Down to the Riverside

 On Monday evening, I dusted off the road bike and headed down to Connecticut River ferry crossing. It was beautiful at the river. and I had a nice chat with a neighbor! Going back is 85% uphill and I must confess,  I did the walk of shame for two short stretches :-(

Nevertheless - I now have a goal - doin' the climb!

Crude Panorama

300 feet descent to the ferry
(300 feet ascent to get back home!)

Annual Summer Scenic Hike at Pequonnock Valley

Twice a year I co-lead a hike in Trumbull - (1) a scenic hike once on Connecticut Trail Days in the summer; and (2) an historic hike in the fall.

The four crazy trail leaders!

This year we had 15 participants - it was a good group and they lasted 3 hours with us as went up and down and north, south east and west all over the park!

The trek thru the crevice area...

Down at Blackpool

My blazing buddy - Kevin!

Kinda cool!

Descending from Indian Ledges at the north end - this bunch were true mountaineers!

Great Pond Preserve

Despite the cloudy and humid conditions, I decided to take a hike at the Great Pond Preserve in South Glastonbury....

AllTrails trail map

A profusion of dead cedar trees everywhere felt like I was in Middle Earth!

Ooo Yeah!

I did the Pond View trail today but I'll be back to check out the Kaye Loop...

This short trail needs a bit of trimming!

The pond viewing platform... 
So peaceful and quiet!

There is also a long offshoot trail to the ridge along the Connecticut River

At the ridge

That's the Connecticut River....

It got super hot and humid and I felt like I was walking along ridge forever...
So turned around before the end of the trail and decided to GPS the way back to see how far I went...

Another view of "Middle Earth"  -- Tolkien where are you? :-)

Nice spot - I'll be back for sure!

Shoddy Mill Open Space

The walk in

At the former dam

Onward...

Climbing back up the ridge and heading North

The Loop back

A short but satisfying hike...

Awesome! (Cotton Hollow)

I ventured in from an Emergency Access road and hiked down to the huge dam ruins. I then ventured back all along the river. Every step of the way was awesome!

Descending on the Access Road

ARC GIS map

Arriving at the Former Dam

The old mill ruins are down a few hundred feet or so but I will chart that another day. The side ledges here were spectacular...

Historical Photo

Yep further downstream there was a former 60ft high dam!
Details >

Walking upstream along the river

Yep - that's a natural sandy beach!