Trumbull-Pequonnock

Date: May 29, 2011
Report Type: TA Report
Trail Name: Trumbull
Town: Trumbull
Trail Conditions: A little slimy, some mud in the low areas.
Observations/Information: Paula and I rode Trumbull Saturday morning. We rode out on the red trail, did the yellow, back on the blue. We also hit Old Mine, and rode up to the industrial park. Trails were a little wet and slimy, making the place even more challenging than usual. Some mud down low near the river. Paula cleaned the section by the mailbox for the first time (going up), and was very happy. We had the opportunity to help a rider tighten a loose spoke.

The trails here are well used, but work is being done to armor wet areas, close braids, and make the place more sustainable. Like sidehill trails, roots, and rocks? You'll like this place. There's also a lot for the freerider, although we didn't try that.
Trail Ambassador Name: Paula Burton, Glenn Vernes

TA Report: Wilton Woods

Date: 5/29/2010
Report Type: TA Report
Trail Name: Wilton Woods
Town: Wilton
Trail Conditions: mostly dry, rocks a little greasy
Observations/Information: Gave 3 riders new to the park a tour, showing them all the goodies, also they were going to email me so I could put them on the TM list for our next session.
Trail Ambassador Name: David Francefort

TA Report: Wilton Woods

Date: 5/28/11
Report Type: TA Report
Trail Name: WIlton Woods
Town: Wilton
Trail Conditions: Damp, greasy
Observations/Information: Downhillers have cut new lines on the blue trail (east side of park), and even opened back up a trail we closed that I re-routed last year. I closed all their lines with leaves and branches and will be posted a sign asking not to put in these down hill lines.
Trail Ambassador Name: David Francefort

TA Report: Huntington State Park

Date: May 27, 2011
Report Type: TA Report
Trail Name: Huntington State Park
Town: Redding
Trail Conditions: Good
Observations/Information: Hit Huntington Friday afternoon. Hot but shady and breezy in the woods, making it the place to be. Trails are in great shape. Just a little mud where you'd expect to find it (low areas). The DEP is in the process of grading the parking lots and carriage roads and spreading gravel. Watch out for piles of gravel on the carriage roads and "horse piles" on the singletrack. I also noticed someone has been closing braids on one of the unmarked singletracks. Good work!

If you're looking for a place to ride this weekend, Huntington would be a good place to do it.
Trail Ambassador Name: Glenn Vernes

TM Report: Hartman Park

Date: May 27, 2011
Report Type: TM Report
Trail Name: Hartman Park
Town: Lyme
Trail Conditions: Mostly dry, some low moist spots
Observations/Information: I got an email from Thom Lamourine wanting to know if I had a truck to haul out two new 16 foot bridge "kits" he had created for Hartman Park; I had no truck, but we agreed (hoped) that my Honda CRV would do the trick; I arrived at Thom's early morning to find he had all the material cut/marked, neatly stacked and positioned, and strapped on the trailer ready to go; we had to remove my spare and do some adjusting in order to create enough clearance for tight turns we knew we would be making on the way there; the land manager had the main gate unlocked when we arrived and we headed in; we had a couple close calls on the way to the drop off, but overall no real issues; we got to a close location for the two bridge sites and unloaded/stacked the material at the trailhead; had to detach the trailer to turn it and the vehicle around, then reassembled and headed for home; Thom is looking for some help on June 11th to build the two bridges, so please contact him to help out at Hartman Park- believe me, he did some incredible work precutting and drilling the two "kits" so a lot of the tough work is already done!

Trail Ambassador Name: Don Hazuka, Thomas Lamourine

TA Report: Rocky Neck SP

Date: May 27
Report Type: TA Report
Trail Name: Rocky neck SP
Town: East Lyme
Trail Conditions: tad moist still
Observations/Information: Went this morning with Don to Hartman and dropped off the bridge parts. It was REALLY hot, muggy and full of mosquitoes up in that swamp, so I decided to just spin round Rocky Neck. Temp dropped like 10 degrees just in the mile and 1/2 from the road to the beach!! NICE!! Trails are ok but there OS still the usual mud spots. Cruised over to the camp grounds and chatted with the rangers camp grounds are booked up. Probably 80% are already there.

that trailer is FULL of bikes!!

