Knowing where you are is for chumps

When I am out in the car I like to adventure. I know where I am going, I just like to find new ways to get there. Frequently I have no clue where I am, but it is the adventure that is important. I know where I am going and eventually I get there after seeing new stuff. Well with walking that takes a whole different perspective. I am always interested in seeing new stuff and I want to walk a loop. This usually works out and I get a walk of 5 to 7 miles. But sometimes I am really, really off. Ever since I have lived here I have had the orientation of the green at Thompson ALL wrong, so I took a longer walk than intended because I couldn't find the road I wanted to take back (it was only a 7 mile walk so it ended well). Once in Eastford and Woodstock I wanted to walk a loop I was familiar with, I just failed to remember how long it was. I was forced to go out 4.5 miles and then walk back not completing the loop. Finally there is this, my walk in Chaplin. Ok, I actually didn't set out to walk in Chaplin, I wanted to explore the northwest corner of Hampton. I should have turned around when I saw a sign welcoming me to a "Heart Healthy Community". No, the irony is not lost on me. Well the loop was MUCH bigger than I expected and I had no idea where I was, though I knew I would eventually get back to where I wanted to be. Life is really weird when you think of route 97 as being back to civilization. Imagine my relief when I saw an active road through the trees, finally route 97. But, it was a little TOO active. And it had three lanes......uh, route 97 NEVER has three lanes. I had found the much more active route 6, 4 and a half miles from my car. I had wanted to walk about 8 miles that morning. Well it was 8 miles to route 6. Whoops.

The Airline

On of the trails in Northeast Connecticut is called the Airline. It is the leftovers from an old Boston-New York railroad. The grade on the trail is never more than 3% so it is a rather level walk. Sadly much of this old railroad is all but a swamp. The old road bed near the Audubon Bird Scantuary in Pomfret is a very nice walk. There is a parking place near the intersection of routes 44 and 169. Currently a little info area is being constructed on the west side of the road. the path at this location is an easy and very pleasant walk, though you do have to negotiate the swampy parts. This trail can be as long or as short as you want as these walks are not a circuit but rather out and back. I have highlighted on the map that part of the Airline that starts in Putnam and continues to Hampton. Despite the2 swamp I would rate these sections of the airline as a 2, it is level. The marked path is 10.5 miles long.

Sharon's Bench

Occasionally on a walk I come across a small mystery. This walk is one of them. When I first did a walk like this when I climbed up the hill on Route 169 I found a rough stone bench with "Sharon's Bench" engraved on the front. It turns out that Sharon Sama was the wife of a staff member at Pomfret Prep School and she would wait for the bus carrying her young children at this spot. Sharon died of cancer in her mid-thirties in 2005. You can sit with Sharon after the hard climb up the hill on 169 and perhaps watch the school buses drive by on a sunny afternoon.

The walk starts near the intersection of 97 and 169/44 across the street from the Vanilla Bean Cafe. The route includes 169/44, Grosevenor Rd, Wright's Crossing, Day road, Needle's Eye Rd., and back to route 169/44. It is a 5 mile walk and includes a climb of about 230 ft. For that I would rate this as a 5, the climb is hard since it is only a short part of the walk. Of course a much shorter walk would just be down to the bench and back. The bench itself is made of an attractive local pink granite gneiss.

Ostby Memorial Forest

Frequently on these walks I run across interesting little side walks. Today is a case in point. I was walking Old Route 6 East in Hampton and Brooklyn and came across the Ostby Memorial Forest which is owned by the Eastern Connecticut Forest Landowners Assoc./Wolf Den Land Trust. At the road there is a little post box with a log and maps inside. The trail is about 1 mile loop which since it goes through some wetlands and rugged short hills I will rate it as a 3. The trail is clearly marked by orange spray paint blazes on the trees. Just a reminder about blazes, one mark means the trail more or less goes straight ahead, two marks means look for a change (corner or two paths with one being the recommended path, etc.). The Map indicates that there are old foundations, wells and an interesting stone bridge. All of these I found. The map also marks a potential sawmill site, but I am not sure of that (and neither was the map maker). The map has a nice story about the property's transfer to the trust in 1999. The path goes out to Sarah Pearl Road and you must be careful to look for the entrance back into the forest. Again this would be a very pleasant and short walk on a hot sunny summer day. If you take this walk or its companion walk near the Golden Lamb think about a small donation to the trust. Their address is on the map.

