Today my friend Karen and I did a loop across Talcott Mountain starting and ending in her front yard.
Karen lives in Bloomfield and when we were last planning hikes she said that she had been told that it was possible to bushwhack to the reservoir near Talcott from her new place. I did some research, and it looked very doable, so we did it.
The weather was great. There was no threat of rain and it was cool, but warm enough that I took my sweater off soon into the hike and was fine in just my shirt. The autumn leaves are still not at peak, but there was a good amount of color.
The bushwhack part of the hike was about half a mile each way. It was an easy whack, pretty flat through hardwoods. Then we were on the eastern shore of the reservoir. We circled around the reservoir and picked up the Metacomet, which we hiked up to Heublein Tower.
This was Karen's fourth time at the tower, but the first time she'd been there when it was open. So we got to climb up to the observation room, where we could see the Metacomet range from Mt. Tom in Massachusetts to Hanging Hills in Meriden. We could also see not only Hartford nearby, but Springfield in the distance. To the west, which is where the cliffs dropped down just below us, we could see Avon and Simsbury in the Farmington River Valley. And far to the south I could pick out the head of the Sleeping Giant.
After hanging around for a while we continued north on the Metacomet. After it dropped down off of the high ridge we took the Red and Blue Trail, which heads back south to the reservoir. We had a little route finding trouble at first, but nothing serious. Then it joined an old road, and it was an easy stroll back to the trail which loops the reservoir. While hiking the Red and Blue Trail I once again I found that the Connecticut Walk Book maps are more accurate than the State Forest maps.
We had been sure to memorize the spot where we ended our earlier whack, and so we were able to reenter the woods there and hike right back to her house.
Thanks again to Karen for suggesting this hike. It was a great day enjoying the trails and woods of Connecticut.
Here are the pictures.
--
Cumulus
NE111 in my 50s: 115/115 (67/67, 46/46, 2/2)
NE111 in my 60s: 24/115 (19/67, 5/46, 0/2)
NEFF: 50/50; Cat35: 36/39; WNH4K: 36/48; NEHH 81/100
LT NB 2009
"I don't much care where [I get to] --" said Alice, "-- so long as I get somewhere," ...
"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."
- Lewis Carroll
Karen lives in Bloomfield and when we were last planning hikes she said that she had been told that it was possible to bushwhack to the reservoir near Talcott from her new place. I did some research, and it looked very doable, so we did it.
The weather was great. There was no threat of rain and it was cool, but warm enough that I took my sweater off soon into the hike and was fine in just my shirt. The autumn leaves are still not at peak, but there was a good amount of color.
The bushwhack part of the hike was about half a mile each way. It was an easy whack, pretty flat through hardwoods. Then we were on the eastern shore of the reservoir. We circled around the reservoir and picked up the Metacomet, which we hiked up to Heublein Tower.
This was Karen's fourth time at the tower, but the first time she'd been there when it was open. So we got to climb up to the observation room, where we could see the Metacomet range from Mt. Tom in Massachusetts to Hanging Hills in Meriden. We could also see not only Hartford nearby, but Springfield in the distance. To the west, which is where the cliffs dropped down just below us, we could see Avon and Simsbury in the Farmington River Valley. And far to the south I could pick out the head of the Sleeping Giant.
After hanging around for a while we continued north on the Metacomet. After it dropped down off of the high ridge we took the Red and Blue Trail, which heads back south to the reservoir. We had a little route finding trouble at first, but nothing serious. Then it joined an old road, and it was an easy stroll back to the trail which loops the reservoir. While hiking the Red and Blue Trail I once again I found that the Connecticut Walk Book maps are more accurate than the State Forest maps.
We had been sure to memorize the spot where we ended our earlier whack, and so we were able to reenter the woods there and hike right back to her house.
Thanks again to Karen for suggesting this hike. It was a great day enjoying the trails and woods of Connecticut.
Here are the pictures.
--
Cumulus
NE111 in my 50s: 115/115 (67/67, 46/46, 2/2)
NE111 in my 60s: 24/115 (19/67, 5/46, 0/2)
NEFF: 50/50; Cat35: 36/39; WNH4K: 36/48; NEHH 81/100
LT NB 2009
"I don't much care where [I get to] --" said Alice, "-- so long as I get somewhere," ...
"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."
- Lewis Carroll
