Snowy Hike at Troutbrook

I  decided to take a hike and finally check the often-spoke-about Orchard Trail (Violet blazed).

I pulled into the Bradley lot late morning and hiked in sans snowshoes. The snow wasn't very deep and pretty much already packed down by other hikers everywhere.

I went in via the Green and turned right on the Blue for the climb.

The Orchard Trail

Getting into the orchard required unlocking the gate. There's a chain that you have to unlock manually.

Once inside the fence, you walk through the orchard to reach the top ridge. Here snowshoes might have been nice as the snow was deeper and hardly tread by anyone.

In the distance (barely visible) is the Long Island Sound (just a bit to the right of the center of the horizon).

There was a nicer view looking back once you've gone north and descended the orchard hill.

I then trekked out to the Blue and descended on the Blue pass the intersection with the Orange.  Once on the Green, I headed back to the car.

FCNEMBA pin flags for a future trail reroute to avoid the vernal pool

Finally - a bit of sunshine (short-lived :-( )

Blow downs from the recent storm were everywhere

I still prefer Pequonnock Valley for the scenery but it was nice to get out and explore...