2021-1-2, Roaring Brook Nature Center, Canton, CT

 On 2021-1-2, I re-visited Roaring Brook Nature Center in Canton.  I made an interactive map showing where the pictures in this post were taken.

Here's a screenshot of the northern part of my map with the location numbers showing.


The center section of the map.



The southern section of the map.


Here's a link to the interactive map: https://arcg.is/0rr8iX


1.  There had been an ice storm the night before.  The ice was melting when I arrived.


2.  My first view of Jim Brook.


3.  A view of a dam that was once part of a mill that made wooden tableware.


4.  A view of Jim Brook where the brook loses altitude.


5.  A view of a section of an abandoned railway route that is on state land.


6.  I took this picture while I was walking back up the trail that led to the abandoned railway route.  The trail didn't appear to be used much. 


7.  I bushwhacked up to the gray-blazed trail.  On the way, I noticed that I could make out Sleeping Giant through the trees.  Sleeping Giant is in Hamden, CT.


8.  All the Roaring Brook Nature Center blazes had been recently repainted.  At first, I thought the gray blazes (most outlined in yellow) had been repainted with white paint.  A comparison with a piece of paper indicated the color was gray.


8.  Although it's hard to show in a photograph, while walking on the gray trail, it was clear that there were longitudinal mounds, each about two feet high and ten feet wide.  On my interactive map, there is a LIDAR layer that you can turn off and on.  Here is a screenshot showing the area of the gray trail with the LIDAR layer turned on and a 100-foot-long line for scale.  The pink line is my GPS track.  Were the mounds created for an orchard?


9.  Apparently, a resident of a nearby house lined the trail with rocks from here to their yard.


10.  A small pond that apparently was created for some agricultural purpose.


10.  Near the pond, I found two structures that I think were once used to load hay bales onto a wagon or truck.


11.  Another view of Jim Brook.


12.  I was intrigued with the way that this sign was hung.



13.  A new blue-blazed trail led uphill to near a pair of rocks that appeared to have been shaped by running water.  There was no running water in the vicinity.  Did a glacier drop these rocks where they are now?



13.  The view through the trees near the water-shaped rocks.


14.  A tree in a garden of native plants.  I think this is a Celtis occidentalis, common hackberry, tree.




David Reik

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