2021-1-14, 2021-1-15, Camp Hadley, Madison, CT.

On 2021-1-14 and 2021-1-15, I visited the Camp Hadley area in Madison, CT.  I made an interactive map on which I'll put location numbers that I will refer to in this post.  Here's a screenshot of the northern part of my interactive map.


Here's a screenshot of the southern section of my map.

Here's a link to my interactive map: https://arcg.is/1q5LeX .

1.  Where I parked, in a turn-around at the end of Jefferson Park Road.

2.  I think this is a pond built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.  The idea was to provide a source for water to be used in the event of a forest fire.



3.  This tree stand was left standing on state land.  I think the tree stand was for bow hunting.  I didn't climb up to the platform to enjoy the view.


4.  People who live near here appeared to have made this construction, maybe the people who live in the house in the background.  Does the big stone 'X" have a mystical significance?


5.  It appeared that, maybe around 1850, someone tried to split a piece off this rock.  They drilled a line of holes, inserted "feathers" and drove in wedges between the feathers, but the rock did not split.  They seem to have managed to knock some of the feathers and wedges out, but some remained stuck.


5.  A pair of feathers and an empty hole.


5.  A single feather and a wedge in the foreground.


5.  A pair of feathers and a wedge in the foreground.


6. A pet cemetery at the edge of a power cut.


7.  A ford over Huzzle Guzzle Brook.  How did the brook get that name?


8.  What's the story behind this nicely built pillar?


9.  I saw at least one other American beech tree with spiral ridges like this.


9.  A close-up of the spiral ridges.


10.  A trail dead-ended at "Lost Pond."  Was this a fire pond that was not fully constructed?


11.  A bog bridge that used culvert pipe as a base.


12.  You can see a map of this area at the Madison Land Conservation Trust website: http://www.madisonlandtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/MLCT_Jefferson_Park.pdf .  The map shows a trail here that appeared to have been closed.


13.  I turned around and headed back northerly toward where I parked.  This is another view of Huzzle Guzzle Brook.


14.  This picture shows a water bowl locked to a beech tree.  There was frozen water in the bowl.  Someone must keep the bowl filled.  Is the idea to have a source of drinking water for any passing animal?

15.  I went back to the area on 2021-1-15.  I first parked at 15, in a pull-off on the east side of Warpas Road.  

16.  Another Civilian Conservation Corps fire pool, this one with a label.  This was at the edge of the site of Camp Hadley.



17.


18.  There were signs identifying the locations shown on the map of Camp Hadley shown here.


19.  One of the few large blow-downs to be found on the blue-blazed trails maintained by Madison Land Conservation Trust.


20.  A sign said this was the site of the cabin of the Camp Hadley Chief Forester.



21.  Another set of feathers and a wedge still stuck in a rock.


21.  Was this rock used for drill practice?


22.  I drove northerly on Warpas Road and parked at 22.  I walked blue-blazed trails on both sides of Warpas Road.  

23.  I found a set of trails not on the map I was using: http://www.madisonlandtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/MLCT_Jefferson_Park.pdf .  There were some blue blazes on these trails.  Here, there was evidence of extensive trail maintenance.


24.  More trail maintenance on a trail not on my map.


Near 24.  This sign read, "Double Loop Trail, MLCT 4."  That suggested to me that, despite not being on my map, this was an official Madison Land Conservation Trust trail.


25.  There were many posted maps like this on the trails that were shown on my map.  The maps were the same as the map I was carrying except that the posted maps showed the locations of the posted maps.

26.  Another fire pool, I think.




















David Reik 

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