Simsbury - Cathles Trail

Date Hiked:  Thursday, May 24, 2012
Number in Group:  11
Estimated distance round-trip:  1.2 miles
Weather:  Overcast, humid, 78°F
Highlights of the trip:  Waterfall, expansive views

This hike is in what the Simsbury Land Trust Walkbook calls the Western Highlands.   The Cathles Trail can be done as either an extension of a hike on the Hedgehog Trail or as a separate hike starting at the end of North Saddle Ridge Drive.  We decided to do it as a hike separate from Hedgehog. 

Before we even got into the woods, one of the kids spotted a millipede.  We took a few moments to observe and take pictures.  We needn't have worried about missing the opportunity.  We saw millipedes all along the trail.

One of many millipedes found along the trail.

A short walk along the white-blazed trail led us to this pretty little waterfall.

We started climbing the trail through the talus until we reached the bridge over the stream.  Immediately on the other side of the bridge is a jumble of rocks that forms a small cave.  The kids climbed around on this while they waited for us to decide in which direction to go.  According to a map located at the bridge, the white trail continues to the west where it connects with the blue-blazed trail.  The red-blazed trail follows the ridge line to the south along the Hedgehog Trail or to the north along the Cathles Trail.  We decided to stick with the Cathles today, so we crossed the bridge and continued north.  We will come back at some point in the future and do Hedgehog.

The cave.

The red trail wound it's way up the slope and along the ridge.  Some of the area here reminded me of Maine, with bare rocks and lots of blueberry bushes.

Cathles Trail.

Along this red-blazed trail, we had a little discussion about blazes.  In general, the trail is marked with a single vertical blaze.  When there is a turn, there will be two blazes offset from each other, with the top blaze indicating the direction to take.  For example, if the top blaze is set to the right of the bottom blaze, the trail will turn to the right.  Then we came to a double blaze where the blazes were not offset, they were aligned vertically.  I thought that this might mean the end of the trail, even though it seemed to continue and we did find blazes further on.  When we got back, I did a little research on the meaning of the blazes.  Some websites indicated that the vertically aligned blazes could mean caution and others indicated that you needed to look for a turn.  Here is a little chart I found that summarizes what the various blaze markings mean:

From the Finger Lakes Trail Conference website.

Along the ridge, we saw quite a few different wildflowers.  If you can identify them, leave a comment and I will add the appropriate caption.

Pink Corydalis

Lady slipper.

The views from the lookouts were quite impressive.  We could see well to the north, past the Barndoor Hills in Granby, and east to the Metacomet Ridge and beyond.

Barndoor Hills in Granby.  What is in the distance on the far left?

Looking east across the Farmington Valley to the Metacomet Ridge.

When we got to what we assumed was the final lookout, we turned around.  While the Walkbook indicates that the red trail linked up with the blue trail on the west side of the ridge, some of the other maps indicate that the trail just ends.  There did seem to be a narrow trail heading into the woods, but we decided to turn back.  An adventure for another day, perhaps.  

This was a great hike and much less strenuous than I feared.  The Western Highlands offer tremendous views of the valley and a hike along the Hedgehog Trail is in our plans for the future.

East Granby - Cowles Park to Tariffville Gorge

Date Hiked:  Friday, May 18, 2012
Number in Group:  8
Estimated distance round-trip:  2 miles
Weather:  Absolutely perfect!  Sunny, 74°.
Highlights of the trip:  The Farmington River as it runs through the gorge.

I think we need to do this hike again.  I'll get to the reason why in a minute.

I could not find a trail map for this hike on-line.  I did find a map someone made using their GPS and planned on using that as a guide.  When we got to the park, there were some copies of a hand drawn map in the box at the trail head.  Trying to mash these two sources together, we headed north on the yellow trail, looped around to the south and after a little bit connected to the orange trail.

Our walk through Cowles Park itself was a nice enough, although unremarkable.  The trail was relatively flat, with several side trails that led to places unknown.  We followed the orange trail until we came to Tunxis Avenue.  The river was on the other side of the road.

