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!!

Requiem for the old bridge (and Blue Blazing)

Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day - sunny and not too cold. It was still way too muddy to mountain bike so Kevin and I decided to finish blazing the Blue Trail.

We noted some interesting  things along the the trail... that's what makes the valley so special - there is always something amazing if you just look around!

Monster face

The Coyote Crossing Bridge--washed away last fall in a nasty flood--is visible downriver. I wish I had a bugle to play Taps :-( Surprisingly its still intact but a close up of the snapped guy wires showed just how powerful the river can be...

Kevin had the Picasso touch on the blazing! :-)

  The old car chassis is still there - but every year its a little more weather worn...

 Lastly up by the Indian Ledges we marveled at this huge quartz boulder - the Valley never dissapoints!

Crampons at pValley

I went back into the Park today (Sunday) to see how our blue blazing held up. This time I used my crampons! All the blue blazing  is looking good (phew!)

 Couldn't resist snapping this photo :-)

Finally - Snow!

March 2nd - We finally got some snow. I took a walk in my local park (Woodway) and enjoyed wearing my snowboots (for a change!)

Virgin  snow!! 

My footsteps...