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. 

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.