A map I drew to show how to get from Cowles Park 

to the Metacomet Ridge overlooking Tariffville Gorge.

When we got to the Farmington River (outside Cowles Park boundaries), we followed a trail upriver a bit until we got to an area that looked like an old dam.  The water flow was pretty impressive, but I am sure it was nothing to what it could be during the spring thaw.  While we were there, two kayakers came through the rapids.

What looks to be part of an old dam.

Kayakers coming through the rapids.

Back up on Tunxis Avenue, we had the choice of returning the way we had come or completing the orange loop by walking down Tunxis Avenue toward Route 187.  Since we had already been out for awhile and the map indicated a steep, rocky area if we completed the loop, we decided to simply return the way we had come.  (This turned out to be a good idea - see below).

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Now to the reason we need to do this again.  If you look at the GPS map that I mentioned above, you will see that there are pictures that are synced up to the trail they took.  In some of those pictures, they are well above the river and have expansive views to the west with the Barndoor Hills in Granby clearly visible.  We did not get to this place.  I was kicking myself, because if I had more carefully studied their map before I left the house, it would have been obvious.

On Saturday, I decided to return to the park with a friend to figure out how to get to the Metacomet Trail.  It really wasn't that difficult, especially after running into my mailman on the trail in Cowles Park and getting a few instructions.  So here is what we did, so we know for next time:

We took the yellow trail as we did yesterday.  Where it meets up with the orange trail there is a bench.  A trail leads off to the right, behind the bench.  You cross over a small stream on a wooden bridge, start to climb a little hill until you come to the power lines (lots of clearing done here).  Cross the power lines and keep climbing until you reach the blue blazed Metacomet Trail.  Turn left and before too long, you will come to a path that goes off to the right (somebody has spray painted arrows on the rocks).  This leads you to an overlook where you can see the gorge, Tariffville, and the Barndoor Hills.  At this point, we became a little confused because there seemed to be blue blazes everywhere.  Do you stay close to the ridge and hope there is a way down, or go back to the area of trail  that you left?  We kind of took the middle road and kept losing and picking up a/the trail.  No matter.  We made it down to Tunxis Avenue eventually.  From there, we walked north along the road until it dead-ended (there used to be a bridge across the river, which I assume came down in the flood of '55).  Here, we were able to get close to the water and see the gates that are used in the kayak competitions. There were also several kayakers practicing their rolls.

(Note: At the end of the road, there was a red trail that went north under the area where the lookout was.  Does this trail climb up to the ridge?)

We returned to Tunxis Avenue and walked south. Yesterday, we had returned on the orange trail the way we had come.  My friend was willing to be adventurous, so we decided to complete the orange loop.  We continued down Tunxis toward 187 looking for a trail marker to lead us back into Cowles Park.  We saw a metal signpost with the top painted orange, but when we looked up the slope, there just didn't seem to be any clear trail.  We continued, but quickly got to 187.  There was a trail that seemed to go up here, but it essentially took you up to the highway.  I think the trail is at the orange-painted post, but it wasn't that clear, so we returned to the trail I had taken yesterday.

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I think we need to revisit this hike on a clear, crisp day this fall.

West Granby - Enders State Forest

Date Hiked:  Friday, May 11, 2012
Number in Group:  7
Estimated distance round-trip:  < 1 mi.
Weather:  Absolutely perfect!  Sunny, 68°F with a breeze that kept away the bugs!

The rain over the past few days made for good flow over the waterfalls.  From what I have read, there are six waterfalls, numbered 1-6 from top to bottom.  I think we saw all of them, but I can not tell you which is which.

Photo credit for picture 1 and 5:  Billy

North Granby - Mary Edwards Mountain Property

Date Hiked:  Thursday, May 3, 2012
Number in Group:  3
Estimated distance round-trip: 1.5 mile loop
Weather:  54°F, misty and overcast
Websites: Granby Land Trust's Mary Edwards' Mountain Property Trail Guide & Map

There were only a few of us for this hike and the weather didn't allow for views of Springfield, but it was still a pleasant hike along Ring Brook.

Ring Brook.

Red eft, the juvenile stage of the eastern newt.