Welcome to the November 26th edition of our Hiking Adventures in Pictures.

Welcome Hikers!

This week's hike was a loop-d-loop if there ever was one... or maybe a loop-d-loop-d-loop would be a bit more like it.

On Friday evening, Deb and Sof agreed to conquer Rocky Neck again this week. So that's where we will begin.

We met at 9am on Saturday morning at our usual parking spots at Rock Neck. We stepped out into the 20 to 30 degree temperatures, and we were raring to go. We fitted our gloves, hats, and walking sticks into their normal positions, and before long, we were across the parking lot and into the woods, chatting as we went.



The normal loop around Rocky Neck is probably about 3 to 3 1/2 miles long. Since we usually have been doing about 8 miles per hike, we all followed Rob as he meandered through the trails and the beach a few times until his pedometer read just under 8 miles. We stopped and snapped our pictures at the obvious locations, and we really enjoyed our workout. During our previous 2 hikes we had to be very cautious as we stepped over lots of loose rock, but this hike was very different. We were free to stretch our legs out and take long strides, speeding up our pace. There were few rocks to be careful of. My legs felt much different during lunch this week.



It was a very brisk and lively day outside on the beach. We enjoyed the company of a few groups who passed us, their dogs jumping with glee in the sand. There were also a few couples enjoying the sun in their face and the ocean breeze in their hair, snapping random pictures of themselves. Taking in the glory of the day.



We ate lunch at CafeNV, had our Starbucks, and then shopped at the Crystal Mall a bit before we went our separate ways.



See everyone next week,

We missed you Bob,
Joe

Welcome to the November 19th edition of our Hiking Adventures in Pictures.

Welcome back to another week of hiking adventures.

This past week's hiking adventures ended up to be far from what was expected this time last week...

First off, Bob sent everyone an email in the middle of the week stating that he needed to tie up some loose ends before he was able to continue hiking with us. Deb replied back with the sentiment of everyone in our group saying that we are all rooting for him, and are hoping for his quick return. A hike without our Billy Goat Gruff just wouldn't be the same.

And also, on Saturday evening, Deb got a call from Rob saying that neither of the Noblick's will be able to make the hike this week. A dilemma has ensued! Since Deb and I had plans to meet my brother Rich at his house to help him with some computer issues after our adventures, we invited him to join us. We have averted a catastrophe!

We decided to hike the same trail that I missed a few week's back, the infamous Lantern Hill hike that I heard so much about. Since it was close by, and we needed to be at Rich's house before 12:30, Lantern Hill seemed the perfect choice. Rich, his daughter Ashlyn, and their dog Libby joined Deb and I for a very clear, crisp, and cool day of hiking.



We began our assent up Lantern Hill and ran out of breath fairly quickly. Once we reached the top we took some pictures, and continued on. We eventually made our way toward the North Stonington dump, across the street and back into the woods, and over to the bridge which traverses a small dam. While Libby cooled off in the water, Ashlyn was mentioning to Deb that she would rather turn around and go back then continue to the next hill, as planned. She was not enjoying herself as much as she thought she would have, so we headed back. We eventually made our way back to the dump, where we made another shortcut, and walked the road back to the cars to help make the day as enjoyable as possible for everyone. We definitely didn't do anywhere near 8 or 9 miles like we usually do, but we did get in a good 4 1/2 or 5.



We ate lunch at Rich's house, and played with their computer... It was a very full, and satisfying day.



Next week Deb would still like to do what we planned for this week, that trail in Middletown she found next to the Connecticut Trail and Park Association.

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone, and Happy Hiking,
See everyone next week,
Joe

Welcome to the November 12th edition of our Hiking Adventures in Pictures.

Welcome Happy Hikers!

I have been anticipating a return to Castle Craig for quite some time now, and we finally made good on our return yesterday.

Everyone met in Norwich at Sof and Rob's house at our usual time of 8:30am. Deb and I were a few minutes early, and therefore we were able to arrive a minute or two before Bob, which always makes me happy. :-)

It was a long drive through Norwich, along RT 2 west, and eventually past Middletown and to our parking spot along the side of the road somewhere in Meridan at the trailhead.



We donned our hats, gloves, coats, and walking sticks and started up a short hill overlooking, but hiking away from, the road. We immediately realized that the layer of fallen leaves were covering up all of the loose rocks under foot, making us be more cautious with each step. It was rough on our ankles and I probably should have been wearing boots with more support, but it was too late to be changing shoes now. The trail meandered through numerous rocky hills and valleys which slowed us down quite a bit, but eventually we made our way to the best scenic overlooks in the state, including our walk up to the top of Castle Craig.



After a few pictures, we continued on past the castle towards a part of the trail we haven't seen yet. This part of the trail was just as rocky as before, but with the added bonus of including a 400ft decent through piles of loose rock with a layer of multi-colored fallen leaves on top. It was fairly easy going down, but slippery, sliding on the rocks as we went.

At the bottom, we came across a fairly large 4 way intersection in the middle of the woods which didn't indicate where the trail went off to, so we checked our pedometers and decided to turn around while we still knew where we were. So we began our ascent back up that 400ft pile of rocks and leaves which can only be described as tortuous. Sof and I both agreed that the ascent back up that hill was among the most challenging we have attempted.



Back at the top, close to where Castle Craig is, we saw a pair of turkey vultures looking down at their world below, and I snapped a few pictures of them. They were a bit nervous, but didn't move a bit while we all moved closer and passed them. We eventually made our way back down the other side of the ridge where we came, and to our cars. We ate lunch at Macaroni Grill and then headed home. A very good day indeed.

Deb seems like she has the hike picked out for next week, so
Talk to everyone next week.
Joe

Welcome to the November 5th edition of our Hiking Adventures in Pictures.

Joey has asked me to fill in for him this week because he could not make it but CC did as a pack dog, so I’ll see what I can do. This week we started our hike at Lantern Hill on a cool and breezy morning, climbing to the top to see the beauty of our world. The trees are in there full fall splendor of colors. They looked like very colorful tops of fluffy clouds. The initial immediate climb was a little shock to our system, so we rested a little and moved on. The trail led us down the short side of the hill, through the rolling hillsides, through the North Stonington town dump, across Winectog Hill road, back in to more rolling hillsides, to the dammed beaver pond at Rt. 2.



The ducks unlimited org. has helped to fund a new bridge to cross the waterfall. We then moved on to the last leg of the trail; to our turn around point , up the hill toward Wyassup lake. There was a little confusion as to where the top was , so we went on a little further than we planned, but not far. We did the loopy loop and made our way back. We crossed trails with 3 young ladies going down the back side of Lantern Hill ,through the crevice where we all had little trouble getting up. Most of us were pretty tired by now, because of all of the ups, we have been hiking mostly flat trails lately. We finished the rest of the trail back to the cars.



Debby went home and the rest of us met Jody at chili's for lunch. Well that's all for now, hopefully Joey will do the rest of these news letters.

Uncle Bob

Here are some pictures from our 3 previous hikes...
October 13th @ Wolf Rock



October 21st @ Mount Misery



And October 28th @ Pachaug Trail