Welcome to the January 28th edition of our Hiking Adventures in Pictures.

Welcome hiking fans!

Since Sofee, Joe and Bob are still working hard on the weekends, we thought it would be nice keep it close to home. Rob and I decided to do the same trail we did back on Dec 17th, and then meet Sof, Bob and Jody for lunch. This trail runs between the Preston Park on 117 near 2a, crosses Rt 2 near the Sunoco station and ends on Rt 165 near Old Jewett City Rd.

We headed out from the Park and quickly covered the 1/2 mile to the Sunoco Station and Rt 2. The 15 miles from our house to Norwich really crosses the snow line. I expected the trail to be clear, but surprisingly, the ground was covered in snow and the puddles were frozen. The interesting thing about the puddles was that they were so clear; you could see the leaves like in a mirror. This made us think the ice was not that very thick, but when Rob poked the ice with his hiking pole, we discovered the ice was quite thick. It was cool that you could see so clearly, reminded me of the Caribbean, Ahhhh 10 weeks, warm breezes, I digress.



Every time we do this hike, we miss the right hand turn off the power line. This was no exception, so I took a picture of Rob. Once back on the trail, we came upon a cairn in the woods that was begging for a picture. So we set up the timer and I did the running. I miss Joe; he really does the running much better. We saw another cairn on the power line, they do not seem to be marking the trial, wonder what they are marking?



The streams were not to be outdone by the puddles; they were spectacular, with water running beneath the ice. We were mesmerized at the sight more than a few times. The most unique view was at the stream crossing that is like a big gulch. My favorite crossing, no Debbie bridge. :(



The stream was running underneath the ice and much of the brush and rocks were covered in a thick coating of ice. The ice was being smoothed out by the water's constant washing over. We stopped and admired the setting for a few minutes.



At the end of the trail we were feeling pretty good. Rob said he and Sof had discussed an alternate to going all the way back to Preston Park. We would take the road from here to Sof's job site. So we took off up Jewett City Road and down Roosevelt Ave Ext. This added another 2.5 miles and another amazing site. While passing the Goode farm, something alerted the cows to return to the barn, maybe lunch? But that's when it happened, a small herd of cows, about 10 head, started running across the field. I mean running full force. What a sight!



We met Sof at her job site and viewed her project. Man, she is focused when on a project. She has owned the house for 10 days, and already has the kitchen and bath plumbed thanks to Bob, 3 of the 4 rooms sheet rocked and a plan to be free to hike next weekend. We ended the adventure with lunch at Chili’s with Jody and Bob and a Starbucks for the ride home.



Looking forward to having Joe and Sof back next week. Bobby Goat Gruff, come play with us, soon!

Deb

Welcome to the January 21st edition of our Hiking Adventures in Pictures

Happy Martin Luther King day!

We were not sure if there would be a hike this week. Sof and Rob were not planning to hike, Bobby Goat Gruff is still too busy with his project and Joe's company decided that his group should work this weekend. I looked at Simba and he said, "It’s 27 degrees out there! Curl up with me in front of the fire." But all was not lost. My brother John and his dog Zack said they would enjoy a walk through the woods.

We decided to keep it simple and hike Barn Island. Even though it was Sunday, we also decided to make sure Zack did not look like a deer. I think he should always wear a cute bandana.



We headed out from the Stewart Road Trail head. We crossed the field and quickly realized the wind was going to be a chilling factor to our hike. As we entered the woods we were happy to have the wind break.



We decided to go toward the Palmer Neck Road Trail head. We couldn't do a hike without a timer picture, so we stopped at the overlook and set up a shot.



Some hikes we do not see another soul the entire hike. Today, we ran into many people and their dogs on the trails. Zack must have sniffed at least 10 doggy butts.

Each of the marsh crossings were cheek numbing. We pulled our hoods up and tucked our heads in. We took the loop past the cemetery out to the end of Brucker Pentway. We were close to the end of our hike and feeing pretty good, so we decided to retrace our steps. The loop back the same way added an extra mile or so.



Zack was very happy to be heading back into the woods. He led the way back to our car. By the time we were done, our legs and John’s back felt like they had a work out. All in all a very nice hike.

See ya next week! Come join us!
Deb

Welcome to the January 14th edition of our Hiking Adventures in Pictures

Good Morning Hiking Fans!

Since the last two hikes kicked our butts, this week we decided to do a flat hike.

On the morning of hike, Joe decided he could not make the hike. He had a rough night getting to sleep; he had too much coffee on Friday, his day off. So the hiking alliance was down to three ½, Ci Ci counts as 1/2.



We met at the trailhead, located at the intersection of Shetucket Turnpike and Pachaug Trail. Sof and Rob put a crock pot of chili in my back seat for our gathering later. Maybe that was supposed to be bait? Nahhh.

The ground was a wet, and there were puddles in most of the tracks. We edged along the path until we passed Dawley Pond with a steaming beaver lodge, looked like they were stoking a fire in there!

Next we crossed a dam at Great Meadow Pond using 2 cord au roi, a long, double-log walking bridge. Ci Ci did not like the bridge at all and preferred to run through the water next to the bridge.



Our turn around was at the Porter Pond picnic area at about 4 miles. We stopped on a bridge for a pix, Rob played Joe and ran back to get into the picture. Rob suggested we follow him by walking up the road a bit and back onto the dirt road to create a lollipop instead of a loop d loop. I like it!



Since it is a pretty flat hike we just chatted along the Sofee trails and were back at our cars without much incident. This was probably Ci Ci’s favorite hike. He was running ahead a little further than usual and tromping through every stream or pond. I skipped lunch to return to get ready for our gathering. I believe Sof and Rob headed to their local fav, Ruby Tuesdays.



Sof and Rob will not be hiking next week, they are planning a project day. But Bobby Goat Gruff might take a break from his project and join us instead. Hope you enjoyed this week’s edition of the Hiking Adventures in pictures. We'll see you next week.

~deb

Welcome to the January 7th edition of our Hiking Adventures in Pictures

Welcome Hikers!

This week we decided to conquer Nicerson Hill... and all the little hills along the way. We were promised a short 5 mile hike, but that was only a ploy. Our adventures ended up to be over 7 miles. I guess that's a good thing... CC very much enjoyed himself, running all around us the whole way.



We did lunch, lattes, and North Cove Outfitters. A great combination!



We all missed you Bobby Goat Gruff!
See everyone next week.
Joe