Tons of bikes everywhere!! Lots of people out and about on them. Weekends supposed to be nice so get out and ride!!

Trail Ambassador Name: Thom Lamourine

TA Report: Hartman Park

  

Date: May 25
Report Type: TA Report
Trail Name: Hartman Park
Town: Lyme
Trail Conditions: decent, few moist spots, but not bad
Observations/Information: After hiking there yesterday I decided to go back and ride today while the sun was out. Some muddy spots. Stopped at one of the bridge locations and blocked off the heavily used trail braid and kinda raked out the actual trail and out to where the bridge will be hoping people will start using the actual trail again instead of the side line that actually ends up being muddier. Cruised out and up to the top of the power lines...
Trail Ambassador Name: Thomas Lamourine

TA Report: Waldo State Park

Date: May 25, 2011
Report Type: TA Report
Trail Name: Waldo State Park
Town: Southbury
Trail Conditions: Good, dry
Observations/Information: Paula and I rode Waldo Wednesday afternoon. Trails were amazingly dry considering all the rain we've had. Soil was tacky, making for great traction that allowed radical cornering angles. The trail had just a little bit of wetness in a spot that's almost always wet anyway. The dirt road was wet.

If you need a riding fix after ten days of rain, Waldo would be a good place to get it.
Trail Ambassador Name: Paula Burton, Glenn Vernes

TA Report: Wilton Woods

Date: 5/25/2011
Report Type: TA Report
Trail Name: Wilton Woods
Town: Wilton
Trail Conditions: dry most place, only wet in a few spots
Observations/Information: seasonal stream at beginning of red trail s still there, need an extended dry period for that to go away.
Trail Ambassador Name: David Francefort, Ryan Tucker

TA Report: West Hartford Res

Date: 5-25-2011
Report Type: TA Report
Trail Name: West Hartford Res
Town: West Hartford
Trail Conditions: Soggy
Observations/Information: Did a lot of walking seeing if there was any new sections developing. Didn't see any Soggier than expected but not too bad. Kept shifting to stay on dryer trails. Short in distance but average time spent out there.
Trail Ambassador Name: Daren Casey

TM Report: Wilton Woods

  

  

Date: 5/24/2011
Report Type: TM Report
Trail Name: Wilton Woods
Town: WIlton
Trail Conditions: Damp
Observations/Information: Re-Routed a 100 foot section of the orange trail that located in a low laying area, constantly muddy. Re-Route is up on the adjacent hillside and required full bench cutting most of the way. ill need to get in to finish up the side slope angle.

  

Trail Ambassador Name: David Francefort

TA Report: Hartman Park

Everything is green!!

Date: May 24
Report Type: TA Report
Trail Name: Hartman Park
Town: Lyme
Trail Conditions: moist, mosquito-y
Observations/Information: Hiked out to add signs for the up coming bridging and to check out the places they will cross for over flowing with all this rain we've been getting. Cleared some twigs and leaves to let the water flow instead of backing up both up and down stream. place actually looks rideable and there was one guy who blew by me on the fire road..
Everything is SOOO green now!
Black Flys are gone... Mosquitoes have taken over with a vengeance!!
Trail Ambassador Name: Thomas Lamourine

TM Report: Wilton Woods

Date: 5/22/2011
Report Type: TM Report
Trail Name: Wilton Woods
Town: Wilton
Trail Conditions: Wet and more Wet
Observations/Information: Hiked in to check out the trail re-route and see how it was holding up. I had to de-berm the downhill side of the tread from it being compacted from all the hikers and bikers. Trail is amazing to ride and walk in either direction. Then hikes out to red trail which I new was going to have a river running through it and I cleared my 200 foot trench of all the leaves and sticks so the water could flow more quickly
Trail Ambassador Name: David Francefort

