Local hike

Took the mutt for a walk on the old rail bed that used to service the textile mills in the next town over. We were the end of the line from Boston supposedly there is an old turn style that used to turn the locomotives around somewhere I’ve looked a bit but haven’t found it. We explored a couple old stone culverts. Nice and cool on a somewhat muggy day.

 

neat hike!
we have a lot of rails to trails here too.
There is also the remains of a turntable near Manchester, on the Air Line trail.
Interestingly, we have a track in New Haven, that is still the Air Line . . .comes in from Amtrak.

 

We took a quick stroll through the woods before the sun went down. The area we walked through was an old road abandoned in the early 60s when the army corps of engineers took it over to build a flood control system. There are all sorts of ruins of past civilization here. The tree nerd in me had to take a couple pictures of notable trees.
First a large straight white pine that King George would no doubt lay claim to:


Then close by the largest black cherry I’ve ever seen. There were dozens of smaller ones nearby in the old fields that were slowly reverting back to forest.

 

Always cool to stop and admire an old growth tree. The tree nerd in me had to have a pic taken in front of this Eastern white pine at Sturbridge Village last Summer.
Of course in sure there's some PNW members laughing at the size of that "sapling"

 

What do guesstimate the DBH was on the cherry?

 

Boy, I dunno. Maybe 24”? Most of the ones I’ve seen are 18” and under. I’ll have to go back and check to satisfy my own curiosity now.

 

We should make a DBH measuring stick with the FHC logo on it. Cant say what the largest cherry ive seen is. 24" would catch my attention though.

 

Unfortunately even in our area, it is getting harder and harder to find big old growth trees. Some of the really big red cedar stumps of trees logged in the 50s just outside our community still exist though.

 

Hit Mt. Monadnock yesterday. My 5 yo daughter isn’t real keen on hiking yet but she did well and made it to the top. Everybody enjoyed an ice cream cone at Kimballs after.

 

My 9 year old wanted to go for a hike when we got up this morning, so I packed up both my sons and off we went. It’s a blessing to not be hampered by hangovers on January 1st
We started off on a trail we’d been on several times before, but then followed a new one uphill. At some point we wandered off the trail system completely, but pressed on to the top of this ridge. At the top we found a cool little rock outcropping surrounded by pitch pines, overlooking the valley to the south. By then my younger son had enough as you can see. He struggled on and we made it back to the truck unscathed. He’s passed out on the floor now, near the wood stove. Great way to kick off 2024

 

Awesome way to start the new year with the family.

 

Agreed. This was our first bright sunny day in over a week so it was extra special too. I can deal with the cold dark days this time of year but I need some sunshine thrown in once in a while too

 

how awesome!
I made SCA Jr., a walking stick on such hikes, usually with the tools I had on hand. We looked for wild edibles, looked for living critters, ice on rocks etc.
It was a drive for us, but Bolton Notch has some overlooks, and a train tunnel (tracks out of service).
Great place to play an instrument . . .

great memories made friend!

SCA

 

That’s a good idea with the walking sticks.
I actually came across one wild edible today that has been eluding me:
Gaultheria procumbens - Wikipedia
They have a mild minty flavor. I should’ve taken pictures before eating the berries. They’re just this little ground cover plant that’s easily overlooked. Nice to find things to eat this time of year regardless.

 

That is awesome.

I think willow inner bark has the same asprin/salicylate. 1t. steeped is like taking asprin, but with all the buffers built in, so the side effects are very minimized. The worst of it, like any green tea is that too much gives ya the trotts.

 

Haha *that* face when they wanna leave!
Awesome pics of the top!

 

Another ridge overlooking the Naugatuck River Valley. One thing’s for certain: Connecticut is too crowded for me. On the plus side this is getting to be my favorite time of year to be doing this. No bugs, no humidity. Perfect.

 

sweet view. We have one like that in Bolton, not quite as distant but easily as breath-taking. If you look up Valley Falls park, there might be mention of it.
SCA