Posted By auntie on January 4, 2017

Unlike me, I find a lot of folks prefer to hike with others. That’s fine, and sometimes I do, too. I had a question from a reader recently who asked where they could find other people or groups to hike with, so I thought I’d share my answer with all of you guys.

On the North-South Trail with the Providence County Hiking Club

I’m assuming you’re all local, but if not, a lot of this probably still applies. Here are a few of my suggestions:

• Facebook.com—Search for hiking groups here. That’s how I met a lot of the folks I hike with now.
• meetup.com—This is an excellent resource for finding hiking groups. I also find it’s a great way to find new places to hike. And it’s free.
• Appalachian Mountain Club—This will cost you a yearly membership fee, but it’s so worth it. I get newsletters from both the AMC Narragansett Chapter in Rhode Island, and the AMC Connecticut Chapter, and there are TONS of group hikes planned every month.
• Various Land Trusts—I know for sure that the Westerly Land Trust hosts weekly guided hikes. Joshua’s Trust in Connecticut does guided hikes as well. There may be other land trusts in the area that do something like that also. You can always just google “[insert town name] Land Trust” to find websites.
• Avalonia Land Conservancy—Membership is only $25 and includes a quarterly newsletter with guided hike listings in southeastern Connecticut.

Guided Avalonia Hike on Babcock Ridge in North Stonington

• Rhode Island Wild Plant Society—Every month from April to October, this group hosts what they call “First Thursday Botanizing Walks.” Fun, free, and informative, and you don’t need to be a member. Sign up on their website.
• The Connecticut Botanical Society—Again, a ton of free guided walks and trips where you can learn about native plants.
• The Connecticut Forest & Park Association—These are the folks who created and maintain the 800+ miles of blue-blazed hiking trails in the state. They offer a wealth of group hiking activities.
• Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center—This organization in Mystic, CT, also hosts guided hikes. They are generally very reasonably priced, usually $10 for non-members, with members getting a further discount.
• The Nature Conservancy—This group also hosts guided walks and hikes. Check their state-level websites for more information.
• Audubon Society of [insert state name here]—The Connecticut Audubon Society has tons of events scheduled, even for January. They cost a very reasonable $3 for non-members, and are free to members.
• In Massachusetts, I’ve joined up with activities run by the Trustees of the Reservations.

“Tri-Town Hike” With the Trustees of the Reservations

Of course, a lot of the above activity may be less frequent this time of year.

First Day Connecticut with the CT DEEP at Osborndale SP

Ultimately, by joining up with one or more of these group hikes, you’re certain to make friends and find compatible hiking partners. Hope this helps.

With the “Take-A-Hike!” FB Group in Arcadia

Photo Credits: North-South Trail Hike by Kristen Chapian; Take-A-Hike by Patti Scotti Hanson.

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Posted By auntie on January 1, 2017

3.12 miles; Derby, CT

Today was the First Day Hike/Walking Stick Drawing sponsored by the CT DEEP and the Sky’s the Limit Challenge. It was a decent little hike—a bracing number of ups-and-downs and some nice views for such a suburban park. However, no walking sticks. There were 50 being given away, but 164 entries. BOOOO! The good news is that they’re doing the challenge again in 2017; the announcement will be made on February 2nd. We’ll get those sticks yet…

Another Group Hike

It was a clear winter day, no snow anywhere to be seen, with temps in the mid-40s. One hundred and thirty-three hikers headed out from the Kellogg Environmental Center across the street from the park. Surprisingly, I did not end up at the end of the crowd.

History

This was, apparently, some sort of historic house site, but with a group of 133 people strung out along the trail, it was impossible to hear the leader’s explanation.

Pretty Picnic Pavilion

It’s hard to see in this photo, but this picnic pavilion was at the top of a high hill with a fairly decent view.

Post Hike Drawing

Here is a shot of the Walking Stick Drawing. Yeah, Stacy’s and my little slips of paper wound up still in the box at the end… sigh.

Track (click for details)

Click the above image for details of our track, and to download the gpx file. Trailhead: 500 Hawthorne Ave., Derby, CT. You can get a map of this park at the CT DEEP website.

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Posted By auntie on December 31, 2016

6.5 miles; West Greenwich, RI

The weather for this final day of 2016 was too kind not to take an opportunity for a long hike. I decided on the Coney Brook Trail at Tillinghast Pond Management Area, along with stretches of the Wickaboxet, the Flintock, and the Pond Trails in a lollipop loop. It was still pretty cold, though, and icy in places. And yay, today pushed me into double-digit hikes for December! Although, as I said in an earlier post, my mileage for this year was still WAY down from my best, in 2015, of 678 miles.

Little Bit of Snow and Ice

Oddly, the only spots on the trail where there was ice was where the sun hit it. The trail under the trees was bone dry. Couldn’t quite figure this out…

Coney Cascades

Another little waterfall today, the cascades of Coney Brook.

Coney Brook Flooding

Don’t know if I’ve ever noticed this, but the Coney Brook through here really looks as though it’s flooding. I wonder if there’s a beaver dam downstream.

Track (click for details)

Here is my track from today. As always, click for details and to download the gpx file. Trailhead: 41.636254, -71.735952; 677 Plain Meetinghouse Road, West Greenwich, RI. You can get a map that includes most of the trails here.

