Naugatuck State Forest

Date: Nov. 24, 2013
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: Naugatuck State Forest
Town: Beacon Falls and Oxford
Trail Conditions: Dry and leafy
Observations/Information: I hiked the woods roads and trails from the "Big Rock" parking lot near the railroad tracks and headed over toward the reservoirs and returned via the flag overlook. The gate to the parking lot is open and the dirt road to drive there is in decent shape. The trails are generally clear of blowdowns. I was continually nipping back overhanging branches from beech trees, witch hazel shrubs, and mountain laurel. I cleared a couple of small blowdowns, maybe three inches in diameter. With so little rain lately, even trails that are running streams after a modest rain were dry. I picked up a bucket's worth of litter from the parking lot, which definitely had less trash than I have seen previously. There was some evidence of fresh ATV activity, and I heard an engine at one point, but did not see anyone. Other than two dog walkers near the parking lot, we had the place to ourselves. As always, be sure to bring a map because nothing is marked and it is VERY easy to get lost. Website: http://www.ct.gov/deep/lib/deep/stateparks/maps/NaugatuckEastWestBlocksTrailMap.pdf
Trail Ambassador Name: Tom Ebersold

West Rock Ridge SP

Date: Nov. 23, 2013
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: West Rock Ridge SP
Town: Hamden
Trail Conditions: Dry and mostly clear
Observations/Information: While leading a hike, I did some minor pruning along the Red Trail between Lake Wintergreen and the South Overlook. By the Lake Wintergreen parking lot, I also picked up two buckets of trash and a bag of recyclables. Someone has a fondness for vodka with their orange juice, as I found many bags (too many to haul away) with that combination. There is still a large oak tree on the Red Trail south of the main entrance, plus a smaller tree near the same area. These are remnants of Hurricane Sandy. I asked the state if they could clear them, as I leave the heavy clearing to the DEEP.
Trail Ambassador Name: Tom Ebersold

West Rock Ridge SP

Date: Oct. 12, 2013
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: West Rock Ridge SP
Town: Hamden
Trail Conditions: Dry and good to ride
Observations/Information: This was my first trip to West Rock for trail maintenance, since May. I walked the White Trail along the lake, and did some minor pruning along the way. I saw many dog walkers and a couple of bikers. Then I went off onto some non-biking trails to continue working. The trails were completely dry everywhere, so they are very rideable.
Trail Ambassador Name: Tom Ebersold

TM Report: River Highlands State Park

Date: 10/3/2013
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: River Highlands State Park
Town: Cromwell
Trail Conditions: Better
Observations/Information: Brother and I did some impromptu trail clearing at River Highlands Thursday afternoon. My plan was to reestablish the blue trail in the northern section of the park. This trail was pretty clear at each end but blocked in several places in the middle. It was passable but sketchy and had several quick and dirty reroutes around fallen trees. It wasn't much fun to ride, didn't get much use, and was becoming less and less of a trail. We cleaned up the reroutes and trimmed back brush growing into the corridor. The trail now flows uninterrupted from end to end. Hopefully more people will use it.

We also worked on the green trail through Sidewinder and the blue trail north of green, trimming brush and bent-over trees growing into the corridor.

River Highlands is a small place so every trail is important. Some of the lesser used trails are now more fun to ride and hopefully they'll get more use.
Trail Ambassador Name: Glenn Vernes

TM Report: Upper Paugussett State Forest

Date: 8/29/2013
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: Upper Paugussett State Forest
Town: Newtown, CT
Trail Conditions: Damp trail and greasy rocks
Observations/Information: Set out early Thursday morning before work to do a little clipping on the Gussy because it was getting shaggy in spots.

 

I concentrated on two main sections: The Log Ride Short and Winding Road (which needs cutting back yearly)

 

Got a good ride out of it, too!
Trail Ambassador Name: Mark Lurie
Trail Ambassador E-mail: ctnemba@gmail.com
How did you use the trail? MT Biking
Trails Ridden: Poly Brody, Upper Gussy
Time of day: Morning
Time/Duration (hours): 1.5
Approximate Distance (Miles): 5

TM Report: Bluff Point State Park

 