TA Report: Racebrook Tract

Date: 5/21/11
Report Type: TA Report
Trail Name: Racebrook Tract
Town: Orange
Trail Conditions: Damp, firm, a few mud puddles
Observations/Information: I needed an easy ride after my bout with a kidney stone. This area is all old dirt roads. The parking lot was packed, yet I only saw one couple and their dog on the trails. Took my old '04 Stumpjumper instead of my '07 Stumpjumper Expert...what a difference a few years of production and a higher class of bicycle make, wow! I'll take the Talais fork, hydraulic brakes, the Brain and '07 geometry any day.
Trail Ambassador Name: Ed Perten

TA Report: Wilton Woods

Date: 5/21/2011
Report Type: TA Report
Trail Name: Wilton Woods
Town: WIlton
Trail Conditions: Damp, some muddy spots
Observations/Information: Well at least I know what sections need to get better armored after all this rain and bikers not wanting to wait to the trails dry! Going back in tomorrow to armor and do more work on trail re-route.....
Trail Ambassador Name: David Francefort

TM-TA Report:Trumbull-Pequonnock

Date of Activity: Saturday, May 21st, 2011
Condition of Trails: Soggy
Location: Pequonnock Valley State Forest
Trail Ambassadors: Rich C, Dave FranceFort
Another small but mighty crew - a series of last minutes snafus, move aways and previous commitments limited us to a measly threesome but we finished the job despite the small turnout.

TM - armoring
A short section of the Blue traverses a swampy section and needed some serious adjustment to the jumbling of armoring at the foot of the hill. The yellow arrow on the photo indicates where the trail had veered off the armoring. This section was now under quite a few inches of water and has been quagmire for some time. We beefed up all the armoring section, digging in some really big thick flat rocks and made the line visually very clear to riders. It's still techy but it's built till last until the cows come home...
In addition, we closed the now underwater braid by the river and opened up (and armored where needed) a granny path that was already made to avoid the short rooty section by the river. Alex, despite a stitched up injured finger, was a great help and the three of us finished the work by 11:30 AM.

Ride and Slide
I took a break for lunch and rode the White, Blue and Yellow later for a couple of hours. It was muggy and steamy and most of the lower trails were waterlogged.
I checked out the gravel bed the Town is putting in in the Serengeti and it's strangely wide enough to drive a Mack Truck on. Hopefully they will continue it further south - over the mudhole mess but narrow it to at least only the rail trail width. What a waste of stone being so wide but perhaps it was built wide to allow vehicles passage in the event of and emergency. (?)
The good news is, up on the White Trail near the fence ride along a lengthy stretch that's frequently muddy, the Town has added a huge knick at the lowest point, allowing water to finally drain off.

The rain started coming down and it made the trip out miserable (slippery roots and roots galore).

TA Report: Collis P Huntington SP

Nice patch on this trail braid in the Big Burn!

Date: 5/21/2011
Report Type: TA Report
Trail Name: TA Report: Collis P Huntington SP
Town: Bethel
Trail Conditions: Wet

Vernal Pool in the Big Burn

Observations/Information: While it didn't rain on Friday all the rain from the past four days took it's toll at Huntington. All the vernal pools are filled and there are quite a few wet areas.
Trail Ambassador Name: Mark Lurie
Trail Ambassador E-mail: ctnemba@gmail.com
How did you use the trail? Mt Biking

Detour around another vernal pool on an actual trail/logging road
that comes out at someone's house.  Oops.

Trails Ridden: See Map, Red/Yellow is what was ridden today, blue are trails ridden in the past.

TA Report: Hop River

Date: May 20, 2011

Report Type: TA Report
Trail Name: Hop River
Town: Vernon, Bolton, Andover
Trail Conditions: good (many soft wet areas)
Observations/Information: After the week of rain, it was good to get out for a ride. Trail traffic was low with many wet areas along the Hop River. Some branches were cleared from the path (near Burnap Brook Rd) Looking forward to an early Sunday morning ride.
PHOTO: 2nd Annual Steele's Crossing Ride Thanksgiving morning '10. Group picture at Valley Falls (Vernon, CT)
Trail Ambassador Name: Peter Blume

TM Report: Daffy Duck Trail at Waldo

Date: May 18, 2011
Report Type: TM Report
Trail Name: Daffy Duck Trail at Waldo
Town: Southbury
Trail Conditions: Wet!
Observations/Information: Paula, Darlene and I worked on Paula's new Daffy Duck trail. We had a break in the rain but got wet anyway. Paula worked the chainsaw while Darlene and I pruned back branches that encroached on the trail.

