David Reik, Photo Blog

 On 2021-7-22, I walked the blue-orange trail in Bigelow Hollow State Park and Nipmuck State Forest in Union, CT, and Sturbridge, Massachusetts.  I made an interactive map with location numbers that I'll refer to.  Here's a link to the interactive map:  https://arcg.is/qn5Tb  .  Here's a static screenshot of the Connecticut Forest and Park Association online map with my GPS track overlaid on the map in pink and my location numbers shown with yellow icons: 1.  I parked near 1, walked maybe fifty feet on a white-blazed trail and then turned onto a blazed with blue-orange blazes.  Here's a picture I took of one of the blue-orange blazes at Location 1: 2.  One of many places on the blue-orange trail where there were evidence that someone had recently cut back the mountain laurel. 3.  One of the few fallen trees that I saw on the blue-orange trail on 2021-7-22. 4.  Another spot on the blue-orange trail where there was evidence of recent trail widening achieved by cutting bac

 Someone on the Avon Land Trust Facebook page has been posting notices that they have been doing some clearing at Oakes Preserve, an Avon Land Trust property.  I visited Oakes Preserve on 2021-7-21.  The preserve is accessed from an extension of Chidsey Road that looks like a driveway.  I made an interactive map with location numbers that I'll refer to.  Here's a link to the interactive map:  https://arcg.is/0TXrKW  .  Here's a static screenshot of the interactive map. Here's another screenshot of the interactive map which shows how you drive in to Oaks Preserve from Waterville Road, CT-10. 1.  This photo shows the parking area with the gazebo that was installed by Avon Land Trust. 1.  A sign on the gazebo.  The QR code takes you to  http://avonlandtrust.org/  .  There you can find a map of Oakes Preserve which suggests that, a one time, there was more trail length that I was able to find on 2021-7-21.   Here's the Avon Land Trust Oakes Preserve map: 1.  A view of a

 On 2021-7-18, I hiked a route starting and ending at the turning circle at the end of the residential road known as Panthorn Trail in Southington.  There were temporary "No Parking" signs on the northeast side of the turning circle but they did not seem to apply to the whole circle.  I'll put in two screenshots I made with screenshots of the Connecticut Forest and Park Association online map.   The numbers are location numbers.  All the trails I walked on are cared for by the Connecticut Forest and Park Association.  CFPA likes to know about any trail-maintenance issues, so I took pictures of fallen trees (blow-downs) on the trails, of some overgrown spots and of places where crossing Cussgutter Brook was a challenge.  I took pictures of other views that interested me. The southern part of my route. The northern part of my route. 1.  A blow-down on the blue-red trail that takes hikers from Panthorn Trail to the blue-yellow trail. 2.  It had rained intensely the night bef