On 2021-12-9, 2021-12-16, and 2021-12-17, I visited Pequonnock Valley Wildlife Management Area in Trumbull, CT. I made an interactive map with location numbers. Here's a link to the interactive map: https://arcg.is/bmuWD .
Here's a static screenshot of the northern portion of the interactive map.
Here's a static screenshot of the southern portion of the interactive map.
1. Where I parked on 2021-12-9. This parking is primarily for a bike trail that runs along the west side of the Pequonnock River.
12. The Pequonnock River from a blue-blazed trail.
20. Another view of the Pequonnock River.
23. Out of the picture, higher up the bank, the bike trail runs. The bike trail runs along an abandoned railroad bed. The retaining wall must have been built to protect the railroad bed from slipping into the river.
23.
23. How long did it take water to carve the rock behind me into a curved shape?
About 227 feet northeast of 30. I thought this must have been a quarry at one time.
Between 33 and 34. It looked like the remains of an ancient dam here.
34. Bridge abutments from a long-gone bridge.
31. Here, I was on a red-blazed trail on my way back north. That's route CT-25.
28. A stretch on the red-blazed trail where mountain bikers have made rock-reinforced banked turns.
9. My original plan had been to park in Indian Ledge Park. I saw this sign and decided not to risk it.
2. I went back to Pequonnock Valley Wildlife Area on 2021-12-16. I parked where I saw that people visiting the preserve had parked on 2021-12-9, in a pull-off on the side of Whitney Avenue that could hold maybe three cars. The pull-off was a bit rough.
5. On an unblazed trail that led down to the Pequonnock River.
Near 6. Another view from an unblazed trail
6. An unblazed trail led underneath the overhanging ledge.
16. While walking southerly on the blue trail, I noticed the remains of a bridge that apparently had washed down from a point 440 feet upstream where a track led down from the bike trail to the river.
17. The remains of another bridge, I think. This one must have crossed a near-by tributary to the Pequonnock River.
19. A view of the Pequonnock River from the blue trail. In this view, you can see the fence that runs along the side of the bike trail.
21. The Pequonnock. The sun was hitting my lens.
23. The curved rock again.
34. You can see the remains of an old dam on the other side of the river, I think.
35. There were several old foundations near here, and this old well.
30. I went back northerly on a white-blazed trail. What was this riveted pipe's purpose?
27. Here where the blue trail shared the same path as the white trail, the treadway was on gravel that was about a foot above the surrounding wet ground.
22. Quartzite on the white trail.
18. This bridge appeared to have been built to be crossable on a mountain bike. Maybe the bridge was actually built by mountain bikers.
13. A white oak on the white trail. Note the odd protuberance between the trunks.
11. A large black birch on the white trail. Or is this two black birches?
10. See-saws were common in playgrounds when I was a kid. At some point, maybe in the 1980s, see-saws disappeared from playgrounds, maybe because they are dangerous. This one, with its tire bumpers, and surrounding soft surface, is hopefully safer than the see-saws of my youth.
7. A cliff on an unblazed trail. Was this rock shaped by water?
3. I think this was once a millrace, a canal that brought water from a dam to a waterwheel.
Near 3. The remains of an old dam, I think.
36. On 2021-12-17, I went back to Pequonnock Valley Wildlife Management Area. This time, I parked in a Park and Ride about 900 feet from the southern end of the white trail.
On the white trail near 32. I think this is some species of puff ball. When I poked one of the globes, a smoky mass of spores shot out.
29. My goal was to map the yellow trail. This is one of two signs that blocked off a discontinued trail. I was interested to see that the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection had some involvement with the trails. (I'm assuming that "Connecticut State Parks and Forests" is a division of CT-DEEP.)
Near 28. This ford on the yellow trail was only about thirty feet downstream from a ford on the red trail.
24. Another ford on the yellow trail.
25. On my way back to the Park and Ride, I used the red trail for part of my trip. This sign at the southern end of a side trail read, "BIG DOG CLIMB, RIP Mike 'Bluebird,' 1966-2019." I mapped the side trail.
26. I noticed the rectangular chunks of quartzite (I think) in this gray rock.
Near 31 but on the yellow trail. I think that's a sassafras tree in on the right.
On the yellow trail between 31 and 32. I noticed many sections of trail throughout the preserve where people had paved the trails with flat stones. I wonder if this was done in the distant past.
32. This was on the red trail. At several places in the preserve, I saw large, old mountain laurel plants.
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