2021-12-21, Helen Butler Trail, New Hartford, CT

 On 2021-12-21, I walked the Helen Butler Trail in New Hartford from Black Bridge Road to the confluence of the West Branch and the East Branch of the Farmington River and back.  I made an interactive map with location numbers that I will refer to.  Here's a link to the interactive map: https://arcg.is/1Oqb0K1 .  Here's a static screenshot of the interactive map.


1.  There were unpaved parking pull-offs on both sides of Black Bridge Road, although no trail signage was visible from the road.

2. There was a nice informational kiosk here.



2.  An impressive bench. 



4.  Sometimes, I gather from aerial imagery, this body of water is part of a stream.  This little pond was next to a side trail that led from the main trail down to the river.



5.  At the southern end of a side trail.  We're looking at an island in the West Branch of the Farmington River.



6.  On my way back, I saw a boy fishing from this rock.



9.  A sycamore growing out over the West Branch.



11.  The confluence of the East Branch and the West Branch of the Farmington River.  The East Branch forms the 2.25-mile-long Lake McDonough and the 8.5-mile-long Barkhamsted Reservoir.



10.  An off-trail view of the East Branch.  There seemed to be much more water in the West Branch.



9.  Another view of the Sycamore growing over the West Branch.



8.  The southern half of the Helen Butler Trail was through a thicket of underbrush that had been cleared when I went through.  This is the sort of environment that has to be cut at least monthly in the growing season to not be overgrown.



7.  We're looking at the island in the West Branch.



3.  This concrete structure I think was built as a watering trough.













David Reik

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