2019 Trails Day Hike - Parlor Rock

This year, the route for our Trails Day hike was a little different. We started at the Dog Park parking lot and headed down thru a bit of the north section of the valley on the Red Trail. The weather was great!

 We then ascended the Indian ledge area, Everyone agreed - it was awesome! :-)

 We reassembled near the Pump House trail in the Whitney parking lot for a group photo.

Next we headed up through Parlor Rock including a stop on the big rock for the adventurous. I forgot to take a photo but here's one of that spot from a previous trek:

Parlor Rock is a small area but the scenery here is delightful.

 On the way back, we paid a closer visit to the Radcliffe Woolen Mills ruins...

  and the awesome glacially sculpted channel of the Pequonnock River:

This caught me eye - the diagonal fallen tree propped up by the cliff and the starkly horizontal fungi protruding from the side...

All in all it was a great hike and folks really enjoyed it!


National Trails Day Hikes - Trumbull, CT

Lazy Day in Pequonnock Valley

It was absolutely beautiful today - sunny but a bit of a breeze and I decided to not ride the usual today so I first rode the back trails at Old Mine. I parked at the circle at the end of Corporate Drive and stayed up high the whole time, never descending to the parking lot. Snapped a nice woodsy shot while way over on the east side.

I then drove to the Whiney lot and rode the rail trail. Then  I headed up to the little mini  trail playground just north of Parlor Rock. Yep I was lazy but I still enjoyed the day!

Lastly a quick trip back to hang out by the spot of the old North Bridge <sigh>

Another one-handed video captures some highlights:

Wilton Woods - May 4th

Stream sounds and checking out the moved bridge

 It was another wet and dreary day and I felt it would not be a good day to mountain bike (trails would be too wet) so I decided to take a hike in Wilton Woods instead. I entered at the main lot at Branch Brook and ascended the Blue Trail on the East.

What a great job the trail crew did moving this bridge! Gotta get back here on a sunny and dry day to ride it :-)

Never noticed this but there is a rusted wreck is off the the side of the White Trail when ascending the nasty hill just after the main stream crossing.

Wilton Woods - The sounds of streams...

Lastly, I will be creating a musical composition from these stream sounds (another addition to my Nature Suite). Stay tuned!

Biking and Hiking - Wet Trumbull

Water water everywhere - a boat would have been better than a bike - yikes!!

Pequonnock Valley Bike Ride

I had no idea it would be this wet in Trumbull. I couldn't even get to the boardwalk in the old Reservoir bed - the water was 5 inches deep on the normally 1 inch deep crossing!

But I did spent some time wandering down by these waterwork relics near the old dam.

I've never seen the river this powerful!  (short video)

Later when I fell, I decided this was kinda a neat photo - looking straight up!

Broadway Woods, Parlor Rock, Old Mine Hike

I met my friends John and Kevin for an afternoon hike.  These are some wonderful "Adirondack" chairs made from rocks!

Walking thru Broadway Woods brought us to this old foundation.

The river at Parlor Rock was absolutely roaring - I had never seen it this high!

Ain't this just beautiful? :-)

Dam for former Lake Lo-Lo

Still looking mighty good after all these years
(note stone edge on left)

Up a but further north, we wandered by the river--astounded at how high it was!

Kevin and his dog Brian took a moment to "be one with the moss" :-)

This was our destination in Old Mine.

On the way back, I snapped a shot of the old steps

Watching the Transformation (Hudson Yards)

A stroll a bit north and eastward on my lunch hour is more and more like watching a caterpillar turn to a butterfly. The daily construction activity is enormous and the metamorphosis is sometimes overwhelming. City blocks of crumbling concrete and barely visible underground railroads get ripped apart, dug deeper and poured with concrete as steel frameworks transform into one more enormous skyscraper climbing slowly to the sky. Its almost like a sci-fi world of the future...

Map of the area

Playground

 Yep - there's a railroad there!

If you stop and peak through the fences, vestiges of old New York can be seen...

 ...an old 2 strong hold-out from the past give away building-by-building to the new high-rises...

 Even the future Penn Station is shrouded in black as work continues on renovations and renewal...

It's crazy!!