parking lot as well as on-street parking where the trail crosses the highway. 

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. 

Length/Distance: According the Connecticut Walk book, the route between the trail heads on Colt Highway/Rt-6 and Talcott Notch Rd was 4.0 miles. According to my GPS tracking program, our route was 3.76 miles. 

Summary: We started from Colt Highway/Rt-6 and hiked towards Talcott Notch Rd. There was a small climb at the beginning and we had a tree-filled view of Farmington Reservoir.  

It was fairly cold and there was some ice on the rocks near the path. 

There was a very large rock in the middle of the trail. 

The trail crossed over a number of small residential roads. Somewhere in the woods, we came across a White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) leg. No carrion nearby we could see, just a random limb. 

 During a road walk portion, we saw someone's treehouse. It looked pretty cool, though it looked a bit run down and out of use. 

We crossed over Farmington Ave/Rt4, running like squirrels between traffic. 

The next section of trail after that included the Bancroft Memorial. 

 

We ducked under a bar to access the trail as it transitioned from road to woods. 

After that, it was a long road walk along Metacomet Rd back to Talcott Notch Rd. 

Metacomet trail - Part 11

This hike occurred on November 16, 2013

Trail Heads:
440 New Britain Ave., Plainville, CT - We parked in a doctors' offices parking lot across the street from where the Metacomet enters the woods again after a road walk. The parking lot is very large and is not used by patients on evenings and weekends. 

Parking for Metacomet Trail, Colt Highway (RT-6), Farmington, CT - This Metacomet trail head has both a small parking lot as well as on-street parking where the trail crosses the highway. 

Length/Distance: According the Connecticut Walk book, the route between the trail heads on New Britain Ave & Colt Highway/Rt-6 was 3.7 miles. According to my GPS tracking program, our route was 4.35 miles.

Summary: We started from Colt Highway/Rt-6 and hiked towards New Britain Ave. Near the beginning of the trail, there was a tricky section of rock we had to climb over. 

After a bit of a walk, we emerged near the Channel 30 broadcast towers. 

Not too long after this, we hiked by Will Warren's Den which is a small cave with historical significance. 

We climbed to the top of a cliff with some beautiful views. 

The trail then went down and around the cliff. For whatever reason, there were hundreds of hornets flying in and around the rocks. Their bodies and wings together were about the size of a thumb.

We had to hike through a hole in the rock.

We quickly scrambled down the hill behind the cliff, trying to avoid being stung by the swarms of hornets. 

Underneath the power lines, we found what we were pretty sure was Deadly Nightshade (Atropa belladonna). 

From under the power lines, you could see quite a ways north. 

We found remnants of an old lookout tower. 

There was a view of hill we'd climbed. 

We reached the area of Rattlesnake Mountain where many folks go climbing. 

After a bit more hiking, we reached the trail head on New Britain Ave.