2022-5-10, Sharon Mountain Preserve, Sharon, CT

 On 2022-5-10, I visited Sharon Mountain Preserve in Sharon, CT.  I made an interactive map of the preserve on which I put location numbers.  Sharon Mountain Preserve is a Sharon Land Trust property.  Here's a link to my interactive map: https://arcg.is/0HGq0X .

Here's a static screenshot of the interactive map.




1.  Where I parked, on the side of Bowne Road.  There was a map kiosk there.

2.  Custom-made aluminum arrow blazes were used throughout.



 3.  I liked the grass.



4.  At intersections where blazes of the same description went in three directions, there were signs.




5.  A nice bog bridge over a combination stream - wetlands.



5.  Unfortunately, the glittering gold specks I saw in the sunlit sand don't show in this picture.



6.  A pretty stream.




7.  A bur from a chestnut tree of some species.  The bur once contained nuts.  The bur is not from an American Chestnut, since American Chestnuts that sprout up from the roots of trees killed around 1912 don't get big enough to have nuts.  My guess is that this is a bur from a Chinese Chestnut tree that was planted in the distant past.



7.  The inside of a bur.



7.  A leaf from the Chestnut tree.  I think Chinese Chestnut leaves are broader than American Chestnut leaves.



7.  I can't be absolutely sure which tree produced the burs, but I think it was this one.



8.  The trail follows Tichnor Road for about 300 feet before turning northerly and going back into the woods.  You could park on Tichnor Road, a quiet, gravel road.  Back in the woods, I noticed that the abundant Japanese Barberry bushes had flowers.  I don't think we can realistically hope to irradicate Japanese Barberry.



10.  The trail that led out to East Street used an old road.



9.  A nice map kiosk.  I thought the grate was a good material to hold signs.



9.  The code takes you to https://sharonlandtrust.org/



9.  I thought I saw a hopyard on the other side of the road.















David Reik

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