Date: 8/12/2013
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: Bluff Point State Park
Town: Groton
Trail Conditions: Getting better...
Observations/Information: Met up with Mark Sponauer this afternoon to tackle the tree removal that was supposed to happen on Friday. Equipment in hand we hiked out to the first tree. Once there we were dealt an unexpected obstacle...an uncooperative chainsaw. Undaunted Mark hoofed it back to the parking lot to grab his Jedi/ninja/samurai saw. Several quarts of sweat later we (Mark mostly) had the tree in pieces and out of the trail. Another hike to the far reaches of the park to confirm what I suspected...the second tree was too big for the hand saw. It was a nice evening so I decided to stay and do some gardening on sections of trail at the tail end of the MBAS loop and close to the parking lot.
Trail Ambassador Name: Cory Stiff, Mark Sponauer

TM Report: Bluff Point State Park

Date: August 3, 2013
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: Bluff Point State Park
Town: Groton
Trail Conditions: Good, dry.
Observations/Information: Cory and I met a Bluff to do TM Saturday morning. The event was listed on the Facebook page but we were the only ones to show. We worked hard for 4 hours and got a lot done. The plan was to trim back vegetation from the trail corridors in preparation for the MBAS event on August 18th. We successfully trimmed about 1/2 to 3/4 mile of trail, including one section open to sunlight that was barely passable.

The trails were dry and well ridden and, thanks to our work, less blocked with vegetation.
Trail Ambassador Name: Cory Stiff, Glenn Vernes

Bluff Point State Park, Trail Maintenance and Ride

l to r, Cory, Joe, Glenn, Jason, & Al

Date: 7/21/2013

Trail Name: Bluff Point State Park
Town: Groton
Trail Conditions: Bordering on overgrown...

Observations/Information: A nice sized group of folks ventured out to SE CT to help prepare for the upcoming MBAS at Bluff Point, 10 in all. After a brief thunderstorm the weather turned favorable. Mark "swore in" a new trail amabassador, Joe Whiting, and then we packed up a BOB trailer and headed out to clear some trail. The sections I had chosen didn't get much work last year so the vegetation was a little thick. We split into two groups and tamed a portion of trail that up until Sunday would leave the unsuspecting rider bloody from thorns and berry vines.

Guess what we have for lunch?

 After working on the trail for about 2hrs we headed back to the parking lot for a quick lunch.

 Most of us then went for a nice ride around the park, passing through the section of trail that we had cleared. Some sections remain tight as evidenced by the scratches most received.

Our newest TA Joe was bitten by a derailluer snake and both Mark and I ended up with flats...so pretty run of the mill for a ride at Bluff Point.


Trail Ambassador Name: Cory Stiff, Mark Lurie, Al Tinti, Jason Engelhardt, Glenn Vernes, Mark Sponauer, Joe Whiting
Trail Ambassador E-mail: cory @ ctnemba dot com
How did you use the trail? MT Biking
Trails Ridden: MBAS(ish) loop
Time of day: Morning
Time/Duration (hours): 2+ hrs
Approximate Distance (Miles): 6 miles

Rockland Preserve

Date: May 16th
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: Rockland Preserve
Town: North Madison
Trail Conditions: Excellent
Observations/Information: Walked in to the lower section of beyond thunderdome and repaired/finished the first of the three berms. THe existing berm wasn't finished and because of this the trail had a slightly awkward twist that begged folks to hit their brakes....

My new berm should ride, drain, and settle in well... it will certainly make this section faster, flowy and more fun.
Trail Ambassador Name: John Biehn

Upper Paugussett State Forest

These logs have been sitting here for months

Date: 5/07/2013
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: Upper Paugussett State Forest
Town: Newtown, CT
Trail Conditions: Bone Dry
Observations/Information: The only chance I have this weekend to do clear a blowdown on the Upper Gussy was early Tuesday morning.

While riding up the Forest Road I came across a hunter and we chatted a bit. Turns out Spring Turkey season is from April 25th to May 25th so if you are going to ride Upper P early in the morning I suggest that you wear something bright, maybe ride with a bell, and make sure your brakes don't squeak!

I started work on the blowdown and was able to get most of the small and medium stuff cleared but the big stuff is going to require a chainsaw, however, it's probably unnecessary at this point because it's clear enough to ride past.