The Daffy Duck is coming along nicely and Paula hopes to have it open by the last week of June.
Trail Ambassador Name: Paula Burton, Darlene Phillips, Glenn Vernes
Trail Ambassador E-mail: glennvernes33@hotmail.com

CT House Passes (HB 6557) Bill To Limit Municipal Liability

The state House of Representatives has overwhelmingly approved a bill that limits the liability of cities and towns that make public lands available for recreational purposes. House members on Tuesday passed the legislation 142-1. It moves to the Senate. The bill limits the liability of municipalities and districts that make lands available to the public for free. It requires the entities, however, to remain liable for certain structures, fields and roads. The legislation comes in the wake of a $2.9 million award last year to a bicyclist injured after hitting a gate on West Hartford land owned by a regional water and sewer authority. West Hartford Rep. Andrew Fleischmann said he voted against the bill out of concern for those harmed due to negligence. – Associated Press

TA Report: Cockaponset / Weber Woods

Date: May 15, 2011
Report Type: TA Report
Trail Name: Cockaponset / Weber Woods
Town: Clinton / Deep River / Westbrook
Trail Conditions: Moist with muddy sections
Observations/Information: I waited a couple of hours after the rain had stopped, then headed out knowing it was going to be a bit slick; took the green up to the farm and grabbed the horse trail to the north; there is one large, low lying quag pit that ATV riders have tried to repair with cut trees a while back, but to no avail- there is a lot of work necessary to fix it, you just need to walk around; took the Quinimay up to route 80 and backtracked and headed east; there are several nasty regions on the Q that are really wet/muddy that require walk arounds, esp. the spot near the swamp;

came across three hikers near the east lot and exchanged greetings- there were only a couple of cars parked there; hit the orange over to the green and noticed a large tree completely blocking a very dangerous fast, downhill strip with a blind turn- this tree needs to be removed fast or someone could really damage themselves coming down the hill;

spent some time on the central trails then headed home; most of the trails were ok with slick stones and roots that prevented good purchase and provided some good scares; there were many low, wet, muddy areas that demanded walk arounds so not to cause damage; other than that and the nasty mosquitoes, the ride was just fine.
Trail Ambassador Name: Don Hazuka

TM Report: Trout Brook

   

Date: 5/14/2011
Report Type: TM Report
Trail Name: Trout Brook
Town: Weston
Trail Conditions: dry
Observations/Information: First TM session of 2011 was today and the project was a planned reroute of 450 foot wooden walkway up onto an adjacent hillside.

 Good crew showed up today and we cut 700 feet of trail completing the reroute. We had 5 trail ambassadors and 10 other volunteers
Trail Ambassador Name: David Francefort, Ryan Tucker, Rich Coffey, Paula Burton, Chris Keczkemethy

TA Report: Hop River Rail Trail

Date: May 14, 2011
Report Type: TA Report
Trail Name: Hop River
Town: Vernon/Bolton
Trail Conditions: Excellent
Observations/Information: Saturday afternoon cruise up to Steele's Crossing (off RT 6 in Bolton, CT). Trail is in excellent riding condition. Assistance provided to one rider with a slow leak/flat tire near Tunnel Rd. Trail did not have many riders or joggers.
Trail Ambassador Name: Peter Blume

TM Report: Cockaponset (Rocky Road )

   

Date: 5-12-2011
Report Type: TM Report
Trail Name: Rocky Road (Cockaponset)
Town: Chester
Trail Conditions: Boggy
Observations/Information: Scott H and I finished the 2nd stone slab bridge with ramp and armoring.

We had to discard the first stone and in the process inadvertently split it in half. The second stone which was a good ton was a bit difficult to set into place, but it worked well. We ended up using a half of the broken rock as a ramp leading up to the bridge. It's about 95% stabilized; I may look for a way to place pins or otherwise make the structure permanent to prevent destabilization over time.