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Posted By auntie on December 30, 2016

I know this blog is all about the hiking. I get that, and I have even sometimes considered myself a “recovering” gardener, but honestly, when it’s cold and snowing outside, one sure thing that can bring me out of my winter-induced funk is planning for and starting seeds for my vegetable garden. I love vegetable gardening, mostly because I like to eat. Which I guess is obvious from my photos.

I got to thinking about planting dates thanks to a Facebook post about the Rodale seed starting chart. Which is fine, as far as it goes. But I’ve been refining and adding to my own seed starting spreadsheet for lo these many years now, and if you really want to get into the “weeds,” so to speak, feel free to download the Excel file, here. Not only is it “interactive,” i.e., you can enter the last average frost date for your particular area, and it will adjust all your planting dates automatically, but I also include a sheet for Fall crops, and one for flowers and herbs. But wait, there’s more! Other sheets give viability for old seed, that is, how long each kind of seed is good, so if you have some old tomato seeds laying around, you’ll know whether or not to keep them.

My Seed-Starting Set-up

Of course, this photo is from last year. This year I will be making my own auxiliary light stand from PVC pipe, the plans for which I found on the Interwebs. But the gardening season will officially begin for me on January 19th, when I plant my leek seeds. I CAN’T WAIT.

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Posted By auntie on December 30, 2016

1.3 miles; Groton, CT

Today was supposed to have been a Lantern Hill hike with some friends, but the trail was too icy-looking to take a chance on, so we ended up on this GOSA property. It’s a nice hike, but so small, it hardly seemed worth the trip. Still, a hike is a hike, and this is really a pretty place. I’ve been here before—it was one of my Top Ten Favorite Hikes of 2014.

Icy

It was still awfully icy walking around today, but the trails were covered with leaves and not too bad.

Stream

According to the signage and the maps, this little stream that runs through the property, Fort Hill Brook, powered a couple of mills. This is approximately the site of a grist mill.

I would imagine, though, that this little waterfall was where the mill wheel was placed. It was mesmerizing to watch.

Track (click for details)

Groton Sheep Farm is a GOSA (Groton Open Space Association) property, and is located off route 117 in Groton, behind the Pequot Health Center on Hazelnut Hill Road. You can get a trail map from the GOSA website. Trailhead: 41.355937, -72.022820, 498 Hazelnut Hill Road, Groton, CT.

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Posted By auntie on December 28, 2016

6.11 miles; Exeter, RI

Today was another “Take a Hike!” hike with Stephen Graham’s group. It was advertised as a hike on the Ben Utter Trail in Arcadia, but I thought Ben Utter was too short, so I parked at the Escoheag Trail trailhead and hiked in from there. Yes, I even went over “Auntie’s Bane.” At the end of Ben Utter, I started back on the road, but took an enticing-looking side trail, and it worked out great.

Escoheag Trail Trailhead

I started from the Escoheag Trail Trailhead off Escoheag Hill Road in Exeter. There is a little red cabin on the right as you head up Escoheag Hill Road from Route 165. And there is a little side road off the loop around the cabin called Ledge Trail. I parked at the end of this and headed into the woods.

Exeter Historical Cemetery #165

Somewhere off to the side of the Escoheag Trail I noticed a shiny new “Historical Cemetery” sign, and wandered off to investigate. There really wasn’t much to see… the stones were plain granite slabs, and there weren’t too many of them at that. No nice stone wall enclosed the graveyard, either. It looked kind of forlorn. Even more than usual for an old cemetery.

Newly-Restored Picnic Pavilion

At the end of the Escoheag Trail, you’re not more than 50 feet from the Ben Utter Trailhead, which is where I met my friends. Our leader took us up to see the newly-restored picnic pavilion at the Wickaboxet Camping area off the Tippecansett Trail, which, had he not, I would have requested, because it was restored with the help of friends of mine and I hadn’t seen it yet. It’s not quite done—signs indicate that there is still stonework to be done on the fireplaces, but what they have done is beautiful. Well done, Narragansett Chapter of the AMC!

Here is the main attraction of hiking the Ben Utter Trail… Stepstone Falls. It didn’t look anything like this the last time I was here. Glad to see so much water running over the rocks again.

Colby Cutoff Sign

Once we’d finished our “up and back” hike of the Ben Utter Trail, I still had to get back to my car. I nobly refused several offers of a ride… the whole point of hiking to this trailhead was exercise, ammirite? But I did decide to cut myself some slack and hike back on the gravel Plain Road, rather than re-negotiate the Escoheag Trail. I did notice a rather long northward loop in the road, though, which I was a little resentful at having to walk, so when I saw this sign I thought to myself, “Aha! Cutoff! That must mean it ‘cuts off’ that little loop!” So I took it, and it kind of sort of did.

Another Historical Cemetery

Along my travels I saw another historical cemetery, and the contrast between this one and the last one could not have been more stark. This was very large, very tidy, and surrounded by an arrow-straight rock wall with nicely-carved monuments. Guess this is where the rich folks in the neighborhood ended up.

My Track (click for details)

Here is my track for this hike. As usual, click to get the details and to download the gpx file. Trailhead: 41.588855, -71.757446; 230 Escoheag Hill Road, Exeter, RI.

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