2022-4-6, Upper Pine Brook Preserve, East Hampton, CT

 On 2022-4-6, I visited Upper Pine Brook Preserve, in East Hampton, CT.  The preserve is owned and maintained by the Middlesex Land Trust, https://middlesexlandtrust.org/

I made an interactive map of the preserve with location numbers.  Here's a link to the interactive map: https://arcg.is/vyOrS .  Here's a static screenshot of the interactive map.


1.  I parked on the grassy shoulder of Chestnut Hill Road.

1.  A Middlesex Land Trust map kiosk.



2.  The trail was well-blazed, but hadn't been recently cleared when I visited.



3.  Another one of the many blow-downs on the orange-blazed trail.  There were many other blow-downs, but the abundant, clear blazes made following the trail not too difficult.



4.  A view of the stream that the orange-blazed trail travels along.  The stream flows into Pine Brook.  Maybe this stream is called Upper Pine Brook.



5.  Why was this tall stone wall built along the stream?



5.  Green False Hellebore, Veratrum viride, growing on the side of the brook.



5.  Green False Hellebore.



5.  Something took a few bites of the Green False Hellebore.



5.  Looking upstream from where a road crossed the stream at one time.













David Reik

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2022-6-5, Metacomet Trail, East Granby, CT.

Image
On 2022-6-5, I hiked a section of the Metacomet Trail in East Granby, from CT-189 to Holcomb Street. I made an interactive map of my route --- my GPS track is shown in pink.  I put in location numbers to show where the pictures below were taken.  Here is a screenshot of the southern part of the map. Here's a screenshot of the northern part of the map. Here's a link to the interactive map, where you can zoom in and out, and turn on and off various layers. https://arcg.is/1aDPiq 4.  The view of Tariffville Gorge. 6.  I don't think there was ever a structure connected with this chimney. 8.  A large Striped Maple leaf. 9.  Carolina Rose (Rosa carolina), I think.  A wild native rose. 11.  Evidence of some recent mowing of plants in the sunlit power cut. 12.  The first blow-down I came to.  This was about 100 feet south of the cemetery. 12.  The cemetery.  As I recall, the three grave stones are reproductions of the original grave stones which are now embedded in the foundation o
Read more

2022-6-3, Lake Compounce Area Trails, Southington, CT

Image
 On 2022-6-3, I hiked a loop on various Lake Compounce-area trails in the Tunxis Trail family of trails.  I made an interactive map with location numbers to show where the pictures that appear below were taken.  Here's a screenshot of the southern part of the interactive map. Here's a screenshot of the northern part of the interactive map. Here's a link to the interactive map:  https://arcg.is/0eO88G  . 3.  I wasn't going to record blow-downs, but I came to this big, double blow-down on the blue-red Steep Climb Trail and changed my mind. 4.  Now, we're on the blue-yellow Compounce Ridge Trail. 5.  Somebody cut this blow-down on the blue-yellow Compounce Ridge Trail but wasn't able to complete the job. 5.  Another blow-down on the Compounce Ridge Trail. 6.  It used to be that the best view on the Compounce trails was at Julian's Rock, but the trees below Julian's Rock have grown, and now I think the best view is from a point near where the chair lift used
Read more

2020-8-2, Highlawn Forest, Middletown, CT

Image
On 2020-8-2, I re-visited Highlawn Forest in Middletown.  Highlawn Forest is a preserve managed by the Connecticut Forest and Park Association.   I made an interactive map showing where locations I will refer to here.  You can zoom in and out, pan around, and turn off and on various layers including LIDAR, contour lines, aerial imagery, and my GPS Waypoints and GPS track.  Here's a link to the map: http://arcg.is/1yCzTf0 Here's a static screenshot of the interactive map. 1.  I turned from the Blue Trail to a network of unblazed trails.  Too bad this is not a three-dimensional picture --- you can't see here that this was a hole.  Was the hole the work of man? 2.  At first I thought that this trail, which is raised above the surrounding ground because dirt and gravel have been laboriously deposited, was the work of the Connecticut Forest and Park Association, but it seems that neighbors have constructed this raised trail and many other features along the unblazed trails. 3. 
Read more