2022-6-30, Compounce Ridge Trail, Bristol, Southington, CT

 On 2022-6-30, I hiked a section of the Tunxis Compounce Ridge Trail, starting at the northern end of the trail.  Except for the road section, I hiked the entire section to the intersection with the Compounce Cascade Trail.  This section of the trail appeared to have been neglected for a few years.

I made an interactive map with location numbers showing where the pictures below were taken.  Here's a link to the interactive map: https://arcg.is/9maXb .  Here's a static screenshot of the interactive map.



1.  I parked in a commuter parking lot.  This is looking back at the parking lot along the trail through a stand of mugwort.



Near 1.  I found a lot of poison ivy at various places along the trail I hiked.



Near 1.  I crawled under this blow-down. 



2.  A blow-down.



3.  A blow-down.



4.  Overgrown.



Near 4.  A blow-down.



5.  Multi-flora rose growing in the trail.



Near 5.  A very overgrown section.



Near 5.  A lot of poison ivy on the trail.



Near 6.  This was in a power cut where the trail left the gravel area (where I saw no blazes) and entered a stand of mugwort and other vegetation and climbed a steep slope with some stone steps.



6.  Into another overgrown section.



8.  Blow-downs.



Near 8.  Blow-downs.



9.  A blow-down.



10.  A blow-down.



11.  A blow-down.



12.  A blow-down.



Near 12.  Another overgrown power cut crossing.  Or was it a gas-line cut?



13.  Multiple blow-downs.



14.  Blow-downs.



Near 14.  This section of the trail through ferns indicated that this section of the trail has been getting very little traffic.



15.  Here, the trail followed an ATV trail.



16.  A dot-less blaze on the ATV trail.



17.  This section of the trail followed a recently improved track that had been used for a timber cut.  I saw no blazes on the recently improved section.



19.  No blazes near the gate.



20.  I walked along Glenn Street until I came to a blaze.



19.  A nice, old sugar maple.



18.  A blaze here.



17.  A rock with a metallic sheen.



17.  An intersection where I could see blazes in neither direction.



22.  A blow-down where the Compounce Ridge Trail crossed Cussgutter Brook.



21.  Near where the trail leaves Lake Avenue.



21.  No blazes visible at the turn from Lake Avenue into the woods.



Near 21.  Poison ivy encroaching on the trail.



7.  A blow-down I recorded on my way back to the commuter parking lot.


Update:  On 2022-10-9, Dan Casey and his crew did maintenance working westerly from Glenn Street.  They got to 15.  On 2022-10-16, Dan Casey and his crew, including Tom Burkholder doing blow-down cutting, started at the Aldi Park and Ride and got as between 9 and 10, where the trail turns from northwest to southwest.












David Reik

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