Might make a nice skinny, skinny at some point. Did some clipping here and there along the rest of the trail.
Trail Ambassador Name: Mark Lurie
Trail Ambassador E-mail: ctnemba@gmail.com
How did you use the trail? MT Biking
Trails Ridden: Poly Brody, Upper Gussy
Time of day: Morning
Time/Duration (hours): 1.5
Approximate Distance (Miles): 6

West Rock Ridge SP

Date: May 4, 2013
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: West Rock Ridge SP
Town: Hamden/New Haven
Trail Conditions: Dry and good for riding
Observations/Information: I reblazed the entire Green Trail, which stretches from the Red Trail near the main entrance off Wintergreen Avenue to Judges Cave. This trail is not officially open to bicycling, but I am working on this. I submitted a plan to the state in 2011, asking this to be added to biking trails. Lori Lindquist, the then park supervisor, endorsed the plan, which still has to be approved by the DEEP's Trail Committee. This is very suitable for biking because it's a carriage road. It is also the only way to go by bike from the road to Judges Cave across the ridge to Baldwin Drive without descending all the way to the main entrance and street level. While out there, I found a bootleg trail that crossed the Green Trail. I blocked off what I could, but am sure if someone took the time to rake off the trail, they will return to clear it. The bootleg trail violates everything I learned about trail building from NEMBA. It's a sheer fall line trail that descends off the ridge and will erode in no time. Illegal trail builders need to recognize that the state considers such actions to be vandalism, as these efforts are not approved by the state. In my role as the volunteer trails manager at West Rock, I have approval for everything I have done.
Trail Ambassador Name: Tom Ebersold

TM Report: Mount Archer

Date: May 3rd 2013

Report Type: TM Report:

Trail Name: Mount Archer

Town: Lyme

Trail Conditions: awesome..
Observations/Information: Installed the first bridge for Mt Archer/Jewett Preserve today. The re route as far as I went up it looks great. Place should be all set for the Tour De Lyme rides...

Once again Parker Lord loaded up his truck and we drove the materials right to the site. some minor Rock work might need to be done leading up to the nose of the bridge as the lead in side is kinda high, but nothing to difficult.

pretty easy set up.
Trail Ambassador Name: Thom Lamourine, from the Town of Lyme - Parker Lord and Don Critchett

TM Report: Hartman Park

What it used to look like

what it looks like now....

Date: April 28, 2013
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: Hartman Park
Town: Lyme
Trail Conditions: GOOD!!
Observations/Information: Went in an built the bridge on the red trail today. Weather was perfect, people were perfect, bug spray worked perfect.. bridge went up perfect.. was just all around perfect :)

All meet at the new entrance area. hiked in with tools and such to not only assemble but clear some of the debris and stuff up stream to help keep the stream flowing instead of over flowing. Everyone worked on the bit of "foundations" work. Then Cory, Steve and Keith worked on benching and armoring the tiny re-route to the bridge to keep the trail on higher ground while Linda, Parker and myself assembles the decking and such of the actual bridge.

  

She's pretty solid now and even with next springs overflow the trail should stay pretty much dry!!

We took a bit of a ride up the red trail after...
Trail Ambassador Name: Cory Stiff, Keith Coughlin, Steve Eldridge, Linda Bireley, Parker Lord and Thom Lamourine

TM Report: Mount Archer

Date: Friday April 26, 2013
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: Mount Archer
Town: Lyme
Trail Conditions: ?
Observations/Information: Prepping for the Tour de Lyme. have a rather wet area that we needed to cross down at the bottom of Mt Archer (Pleasant Valley/Jewett property sections) After we walked it last week they went in and cut a new section instead of building a bunch of bridges and boardwalks but still has one stream crossing so we needed a bridge.... material was delivered and so I prepped another bridge. :)

Trail Ambassador Name: Thom Lamourine

TM Report: Hartman Park

Date: April 24, 2013
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: Hartman Park
Town: East Lyme
Trail Conditions: nice!!
Observations/Information: today was SUPER productive! thinking like a 1/2 dozen towns people showed up!

Took the materials up this morning on a trailer and dropped it at the new access tail/road entrance. Parker and myself started cutting and clearing the access road with the chain saw and when the rest arrived they jumped right in clearing the smaller material out so we could drive the truck in. Few broke off and went up and finished clearing the Re-route I had flagged on the red trail. and the moved the trail markers and blocked off the old section.

I headed down to the stream with a metal pry bar and opened up the water flow making it more a river than a flood zone. Still more to do in the area but it's really drying out now in the overflow areas.

They got the road/trail cleared and we went up, loaded the truck and drove it in.

everything is all set for Sunday morning!!!
(if you are coming sunday BRING BUG SPRAY!!!)

Trail Ambassador Name: Thom Lamourine and from the town of Lyme, Linda Bireley, Parker Lord, Mac Godley, Paul Parulis, Diana Boehning, Marta Cone,
Tina Kozlowski.

