2021-3-11, Tunxis Trails, Nassahegan State Forest, Burlington, CT

 I visited Nassahegan State Forest in Burlington on 2021-3-6, 2021-3-10, and 2021-3-11.  I made an interactive map with location numbers that I'll refer to.  I put in various layers such as elevation contours, LIDAR, and historical USGS topo maps that you can turn on and off.  Here's a link to the interactive map: https://arcg.is/15KO4e0 .

Here's a static screenshot of the interactive map.





1.  Can people park on Mountain Spring Road to get access to the north end of the Tunxis Blue-Yellow Trail?  I believe trail maintainer Dan Casey told me he got some objection when he once parked there.  I couldn't see any No Parking signs, or Private Road signs.  The road appeared to be wide enough for one-side-of-the-road parking.  There is room for about three cars to park in a little off-road parking area where the trail meets Route CT-4.


2.  One of many signs that can be found at trail junctions.  At one time, maybe twenty years ago, there was a sign like this at each end of each trail segment, so if one trail crossed another, there would be four signs.  The "Mainline Trail" referred to on this sign is now the Tunxis Blue-Yellow Trail.

3.  In the last few months, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has done what it calls a "selection cut."

4.  A DEEP sign that explains what a "selection cut" is.  I don't see why the "selection cut" would cause shade-tolerant trees to regenerate.  I would guess that shade-intolerant trees such as oaks would be favored.  Also favored will be all sorts of vegetation that will make keeping a clear four-foot-wide trail corridor more challenging.  Five cuttings during the growing season could be required.


5.  It looks like a big blow-down was cut within the last week.


Near 5.  I had forgotten about this pine plantation.






6.  One of many pitch pines I saw.  Pitch pines are supposedly rare, but I see them frequently where there is sandy soil.

7.  My 2021-3-6 trip was as a member of a New Haven Hiking Club hike led by Tom Ebersold.  Here, we cam across a downed white pine on the Tunxis Blue-White Trail.  Between here and George Washington Turnpike, the Tunxis Blue-White Trail goes through a little meadow that I believe is mown once a year.  Hikers often have to wade through tall vegetation which harbors ticks and poison ivy.

8.  Another blow-down we came upon on the Tunxis Blue-White Trail.


9.  Here, next to a small parking area across from Nassahegan Recreational Complex, a DEEP-created map was posted that I have not been able to find online.

10  A red-pine blow-down on the Tunxis Blue-Yellow Trail.

Near 10.  A close-up of a nail that DEEP used to affix a sign to a tree.  Many of the newest Connecticut Forest and Park Association blazes are of the nail-on variety.  The CFPA nails are not as large as the DEEP nails.  Both the CFPA and the DEEP nails appear to be aluminum or aluminum alloy.

11.  Dan Casey likes to walk out on a trail painting the basic blue blaze.  He rests for about twenty minutes, then comes back on the same trail while painting the sub-blaze (he prefers dots to squares).  He misses maybe one out of a hundred blazes on the way back.

12.  From what species of bird did these feathers come from?



13.  This structure across a stream from the Tunxis Blue-Yellow Trail reminded my of a similar stone shed near the Regicides Trail, I think in Hamden.  Possibly both structures had something to do with telephone service.



14.  A blow-down on the Tunxis Blue-Green Trail.  On most of the blue-green blazes, the green dots were hard to distinguish from the blue background.

15.  This is said to be a jail that was used to put drunken men who were residents of a government depression-era camp for otherwise homeless men.

16.  We found, on Tom's 2021-3-6 hike, that a section of the Tunxis Blue-Orange Trail had shifted.  The old trail was blocked off here.

17.  I helped put these logs in place, maybe in 2013.  Dan Casey named an earlier version of this bridge "Baba's Bridge" after his Polish grandmother who had suggested that Dan put a bridge here.  I crawled across the remaining two logs.

18.  A blow-down where the Tunxis Blue-Yellow Trail turns from one woods road to another woods road.


19.  I think these are the remains of some sort of tractor.

20.  At a junction of the Tunxis Blue-Orange Trail with the Tunxis Blue-Yellow Trail.  You can see the large marsh in Sessions Woods in the background.

21.  A non-standard bog bridge.


22.  Back up to the center of the map.  The Kathy Ebersold mentioned on the plaque was not a relative of Tom Ebersold.








David Reik



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2022-6-5, Metacomet Trail, East Granby, CT.

Image
On 2022-6-5, I hiked a section of the Metacomet Trail in East Granby, from CT-189 to Holcomb Street. I made an interactive map of my route --- my GPS track is shown in pink.  I put in location numbers to show where the pictures below were taken.  Here is a screenshot of the southern part of the map. Here's a screenshot of the northern part of the map. Here's a link to the interactive map, where you can zoom in and out, and turn on and off various layers. https://arcg.is/1aDPiq 4.  The view of Tariffville Gorge. 6.  I don't think there was ever a structure connected with this chimney. 8.  A large Striped Maple leaf. 9.  Carolina Rose (Rosa carolina), I think.  A wild native rose. 11.  Evidence of some recent mowing of plants in the sunlit power cut. 12.  The first blow-down I came to.  This was about 100 feet south of the cemetery. 12.  The cemetery.  As I recall, the three grave stones are reproductions of the original grave st...
Read more

2022-6-30, Compounce Ridge Trail, Bristol, Southington, CT

Image
 On 2022-6-30, I hiked a section of the Tunxis Compounce Ridge Trail, starting at the northern end of the trail.  Except for the road section, I hiked the entire section to the intersection with the Compounce Cascade Trail.  This section of the trail appeared to have been neglected for a few years. I made an interactive map with location numbers showing where the pictures below were taken.  Here's a link to the interactive map:  https://arcg.is/9maXb  .  Here's a static screenshot of the interactive map. 1.  I parked in a commuter parking lot.  This is looking back at the parking lot along the trail through a stand of mugwort. Near 1.  I found a lot of poison ivy at various places along the trail I hiked. Near 1.  I crawled under this blow-down.  2.  A blow-down. 3.  A blow-down. 4.  Overgrown. Near 4.  A blow-down. 5.  Multi-flora rose growing in the trail. Near 5.  A very overgrown section. Near ...
Read more

2021-1-28, Ironwoods Preserve Trail, Madison, CT

Image
 On 2021-1-28, I visited the Madison Land Conservation Trust Ironwoods Preserve Trail in Madison, CT.  I made an interactive map on which I put location numbers that I will refer to.  Here's a link to my interactive map:  https://arcg.is/1PSj4D    You can turn on and off various layers on the interactive map including aerial imagery, LIDAR, contour lines, and USGS historical maps.     Here's a static screenshot of my interactive map. 1.  Where I parked, in a long gravel parking lot provided by Madison Land Conservation Trust. 2.  I found that the configuration of the trails had been substantially changed since the maps on the Madison Land Conservation Trust website had last been updated.  I took a picture of the ravine here with a dam at its northern end. 2.  Tom Ebersold led a hike to on Ironwoods Preserve Trail on 2021-2-21.  Here's a picture of me and Mark from Orange. 3.  A closer view of the ravine near the ...
Read more