Metacomet trail - Part 3

This hike occurred on July 21, 2013

Trail heads:
100 Summit Wood Dr., Berlin, CT - Parking: After our last hike, we decided to park on the side of the road on Summit Wood Drive. There were signs posted near the cul de sac saying "no parking beyond this sign" but there was plenty of space to park on the curb and the road was very quiet since it's a dead end. 

400 Park Dr., Berlin, CT - Parking: While the CT Walk book, the New England Trail website, and the Town of Meriden's website all state that Castle Craig has an auto road providing access to the East Peak from May 1st through October 31st from 10:00 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., it so happens they are all wrong. We attempted access via Hubbard Park Dr and Notch Rd prior to Park Dr and the roads were all blocked off with signs saying both "road closed" and "gate open 10am-4:45pm between May 1-Oct 31." We parked on Park Dr back beyond the "no parking beyond this sign." It was maybe a few tenths of a mile to walk in but it put us right where we needed to be. If you park here, just be mindful of the signs.     

Length/Distance: According the Connecticut Walk book, the route was 2.9 miles. According to my GPS tracking program, our route was 3.5 miles. 

Summary: We began our hike from Park Drive. We followed the road up to the gate (the blue trail goes to the left by the gate, btw). 

We went beyond the gate to get some pictures of the Merimere Reservoir. 

We backtracked to the gate, where the blue markings lead away from the reservoir back towards Chamberlain Highway. 

On the side of the trail, we saw what appears to be Common Selfheal/healall (Prunella vulgaris). It is in the mint family and apparently edible.

This section of the trail followed along what might have once been a creek bed. The trail was comprised of loose, unstable rocks. 

Soon after this, the trail opens up onto Elmere Reservoir. It was beautiful.  

The water tower had quite a lot of graffiti on it but looked nice from a distance. 

The pump house had a lot of razor wire (also known as barbed tape) surrounding it to discourage would-be trespassers. 

In the corner of the meadow, near where the trail reenters the woods, there was a large bush of American Red Raspberry (Rubus idaeus) with ripe berries. 

 

There was also some ripe Lowbush Blueberries (Vaccinium angustifolium) as well. 

After a bit more hiking, we passed over Chamberlain Highway; the blue trail was straight across the road and easy to see. Right after the highway, we crossed Cathole Brook.  

There was an entertaining blank sign board on the trail after the road crossing. 

The next section of trail had an assent and lots of spider webs. Ironically, I thought this section of the trail was some of the more dangerous we've hiked. When hiking near cliffs, it's fairly obvious the danger and how to avoid it. Here, the trail was very narrow and uneven with layer upon layer of unstable rocks with a sharp drop off to the left and more than once, we had the trail crumble away at the edges and fall down the hill. 

The trail was fairly well marked until the end of the section when the blazes just died out and the trail was overrun with grass and other plants. This is where the trail enters the woods from the Victoria Drive side. Note the blue blaze on the tree to the left. 

Victoria Drive may once have been a through road but is not longer, regardless of what Google Maps may tell you. 

From here, we walked up the road, though there were absolutely no blue blazes. The surrounding area was very nice, though the summer sounds were punctured with roars of half a dozen dirt bikes. 

This area was full of flowers and blossoms. We saw Early Goldenrod (Solidago juncea) [link has amazing guide to identifying different types of Goldenrod]. 

We also saw Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta).

There was a pink flower, perhaps a Small Wild Bean (Strophostyles leiosperma).  

There was also Common Daisies (Chrysanthemum leucanthemum).

Up the road, there is an intersection with another road spur, though Victoria Drive continues straight (picture is taken looking backward). 

On the upper right hand side of this intersection, we saw blue blazes on a few trees. 

We followed them into the woods. 

That tree directed us to the next trail marker. 

And then there were no more. This area needs the markings removed or covered. It was very confusing to have blue marks remaining when the trail did not travel this way anymore. We tried to follow what we thought was the trail for a bit and found a huge patch of American Red Raspberry (Rubus idaeus) growing on a trap rock incline. 

There were also unripe Fox Grapes (Vitis labrusca). 

After nomming on lots of raspberries, we bushwhacked our way back to the road through 7-8 foot high prickers, grass, and vines. From here, we walked further up Victoria Drive until we saw the blue trail split off to the left. The blue arrow was hard to see through all the foliage.  

From here, the trail was easy to follow though the bugs got really bad on this part of the trail for some reason. 

There was also a large fire ring that someone had made. It appears that people camp out here. 

From here, it was a fairly short hike back to the dead-end of Summit Wood Drive. Right near our parking spot, there was a large patch of American Red Raspberry (Rubus idaeus) so we went raspberry picking! 

Overall, this hike wasn't difficult physically. The temperature was in the mid-80's and it was sunny with fairly low humidity. The parking and road closure issues were more frustrating than anything else. The lack of trail markings (or trail markings that were not actually the trail) along Victoria Dr was also an issue. 