Old Route 6 can be found next to the Post Office in Hampton which is on Route 97.

The new covered bridge in Brooklyn, CT

Sometimes while on a larger walk I will make a "discovery" which can be part of a smaller walk. Near the Golden Lamb Restaurant in Brooklyn is a new covered bridge. The bridge, which is all but complete is a very attractive covered bridge. To get to this path you travel south from Pomfret on Route 169 toward Brooklyn. Near the top of the hill is an orchard and farm stand, about 1/2 mile south of the farm stand (.56 miles) on the right is a road that leads to the Golden Lamb (it is marked with a sign for the eatery). Drive down this road until you get to the "T" where the Golden Lamb is, take a left hand turn and drive to the bottom of the hill. Park well off the road. The path show is a 1.5 mile circuit and has a mild up hill near Fitzgerald Rd (which the bridge is on). For the uphill I will give it a 2. I call this type of circuit and inner loop as there are no roads through it. If you are going counter-clockwise after the initial "rat-tail" take every left turn. It is a nice neighborhood with some interesting homes and properties. It is shaded and ideal for a hot/sunny day. Stop and enjoy the bridge, it has a certain New England charm that is well worth the time.

Killingly River Walk

The Killingly River Walk is longer than the Putnam River Walk (see below). This walk starts at the parking lot near the Greek Orthadox Church on route 6 in Danielson. For a round trip it is about 5.3 miles. Again it is fairly flat with the return trip being somewhat uphill. For that I am going to rate it as a 3, but just barely. This walk can be shortened by simply turning around. Both walks are very nice, the Killingly walk is more shaded (and away from trafic) and great for hot sunny days. The Putnam walk is good for almost any day.

Putnam River Walk

The first walks, and amoung the first I ever took is the Putnam, CT River Walk. The walk is about 2.3 miles if you walk "up and back". I would park at the lot near the foot bridge across the river. Currently the walk is being extended down to the farmers market. On your walk you could finish up by walking down to the farmers market and buying fresh produce.

A little about me

Two years ago I weighed in at 365 lbs and was frankly dieing (by bad habits and a car running head on into my car the previous fall). Starting in October I started to exercise, mostly walking. In the process I have lost over 190 lbs and seeing the world on foot has become one of two passions (the other, ironically, is bread baking). If you see the grey-haired bearded guy with "ski poles" in NE Connecticut honk and wave. Better yet, join me.

Walking Northeast Connecticut

This blog is about seeing Northeast Connecticut by mostly non-motorized means. It is also a personal log of the walks that I have taken. Many of the walks are along roadways, so anyone traveling them needs to be careful of traffic. The law for walking is on the far left (against the trafic) and for bikes it is the normal rules of the road. I will grade all of these walks by distance and a difficulty rating of 1-10 with 1 being flat and smooth and 10.....well climbing Mt. Manadnock in New Hampshire is a 9. Distance is not included in the difficulty. I will be happy to take any walk with anybody at their pace (anything less than 4 miles/hour) for any distance less than 10 miles.

I will also include walks in other parts of the country as I walk them. This summer I hopefully will get out to the Grand Canyon and I am already scheduled to go to New Mexico, where I hope to walk the Quamazon Trail (3000 foot vertical climb over 8 miles, starting at 7500 ft.)

Also another hobby I have taken up is bread baking, and I will occasionally talk about that, you can, of course, ignore those.

David