2021-4-6, American Legion State Forest, Barkhamsted, CT

 On 2021-4-6, I went back to the American Legion State Forest in Barkhamsted.  Here's a link to an interactive map that shows location numbers that I will refer to: https://arcg.is/1Wmq1f .  I'll put in a static screenshot of the interactive map.


I walked up Legion Road, over the beaver dam to the end of Legion Road and onto a path going westerly.  I went back to the mill ruins that I had recently visited.  

1.  Mill Ruins.  Below is a detail map I made of the mill ruins.  The rectangle to the southwest of the mill ruins is what I thought were the remains of a low dam.  I thought there may have been a wooden trough that took water from the dam, over the top of the mill, to a waterwheel.



1.  At the top of the waterfall.



1.  Looking at the dam remains from the eastern end of the remains.


1.  Looking easterly from the western end of the dam remains.


1.  Looking to the northeast down towards the mill ruins from where the eastern end of where the dam may have once been.


1.  The camera is looking southwesterly towards the mill ruins and the waterfall.


1.  Again, looking southwesterly towards the mill ruins and the waterfall.


2.   One of several beaver ponds near here.   I found, on my way back, that I was on property whose owner has posted No Trespassing.


2.



3.  I walked back down Legion Road, through what used to be Camp White Civilian, a Conservation Corp camp, past a pump and onto the Henry Buck Trail.  I am not sure what the plant is that is pictured here, but I think it may be red elder, Sambucus racemosa.


3.


3.  This plant was next to the plant in the last two pictures.  It looks like it's the same species.


3.


3.


4.  Someone speculated that boxes for cheese may have been manufactured at the mill that was once here.  Again, I think the water that powered the waterwheel must have come from a dam in an elevated wooden trough.  There are dam remains 270 feet to the northwest of the mill ruins.


5.  No picture, the location of the dam remains.

6.  It's a little scary walking along this side-hilled section of the Henry Buck Trail.


7.  It looked like you could swim from here.


7.  I tried online, unsuccessfully, to find what longitude and latitude the U.S. Geological Survey has assigned to this benchmark which was embedded in the rock I am standing on in the picture.


3.  On way back to where I parked, as I was leaving the Henry Buck Trail, I noticed this small flowering plant.  I think it's Carolina Spring-Beauty, Claytonia caroliniana.


3.


3.



3.


8.  There is a youth-group camping area here now.











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