2021-12-15, Prospect Mountain Preserve, Litchfield, CT

 On 2021-12-15, I visited Prospect Mountain Preserve in Litchfield, CT.  Prospect Mountain Preserve is a Litchfield Land Trust property.  I made an interactive map with location numbers that I will refer to.  Here's a link to the interactive map: https://arcg.is/0W59yT0

 .Here's a static screenshot of the interactive map.


1.  I parked on a gravel pull-off on the side of Cathole Road.  Maybe five cars could park there.

2.  I followed a blue trail to a yellow trail to a junction with a new yellow-red trail.



4.  The yellow-red trail led to this large, new parking lot.  There was a sign at the entrance (on Prospect Mountain Road) that read, "Trail Parking."



3.  On my way back to the yellow trail, I noticed this large sugar maple.



6.  A water-filled mine shaft.



5.  Another water-filled mine shaft.  Who knows how deep these shafts are?



7.  A yellow birch apparently fell over but kept growing.



8.  A view to the north from the yellow trail.




8.  A view to the west from the yellow trail.



9.  This group of large, old sugar maples (I think) was labeled "Gagarin Grove" on a sign.



9.  A few of these blueberry plants had been planted above the grove.



9.



9.  A close-up of one of the blueberry plants.



9.  Another close-up of a blueberry plant.



10.  There was a pull-off for parking on Prospect Moutain Road near this posted map.  You can get a clear copy of this map at http://www.etrailhead.net/trails/58 .  Maybe three cars could park in the pull-off, but probably more could park along the quiet road.



Near 10.  This used to be a mine opening, according to the map above.  Maybe it was filled in at some time.



11.  A view of Granniss Pond, the pond that a red-blazed trail went around.  One of many large hemlock trees that exist in the area appears in the foreground.  You might be able to make out two beaver lodges in this picure.  The pond had a think covering of ice on 2021-12-15.



12.  Two large sugar maples near the red trail.



13.  The entrance to a mine.



13.  The mine had been cleaned out since I was last here a few years ago.



14.  A view to the southwest from the blue trail.



15.  A water-filled horizontal mine.  Maybe someone could bring an inflatable boat and explore inside the mine.  Is the green color from copper in the water?



16.  There seemed to have been a lot of recent trail maintenance in the preserve, but, here, the blue trail was more narrow than those trying to avoid ticks would like.














David Reik

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