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.    

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!