The photos represent the finished product. The video represents the work we had done the previous build day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjWnjcI4eKQ 

Trail Ambassador Name: Bryan McFarland

TA Report: Case Mountain

Date: 5/12/2011
Report Type: TA Report
Trail Name: Case Mountain
Town: Manchester
Trail Conditions: Dry
Observations/Information: This was my first time riding at Case Mountain, and it won't be my last. The park is popular with all sorts of users and mountain bikes are prime users. It's well worth the trip from just about anywhere with 11 miles of trails for all sorts of users. My preferred trail is the White Trail, which is mostly a carriage road, wide and great for bombing down the hills, spewing gravel off the side. Pink (yes there is a pink trail) offered mildly technical terrain with some roots and rocks. Yellow-Red and Gray-White were decidedly challenging with a veritable obstacle course of rocks large and small that kept me looking at my front wheel most of the time. With the many ups and downs, I got a good workout, despite only traveling 7 miles. Overall, the trails were dry and in excellent shape. I encountered a few other mountain bikers along the way, and surprisingly few walkers. A mountain biker was kind enough to give me a full-color map. There's a black and white map (hard to read) at http://recreation.townofmanchester.org/CaseMountain.cfm.
Trail Ambassador Name: Tom Ebersold

TA Report: Wilton Woods

Date: 5/11/2011
Report Type: TA Report
Trail Name: WIlton Woods
Town: Wilton
Trail Conditions: Dry, Fast
Observations/Information: Rode up blue and test rode the new trail re-route that I hope to officially open in the next month. Conditions are perfect right now, all the place that were muddy are pretty much dried out. We also headed to the back part of the park to ride the re-opened Orange trail (was red trail before closure) to check to see if the other off-shoot trails have remained closed and they have.
Trail Ambassador Name: David Francefort, Ryan Tucker, Chris Keczkemethy

TA Report: River Highlands State Park

Date: May 10, 2011
Report Type: TA Report
Trail Name: River Highlands State Park
Town: Cromwell
Trail Conditions: Good, but some new isues
Observations/Information: A quick ride at the Blow Hole proved that the place is getting more and more popular. Use by hikers, bikers, and horse riders is on the rise, and the trails are starting to show some wear, the yellow in particular. The cribbing (where one side of the trail is built up with a wall of rocks or logs) is starting to deteriorate and needs attention (see photos).

 Winter was also hard on the yellow trail, and the line through the stream is not as well defined as it once was. Other than that, the trails were fine.
Trail Ambassador Name: Glenn Vernes

TA Report: Millers Pond

Date: 5-10-2011
Report Type: TA Report
Trail Name: Millers Pond Loop
Town: Durham
Trail Conditions: 99.85% Bone Dry
Observations/Information: A few weird tacky spots where the ground is retaining water, otherwise it's dry and fast.
Removed lots of sticks.
Managed to clip my pedal on the sharp root of a turned up tree stump. Fought for control and was just barely able to stay upright. Removed the exposed roots with anger.
Noticed a rotted tree fell on the armored earthen spine knocking a half-dozen stones out of place. This will need two people to remove/repair.
Also noticed the rock gardens are slowly becoming more exposed and there was one uphill that started eroding.
Talked with a few hikers back in the parking lot... trying to make nice.
Trail Ambassador Name: Bryan McFarland

TM Report: Wilton Woods

Date: 5/9/2011
Report Type: TM Report
Trail Name: WIlton Woods
Town: Wilton
Trail Conditions: Dry
Observations/Information: Completely the full benching on the approved re-route on the blue, had a couple of afternoon mountain bikers give it a go and they loved it!
Just need to arrange work detail to close old trail section and officially open the new one.
Trail Ambassador Name: David Francefort

