West Rock Ridge SP

Date: Nov. 28, 2011
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: West Rock Ridge SP
Town: Hamden
Trail Conditions: Generally clear, but muddy in spots
Observations/Information: As a reminder, be sure to do a tick check and take a shower as soon as you arrive home. Yesterday, I pulled a tick off my back that looks like a female deer tick (the bad kind that carry Lyme Disease). I most likely picked up this tick while helping my brother clear some invasive plants from his yard (No good deed goes unpunished), and did only a quick tick check afterwards, and held off on the shower because I was road biking later on. I brought the tick to the Milford Health Dept. (where I live), which is sending it to the state Department of Health for testing (no charge to me). In the meantime, I will watch for symptoms, and any changes to the bite area. Fortunately, the tick came out easily and did not look like it had begun to feed. When I came back from this trail session, I did my tick check and headed straight for the shower. No ticks.
Back to my trail report. I did a circuit on mostly non-biking trails to continue the storm cleanup. Trails generally were clear, other than some minor blowdowns. I walked the White Trail from Purple back to Lake Wintergreen. There are numerous muddy spots, plus some soggy areas, and the watercourse at White and Purple had some water in it. Until I get around to doing a reroute in 2012, be prepared to get muddy. This trail violates the major principles of sustainable trail design as I learned from IMBA. The surface is soft, organic matter. The trail is laid out at the bottom of the ridge on flat ground with no place for water to run off.
Trail Ambassador Name: Tom Ebersold

Trail Ambassador E-mail: bikehikekayak123 [at] sbcglobal [dot] net
How did you use the trail? Hiking/Walking
Trails Ridden: White, etc.
Time of day: Afternoon
Time/Duration (hours): 2
Approximate Distance (Miles): 3
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