New Trail Map Almost Ready..

What is it with the weather? Saturday was crappy and overcast and as expected, the trails in local parks were soggy and slippery.

Mr. Map Maven

Although I was itchin' to ride - I was fortunate in one way as I returned to Trumbull to hike and GPS the side trails for the map project I have been a bit obsessed with. Stop and go at every intersection would have been a bummer on the bike but this is how I needed to collect the GPS data so hiking in the morbid weather was actually productive!

I walked in from Whitney and tried to GPS every worthwhile side trail. I think I ended up with 50 or so mini "workouts" as Map My Ride calls them and was there for about 5 hours!

There were a few brief moments of sunshine but the park was empty--although I  saw a family of 5 deer in the Serengeti and (of course) squirrels galore!

Despite the gloomy weather I was able to capture a few good photos...

Lover's Lane :-) 

Snake Tree - Right off the trail in the Serengeti 

Maybe it should be renamed the Jungle -
"Serengeti" implies grasslands not dense understory and small tree growth!

Recycling at Work...

Around every corner in the Valley a new massive outcropping awaits! 

North Bridge view of the Pequonnock River 

The Rail Trail in the Autumn - tis beautiful..

GPS Trail Map

The map is almost ready - there a just a couple of trails I need to add.  As mentioned, it will eventually replace the FCNEMBA map found here >. The interactive legend will be made available on a large version on a second page.

For those of you who are curious, the map in development can be viewed here > 

This a a temporary link only.

More Trumbull GPSing...

It was crappy weather wise on Sat but I went in late afternoon and hiked while GPS-ing, starting from the south to north this time. Strangely there were some serious connectivity issues at the south end but once I finally got that settled, I trekked the White Trail and returned on the Blue Trail.  By carefully doing each subsection as a separate GPS for a more precision in the Data Sets, I ended up compiling 30 Plus GPSs! I am using a cheapo Verizon tablet and Map My Ride and it is working out very well  - surprisingly!

Here are the results of the Google Composite Map so far (screenshot).

It was nearly dark at the last stretch of the Blue and my plans for doing more of the Secondary Trails didn't happen. My main concern were the trails just north of the Serengeti and the Central Maze trails, Once I get the majority of them on this map, I will post it on the FCNEMBA site and add some details on utilizing the built in interactive features...

GPSing pValley - ...Carriage Road Remnants

Today--considering the monsoon we had yesterday--I went out to Trumbull (Pequonnock Valley) to hike and GPS trails instead of biking. 

I intend on remapping the FCNEMBA Google map of the Park but doing each blazed trail one at a time. Eventually I will GPS the side trails as well. Very tightly organized data sets separated for each trail will give me more precise control over all the data points. So I hiked in from Whitney and started GPSing (1) the Red Trail going south.

As I was traversing the Red, I finally photographed the faintly discernible remnant of an old carriage road, off of the red trail. It is down the hill after you cross the fire road going south. 

(the view here is looking southeasterly)

After I reached where the Red ends at the White, I (2) returned north on the Yellow. I ran into Kevin and his dogs right before the big climb up to the central maze and he joined me for the trek from there. Sadly something crapped out before the last stretch of the Yellow but I can GPS that next time when I will go in and do the White And Blue.

A screenshot of the map so far:

 it will-when completed- replace this map >