David Reik, Photo Blog

On 2021-12-28, I visited Witek Park in Derby, and the adjoining land in Ansonia.  I made an interactive map with location numbers.  Here's a link to the interactive map:  https://arcg.is/1m15W40  . 1.  I parked in a gravel lot on the side of Sentinel Hill Road.  A closed gate blocked a road to a set of parking areas for playing fields.  I walked up the road to the playing fields and then turned onto a gravel road to a kayak and canoe launch.  Signs said you needed a permit to launch kayaks or canoes there.  I went northerly on a path.   3.  After a few hundred feet, spray-painted red stripes appeared along the trail.  This "Merlin's Point" sign was on a rise on the trail with the red stripes. 4.  This looked like a valve that used to stop water from flowing through a canon-like pipe. 5.  A side trail off the trail with the red stripes led to Ansonia High School. 7.  A nicely constructed stone wall.  My guess is that this (and a similar stone wall to the north) is a po

 I went back to the Avon Old Farms School area on 2021-12-26.  I produced a new version of my interactive map with location numbers for the spots I'll refer to in this post.  I added more trails.  Here's a link to the revised interactive map:  https://arcg.is/1e4rXe0  .  Here's a static screenshot of the interactive map. 1.  As I did on 2021-12-24, I parked in the town of Avon parking lot on Tillotson Road. 2.  Back at the culvert that took Thompson Brook under the New Haven - Northampton canal. 3.  Another pitch pine. 4.  A larger pitch pine. 4.  The pitch pine didn't have a lot of needles, but it did have some. Near 4.  Both Avon Old Farms School and Winding Trails had many no trespassing signs. 5.  On a trail that touched on Thompson Brook. 6.  Part of an old motor of some kind next to a trail. 7.  This must be a swimming pond for Avon Old Farms School.  It's a dammed-up section of Thompson Brook. 8.  I didn't have time to do the yellow-trail circuit which go

 On 2021-12-24, I visited part of the Avon Old Farms School property, and the Farmington River.  I crossed the route of the New Haven - Northampton canal on the way to, and the way back from, the Avon Old Farms School property.  I made an interactive map of the area I walked in.  I put location numbers on the interactive map that I will refer to.  The Avon Old Farms School paths are not on Open Street Map, which I used for my background map.  I drew in the paths I walked on.  The dotted lines are narrow paths, and dashed lines are wider paths.  The Avon Old Farms School property is posted "No Trespassing."  Here's a link to my interactive map:  https://arcg.is/1Civ5X0  .  Below is a static screenshot of the interactive map. 1.  Where I parked in a town-of-Avon un-plowed-but-flat parking lot.   2.  This is where I crossed the route of the New Haven-to-Northampton canal which has not been used since about 1848.  In the foreground is a stone culvert that brought a stream und