TM Report: Trumbull-Pequonnock

Date: 6-26-11

Trail Name: Trumbull
Condition of Trails: Damp, still muddy in various spots
Location: Pequonnock Valley State Forest
Our visit to the Valley today was two fold: (1) clear the blowdowns and (2) meet the Freeriders for a quick Pow Wow.

BlowdownMap.jpg

Dave and I met Steve in the north Whitney lot and took turns carrying Dave's chainsaw. As I mentioned in my previous Trumbull report, there were a lot of blowdowns in the Park ever since the storm rocked southwestern CT a few weeks ago.

bridgeBlowdown.jpg

We first cleared the blowdown right by the Northbridge and then hiked up to another one Steve spotted during the week up on the Red on the North Ridge. (No photo taken here)

rt-blowdown.jpg

   We then hiked south to clear the two big ones on the Red Trail just south of the Rusty Stream. They were really big and we only got a bit done. We were scheduled to meet a few Freeriders in the south part of the park so we hustled all the way over to the Red Trail descent to the rocky streambed in the south part of the Park.
    To straighten the animosity that erupted last year, these long time veterans of the Park we're asked to spearhead a redo to a section rerouted last year. We chatted and paced the area really thoroughly and came up with a surprisingly simple solution for a faster flowing downhill line. They agreed to build the rock-armored span to traverse the gully and will be taking care of that on their own (unscheduled time).    We be returning on a scheduled TTC session to work with them finishing up and benching a long stretch to create a fast-flowing wide-curved solution.
   They shared some of the same frustrations re Meet Up groups and local "young-uns" creating braids, carving up fall lines and wrecking trails. Sadly, iI seems to be a universal theme these days at every Park.

rimBlowdown.jpg

   We exchanged info with the Big Bike guys on all the known blowdown spots, said farewell and hiked back u to the start of the Rim trail to clear another one. This one was a doosie! It was hung up on a couple of trees and tricky to bring down. Dave sawed a bit and--using another 8 ft deadfall as a lever/fulcrum--we were able to eventually bring it down and clear the trail.

   Our last scheduled stop was to return to the big ones we started clearing near the Rusty Stream but the chainsaw wouldn't start up again. BUMMER >> OUT OF GAS!
5-skinny
Need I say it ?-- there's a serious Skinny in the making here

Trail Ambassador Name: Rich C, Dave Francefort

Trail Ambassador E-mail: mtnbikerdad[at]yahoo[dot]com
How did you use the trail? Other Trail use
Trails Ridden: many
Time of day: Morning
Time/Duration (hours): 3
Approximate Distance (Miles):
Images/Photos: 1-BlowDowns-at-Trumbull-6-26.jpg
2nd image: 2-bt-bridgeBlowdown.jpg
3rd Image: 3-rt-blowdown.jpg

4th Image: 4-rimBlowdown.jpg