TA Report: Huntington State Park

Date: May 8, 2011
Report Type: TA Report
Trail Name: Huntington State Park
Town: Bethel
Trail Conditions: Very good
Observations/Information: Paula and I rode Huntington on Sunday. We rode the Burn Loop, Big Boulder, South Pond, Rock and Roll and others. Trails are in great shape, well used, mostly clear of leaves, and barely a wet spot anywhere. Our bikes literally finished the ride cleaner than they started. Fun ride but uneventful from an ambassador standpoint. Buggy, though. Time to get out the repellant.
Trail Ambassador Name: Paula Burton, Glenn Vernes

TA Report: Bennetts Pond

Date: May 6, 2011
Report Type: TA Report
Trail Name: TA Report: Bennetts Pond



Town: Ridgefield
Trail Conditions: Mostly Dry, except some mud here and there

Observations/Information: Haven't ridden hear in over two years and finally had an opportunity to do so.  Bennetts is a diamond in the rough that many people overlook as a place to ride. Yes, the trails south of the pond suck but the trails on the other side are fantastic.

Trail Ambassador Name: Mark Lurie

TA Report: Hop River

Date: May 8, 2011
Report Type: TA Report
Trail Name: Hop River
Town: Vernon, Bolton, Andover, Columbia
Trail Conditions: Very good
Observations/Information: A Mother's Day ride with friend and TA Mike Lefevre, trail conditions very good and many bikers and joggers getting in a workout. The foliage is really starting to fill in! I noticed the 2.25 mile marker post #9 knocked over. Will need to be put back. Also came upon a biker at Bolton Notch, he had "blown out" the stem of his handlebars. Thinking it was a defect in the metal, very scary at least he was not injured. He phoned his wife for a ride out near the Bolton boat launch. The weather was fantastic.
Trail Ambassador Name: Peter Blume & Mike Lefevre

TA Report: Wilton Woods

Date: 5/8/2011
Report Type: TA Report
Trail Name: Wilton Woods
Town: WIlton
Trail Conditions: Dry
Observations/Information: Place is riding fast, almost all the wet areas are now completely dry with this long spell of sunny weather.

I test road the new trail re-route and wow it is going to have a lot of flow.
Trail Ambassador Name: David Francefort

TM Report: Mianus Park

   

Date: 5/7/2011
Report Type: TM Report
Trail Name: Mianus Park
Town: Stamford
Trail Conditions: Dry
Observations/Information: Monthly trail maintenance session, had a group of 10 including TA's Ryan Tucker, David Francefort and Rich Coffey.

 We had 3 projects we worked on today, blocking the braids on meander trail, which included adding choke stones and branches/leaves to define the trail better. Also a small crew hiked out and tackled a mud issue on cabin trail, which required rock armoring. The remainder of the crew hiked out to where the road has been washedd out by the drainage pipe and require rock fill and a lot of dirt. The grade has been brought back up with a grade dip which should slow the water flow and help in soil retention.
Trail Ambassador Name: Ryan Tucker, David Francefort, Rich Coffey

TA Report: West Rock State Park

Date: 4/7/11
Report Type: TA Report
Trail Name: West Rock State Park
Town: Hamden/New Haven
Trail Conditions: A bit damp, some mud puddles.
Observations/Information: I pulled into the parking lot at Lake Wintergreen and was pleased to see other mountain bikers, thinking maybe we could ride together. Then I saw them ride off, without helmets and one was talking on his cell phone. I have not been to the park for quite some time, the trails are very well used, numerous trail braids around mud and puddles (and I thought mountain bikes can ride through mud and water, mine did). I had a good ride, only one other mountain biker riding the other direction who did not stop to chat. The 'chance of thunder showers' materialized when I was on top of the mountain and turned to spotty showers once off the mountain and back at the parking lot.
Trail Ambassador Name: Ed Perten

TA Report: Waldo State Park

   

Date: 5-7-11
Report Type: TA Report
Trail Name: Waldo
Town: Southbury
Trail Conditions: Excellent
Observations/Information: Rode with CTNEMBA prez Mark Lurie. My first time on Waldo and I have to say that this trail is beautifully designed. Twisty and flowy. Some tech sections. Great climbs and some great scenery too. Really no maintanence to do other than reorganizing some rocks on an up and over.

