2022-2-5, Katan - Ensor Preserve, Granby, CT

On 2022-2-5, I visited Granby Land Trust's Katan - Ensor Preserve, and the two other Granby Land Trust preserves that adjoin the Katan - Ensor Preserve ---- the Schlicht Family Preserve, and the Richard P. Garmany Preserve. Here's the link to the Granby Land Trust map of the area: https://granbylandtrust.org/glt/schlicht-preserve/ . I made an interactive map with location numbers that I will refer to. Here's a link to the interactive map: https://arcg.is/fT5uK0 .

Here's a static screenshot of the interactive map.

1. I parked at the northern end of Strong Road in Granby, CT . There was space for about five cars on gravel (which had been plowed) and maybe five more cars on pavement.

2. On the map kiosk, there was this text:

Charlie Katan and Joan Ensor met, appropriately, through the Outing Club at UConn. Joan, an agriculture major, and Charlie, U.S. veteran and horticulture major, had much in common. When they married in 1958, they moved to this remote parcel of wooded and wild land where they kept horses and cut trails for riding. The Katans did not have children of their own, but they had a profound influence on the lives of many young people, who call this place "Happy Horse Hollow."
Joan taught horseback riding lessons here. Her students adored her. They say she taught them the meaning of hard work and the importance of a job well done and --- most of all --- she taught them to love and respect the natural world.
Charlie was one of three founders of the Granby Land Trust and served on its board for 40 years. He also was chairman of Granby's Inland Wetlands Commission. He had a nuanced understanding of Granby's most sensitive habitats and was eager to protect them. His enthusiasm was best displayed on spring nights, when Charlie would stop traffic, in the wee hours of the morning, to enable salamanders to cross Firetown Road to mate in vernal pools on the other side.
The Katans had long planned to leave their beloved farm to the Granby Land Trust and in 2019, that is exactly what they did. Having nourished and trusted the GLT for almost 50 years, they knew the organization would carry on the conservation values that were so central to their lives. Today, the Land Trust stewards not only the Katans' land --- the Katan - Ensor Preserve, but also their story.
The Katan - Ensor Preserve is the gateway to the GLT's Old Messenger Road Properties. Your hike will take you through the Katan - Ensor Preserve trails, onto the Schlicht Family Preserve and the Richard P. Garmany Preserve. Enjoy the views from the Scarlet Tanager Lookout, see huge glacial erratics and the cascading Mountain Brook, and see the cellar holes and stonewalls that mark the site of the old Messenger Family homestead on Popatunuck Mountain, which dates to the French and Indian War.

2. A stone bench next to the map kiosk.

2. The stone that was used to create the stone bench looked a lot like the stone I picked up somewhere and brought home maybe three months ago.

3. The Granby Land Trust used circular, aluminum nail-on blazes.

4. A short spur trail off the yellow trail led to a section of Moutain Brook which featured a series of cascades.

5. Here is the text on this sign:

MESSENGER FAMILY HOMESTEAD AREA, Established 1750

Nathaniel and Eunice Messenger settled here on Popatunuck Mountain at the time of the French and Indian War. Nathaniel's family was poor and a parcel in mountainous, heavily wooded terrain that was exposed to attack from the west was all Nathaniel could afford when he set out to create his own farm. Nathaniel and Eunice made the most of it and raised a large family here, gradually acquiring and clearing more adjacent land to serve as farms for the next generation.

By the time of the American Revolution, many families had moved to West Granby, but even then, the Messengers remained relatively isolated in Popatunuck's rugged slopes and ledges. The soil was thin, and their plow was no match for the glacial till, so they harvested timber for the building boom going on in other parts of Granby; raised sheep; established apple orchards; and, to the horror of the local Congregationalist minister, distilled cider.

Four generations of Messengers farmed the land here before moving off the mountain in the late 19th Century. The abandoned foundations, roadways, and stone walls here date to a perilous time in the nation's formative years when acquisition of a "competency" (subsistence land for one's family and one's children's families) was critical to a family's future.

A special thank you to Mark Williams, author of "Tempest in a Small Town," for this history.

6. I thought this was the cellar hole of a house.

Near 6. I think this is Hickey's Tree-Clubmoss, Dendrolycopodium hickeyi.

Near 6. Note that the needles on the branch are all about the same length --- that's how we know it's not Dendrolycopodium obscurum.

7. This was about 20 feet from a flat area that the Granby Land Trust map of the area suggested was the location of one of the Messenger homes. I think this is the top of an old well.