Blue Loop - Pink Trail - Firetown Trail - South Trail - Horse Trail
*No ants were harmed, I promise!
Happy Trails,
~Molasses~
Blue Loop - Pink Trail - Firetown Trail - South Trail - Horse Trail 06/19/2011 8.5 Miles The first thing we ran into on our hike was the Trout pond, and on the bank of the man-made pond sits my house. Alright, alright, so it's not really my house, it was Senator George P. McLean's house until he gave it, and the land, to the towns of Simsbury and Granby. Although, as I told my husband, if he'd build me this tiny little cabin somewhere in Northern Maine, on the banks of my own pond, or lake, or even river, I'd be one happy girl spending many weeks there in the summer. :) As we continued on our hike we eventually met up with the pink trail. A little ways down the trail we were supposed to run into a Summit Trail that takes you to a 580 foot summit in the Barndoor Hills. Unfortunately, the trail we later learned was the summit trail, was un-blazed. Surprisingly enough, Sidetrack didn't seem to feel inclined to run off and explore this unmarked trail, so we continued on. We eventually ran across an old piece of farm machinery. Now there was something worth exploring. We stopped and I took off my pack, hanging it up on a nearby tree, while Sidetrack fished out his camera and began to take a number of pictures. The machinery appeared to be an old Hay Baler. Pretty cool piece of machinery. This refuge was, at one time, 3,200 acres of Farm and Wild Land. While Sidetrack photographed the machinery I decided my backpack looked photogenic as well hanging from the tree. I was hoping the picture might come in useful somewhere in the hiking web-page I'm putting together. Yupp, no bridge at brook crossing. We hiked on, eventually crossing Simsbury Road, and heading down the "Firetown Trail". As we turned onto the blue-blazed "South Trail" we saw a sign that said "No Bridge Over Brook". Okay, no big deal, we reach bridge-less brook crossings and survive all the time. As we approached the brook we quickly understood why this warning was relevant enough to have a sign. This brook was deep enough that crossing with anything but high boots, and gaitors was going to mean wet feet. Wouldn't you know it, this was the first time in a long time that we hadn't bothered to bring our gaitors with us. *sigh* If we couldn't find a shallow crossing spot we'd have to remove our boots and go barefoot across. Sidetrack took off down the edge of the brook and after a minute or so he called back that he'd found a spot he thought we could cross without removing our boots. We made it safely across the brook, I ended up with only one wet ankle. We then decided we should stop for a lunch break. We sat on the edge of the brook and enjoyed our snacks while I flicked carpenter ants into the brook when they had the nerve to crawl up onto my backpack. It was entertaining to watch them swim to shore, then climb back up, then they'd climb back onto my pack and I'd send them for another swim. :) I think I could have done that all day.* :) As we sat there I also spotted, on the other side of the brook, some insects that looked like dragonflies, but had wings that flapped like a butterfly. I found myself confused, but as I pulled out my cell phone to look up what they were I found that I had absolutely no cell signal. I made a mental note to look them up when we got somewhere with signal. *No ants were harmed, I promise! Cute little mushroom. (Photo by Ahren aka Sidetrack) The rest of the hike was more or less uneventful. This isn't the kind of place you go if you're looking for sweeping views of the countryside. However, it is the kind of place you should go if you like pine forest, it seemed that most of the day we were walking in pine forest. It's also the kind of place you go if you like wetlands, we saw quite a number of ferns and a few swampy, marshy area's. It was also surprisingly peaceful for being in such a populated area. The only exception being that it is right in the flight path of Bradley International Airport, though I only recall hearing 2 or 3 planes during the 7 hours we spent there. As we met up with Bissell Brook again along the horse trail we saw those strange insects again, the ones that looked like dragonflies with flapping wings. Only this time they were on our side of the brook, so we got a better look at them. And this time I also had cell phone signal so I was able to learn that they were Damselflies. I'd heard of Damselflies, but never really knew what they were, and had obviously never seen them. They are gorgeous! We spent a lot of time watching the Damselflies (at least half an hour) before finishing our hike. It ended up being a really nice day. This is a very nice place to hike, I recommend it.
Happy Trails, ~Molasses~
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Please Note: This blog is NOT intended to be used as a trail guide. Please visit the CFPA Website for an interactive trail map or to pick up a CT Walk Book in their bookstore.
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