Mattabesett Trail - Part 18

This hike occurred on July 14, 2013

Trail heads:
725 Westfield Rd., Meriden, CT - Parking: Technically, the parking area is inside Dr Francis Giuffrida Park (NOT the same as Giuffrida Park); Google Maps says Dr Giuffrida Park is at 500 Westfield Rd. However, if you put in 500 Westfield Rd, GPS will direct you a quarter of a mile down the road. The parking area inside the park could hold over a dozen cars; it seemed like a popular fishing and dog-walking spot. We hiked from here.

20 Spruce Brook Rd., Berlin, CT - Parking: This is not technically a parking area. However, the Mattabesett trail emerges onto Spruce Brook 0.7 miles away from the intersection with Rt-5/15 so we parked in the lot of Turnpike Wine & Spirits. 

Length/Distance: In 2009, this portion of the Mattabesett trail was changed; a landowner who had previously allowed the trail to cross their land withdrew their permission and the trail had to be rerouted. While the New England Trail interactive map was very helpful in regards to parking places and trail directions, it did not provide specific distances for the portions of trail we were completing. According to my GPS tracking program, our route was 6.74 miles, though approximately 0.6 miles of that was from retracing our steps. 

Summary: We started from Dr Francis Giuffrida Park. We followed what we thought were Blue trail markings to the left, towards this gate. 

There was a lot of plants growing on the side of the path here, including slightly wilted chicory (Cichorium intybus). 

The path paralleled the power lines for a bit and had some wild growth underneath them.

Soon after this, we realized that we had not seen any blue blazes. We retraced our steps back to the gate, thinking we had somehow missed a turn in the trail. On our back trail, right next to the gate, we found blue blazes, indicating the blue trail traveled the way we'd gone. 

So we turned around and hiked towards the power lines again. A bit after the power lines, the path we were on intersected with the real Blue trail. We followed the trail back a bit to see where it had come from. It turns out, the blue trail turned right at the park sign and went along the lakeside (straight ahead in the picture). 

After that quick side trail, we returned to hiking the blue trail as planned. There was some very nice Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta).

A bit down the trail, the blue blazes go to the right when the main path continues straight. 

The next section of trail began the assent to Lamentation Mountain. The trail was very rocky and uneven. 

There was a nice sign indicating that was indeed the direction we were going. 

At the beginning of the hike, we were unsure how many miles the hike would be. It was also in the mid-90's with a heat index around 100 degrees so we brought three water bottles each, along with lunch supplies. This translated to quite a bit of weight and between that and the heat, we found the assent to the summit more of a struggle than we had initially anticipated. However, the view was beautiful. 

We also saw a 3+ feet snake skin along the cliff side. 

There were some unripe Lowbush Blueberries (Vaccinium angustifolium) at the summit.

As well as some Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina) 

The view was very nice though the cloudless sky made the sun very hot. 

 After only one or two look out points, the trail turned into the forest and off down the ridge. A sign informed us we were headed in the right direction, though it didn't specify distance (which would have been nice). 

We saw mystery pods along the trail. We initially thought they might be green beans but found that the pods contained a light, white feathery substance not unlike a dandelion puff. 

Near here, the trail goes by a hillside meadow. 

The trail continued downhill for quite a while. After a bit, the trail flattened out and got really mucky. 

This particular section had been flooded for long enough that it contained a very large frog population of typical Northern Green Frogs (Rana [Lithobates] clamitans melanota). And this particular group of frogs squeaked when frightened. We decided to record it because it sounded so strange!

They were mostly small and cute, though we did hear an American Bullfrog (Rana [Lithobates] catesbeiana). 

We continued down the trail. The bugs were horrid the entire hike and seemed especially prominant around here, given the stagnant water. We passed by some random car halves. 

Right around a creek bed crossing, the blue marks just ended.

While this in no way looks like a trail, apparently it is. 

We continued straight and "trail" exited onto Lamentation Drive. 

In all honesty, if it wasn't for the blue marks on the telephone pole, I wouldn't believe that was the trail. 

This area really, really, really needs to be re-blazed. It's a tick and pricker infested morass. We sat on the curb and ate lunch in the shade. The road was very quiet. We then continued down the road and had to walk back and forth a few times to realize that this marker (which was a bit hard to see) meant we needed to jump the barrier. 

And go into the woods. 

There was another abandoned car there. 

The trail then lead through an area with shoulder high bushes; the trail had maybe knee high grass. 

From there, it wasn't long until the trail emerged onto Spruce Brook Road. 

There is a parking area here for maybe 2-3 cars right next to someone's driveway. We then did a road walk down Spruce Brook. It took us past the Old Yard Cemetery. 

Some of the local residences had nice flowers out front. 

Approximately 7/10ths of a mile after the trail merged with Spruce Brook, we finished the Mattabesett Trail at Routes 5 and 15!