TA Report: Upper Paugussett State Forest

Entrance to the reloc

Date: 2011-10-22
Report Type: TA Report:
Trail Name: Upper Paugussett State Forest
Town: Newtown, CT
Trail Conditions: Poly Brody is very wet and Upper Gussy is starting to show some soft spots
Observations/Information: Headed out for quick ride at the Upper Paugussett. Also wanted to see how the reloc was handling all the rain we got in the past week and test ride a bike that I recently converted back to a mountain bike.

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All the rain last week is certainly making the Poly Brody pretty sloppy and with the increased usage on the Upper Gussy some soft spots are starting appear. Used to be that you could ride the Gussy right after a torrential down pour and there'd nary be a speck of mud but now that there are a lot more people on the trail some weak spots (aka mud) are starting to show. For example the first stream crossing (riding north to south).

Muddy at the first stream crossing

Spent a few minutes finding more flat rocks and shored it up a little more.

Armored up, a little

Ran into three mountain bikers on the Poly Brody and two hikers on the Gussy Trail.

Checking the reloc I have been working on no one has touched that. Hopefully, after Sunday's trail work it will be open for riding. The intention of the reloc is give an alternative to the fall line climb that it parallels.

I have more plans for this area, too, after finding a nice spine line to ride, some cool mounds and some additional varied terrain, all of which would make a nice, natural pump track. Just have to work out the entry and exit points now.


Trail Ambassador Name: Mark Lurie
Trail Ambassador E-mail: ctnemba 'a la' gmail
How did you use the trail? MT Biking
Trails Ridden: Poly Brody, Upper Gussy
Time of day: Morning
Time/Duration (hours): 1
Approximate Distance (Miles): 5