We saw some people camping (a no no at Waldo) and reminded them politely of the no camping rule.
Trail Ambassador Name: Rick Brodsky

TA Report: Upper Gussy Trail

Date: May 6 2011
Report Type: TA Report
Trail Name: Upper Gussy Trail
Town: Newtown
Trail Conditions: Just fine
Observations/Information: Hit the Upper Gussy trail Friday. This was my first time alone and I did some exploring. Went in off the scenic road, all the way up the Gussy and took aleft on the dirt road. I went blazing down the hill and, bam, hit something sharp under the leaves with my rear wheel and pinch flatted my new $12 tube. Back down the Gussy took a little over an hour, tube change included.

The hallmark of the Gussy trail is the way it makes use of the contours of the land. There's really no prolonged climbing or descending, it rolls up and down, and around the small dips and rises. There are a fair number of log skinnies, and logs across the trail, each one carefully ramped with loose rocks. There are also a lot of small, sharp edged rocks sticking out of the ground- make sure your tires are aired up to prevent pinch flats.
Trail Ambassador Name: Glenn Vernes

TM Report: Wilton Woods

Date: 5/7/2011
Report Type: TM Report
Trail Name: Wilton Woods
Town: Wilton
Trail Conditions: Dry
Observations/Information: Hiked out from back lot to hang trail closure signs that were ripped down again. Also check to make sure that trails have remain closed. I then drove around to Bradley entrance and brought in chain saw and tools to cut up some logs to be used in closing the old section on the blue after the new re-route is opened. I also continued the bench cutting operation and got another 50 feet done.
Trail Ambassador Name: David Francefort

TA Report: Rocky Neck SP

State cleared out a bunch of fallen trees!

Date: 5/6/11
Report Type: TA Report
Trail Name: Rocky Neck SP
Town: East Lyme
Trail Conditions: Great!!
Observations/Information: Wasn't going to ride today but I kinda forced myself. Glad I did :). Stopped in the Ranger Station and chatted with the boss man there. Seems like a cool guy. Was very interested with a few ideas for moving or draining the really wet spots. Probably take till the fall to get every thing setup to readdy do any TM work there but it's a step in the right direction.
Rode around after just goofing off. The water systems are all on through out the park so I refilled my pack with fresh spring water. Yummy!! ;) Ran into a few other bikers toward the end. One was a total newbee and seemed to really like it!
State had gone through and taken out a few of the downed trees.

The usual Tour d Rocky Neck at EveryTrail

EveryTrail - Find the best Hiking near Hartford, Connecticut

Trail Ambassador Name: Thom Lamourine

TM Report: Daffy Duck Trail at Waldo

Date: May 6 2011
Report Type: TM Report
Trail Name: Daffy Duck Trail at Waldo
Town: Southbury
Trail Conditions: N/A
Observations/Information: Paula, Jim Marinelli and I worked on Paula's new Daffy Duck trail, a 2 mile trail at Waldo. The trail is not yet open and the location is a secret. We benched, cleared leaves, and moved rocks.
Trail Ambassador Name: Paula Burton, Glenn Vernes

TM Report: Wilton Woods

   

   

Date: 5/6/2011
Report Type: TM Report
Trail Name: Wilton Woods
Town: Wilton
Trail Conditions: Dry
Observations/Information: WCC changed their mind on a trail closure reacting to complaints from hikers, so I re-open a section of the back red trail and reblazed it orange. Then I tackled the trail re-route on the blue trail, continuing the full-benching of a couple hundred feet of trail. I have about 100 feet left to complete the project, I then plan on scheduling a full work detail to blaze the new trail and close the old trail. I also hike back out to the car and grab the chain saw and hiked back in to prep logs that will be used in building crib walls for the trail closure.
Trail Ambassador Name: David Francefort

TA Report: Upper Paugussett State Forest

Equine Evidence

Date: Cinco de Mayo, 2011

Prints

Report Type: TA Report
Trail Name: TA Report: Upper Paugussett State Forest
Town: Newtown, CT

Blue Crossed Roller

Trail Conditions: Mixed

Observations/Information: Some sloppiness still exists on the Poly Brody but still very rideable. The Gussy is really nice and dry. Some equine evidence abounds.