TM Report: Hartman Park

Date: April 20, 2013
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: Hartman Park
Town: East Lyme
Trail Conditions: un known
Observations/Information: So yesterday afternoon the Lumber truck dropped off the first load of materials for the Bridges We'll be doing in Lyme. This one is going into Hartman Park on the red trail about a 1/2 mile north of the field. town is actually cutting a road/trail in to get it in there :)

My brother showed up today (all in dress clothes LOL ) and decided when he saw it that he'd help pre-cut and test fit it with me... so.. here it is all ready to go :)

thinking next Sunday for install but not 100% on that yet. If anyone is interested in helping screw it all together :)



Trail Ambassador Name: Thom Lamourine

TM Report: Hartman Park

Date: April 15, 2013
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: Hartman Park
Town: Lyme
Trail Conditions: good.
Observations/Information: Walked the proposed sections of the Red trail where I need to access to get the bridge in... not only was it approved but they actually want to make it semi permanent as the multi town parks are looking to tie a salem park into Hartman and it's near perfect access. So I don't have to hide it after work is done... Bonus!!

then we went to the bridge location and that was approved and material list has been made.. thinking 2 weekends from now assembly if people want to help. going to be the actual bridge and some stone work on and around to clear the stream and set better footings for the bridge it's self.

Then walked the red trail re-route which is basically approved along the flagging.
Trail Ambassador Name: Thom Lamourine, from the Town of Lyme- Linda Bireley, Parker Lord

TM Report: Hartman Park

Date: April 10th 2013
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: Hartman Park
Town: Lyme
Trail Conditions: good mostly
Observations/Information: Killing 2 birds with one stone this morning...
Cory got some flags and left them for me at Hartman. This morning I went out and marked up a trail reroute (more just a shift to the left a bit ) to avoid a mud bog in the red trail just north of the field.

Basically just sliding the trail up 20-25 ft up the grade instead of it running right along the river's edge. I did try and add a bit of rolling to the grade so it should have no issues draining. It's difficult there as you can't bench cut or do any real ground work as it's pretty much solid stone 2 inches under the top soil. :( Hopefully can get the town's approval next week and actually have it done a few days after as most of it is just raking out the dead fall and leaves...

We are also getting ready to put in another bridge across the stream right on the north western corner of the park on the red trail. issue is getting the material in to the site. But I think I have a rather easy way in that seems to actually be an old wagon road as the grade is perfect, and again some minor dead fall clearing and it should be an easy trek into the site. Hoping with approval and obtaining materials we can install that before the end of the month... anyone want to do some trail work? :)

Hartman re-route & bridge  at EveryTrail

EveryTrail - Find the

best trails near Hartford, Connecticut

Oh... the annoying Bungie bugs are out!!!!!
Bungie bug = little black flies who bounce right in front of you like they are tied to bungies hanging off your helmet

Trail Ambassador Name: Thom Lamourine

TM Report: Rockland Preserve

 

Date: 4/7/2013
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: Rockland Preserve
Town: Madison, CT
Trail Conditions: Dry and even a little dusty
Observations/Information: CT NEMBA's Spring Trail Building seminar was held today for Rockland Preserve.

There were 12 new Trail Ambassadors trained up and released onto CT Trails today.

After lunch we headed into Preserve and around 10 guys and myself benched a 300' section of Trail that is essentially a singletrack alternative to the orange trail which is more of a hiking trail.

At the end of our benched trail a really nice bermed turn was created.

Jon Peterson was there making skinnies. Some really fantastic work is going into these!

 

Trail Ambassador Name: Mark Lurie
Trail Ambassador E-mail: ctnemba@gmail.com
How did you use the trail? Hiking/Walking
Trails Ridden:
Time of day: Afternoon
Time/Duration (hours): 2
Approximate Distance (Miles): 2

TM Report: Tyler Mill

Date: March 31, 2013
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: Tyler Mill
Town: Wallingford
Trail Conditions: Good
Observations/Information: Brother and I hiked into Tyler Mill Easter morning. My main reason for going was to re-familiarize myself with the trails, but we brought saw and loppers and did corridor clearing along the way.

We parked in the lot at the end of Maltby Rd and went in the unmarked singletrack just off the dirt road there. This is a short twisty section with good flow that is sustainably built except for one short fall-line section. The trail was clear for the most part but we removed sticks and prickers where necessary. I found that by grabbing the prickers by the stem (with gloves, obviously) you can pull them out roots and all- probably the best way to obliterate them.

We then hiked the purple trail and continued the clearing where necesary. This trail also has good flow and even some well-built stunts (log-over and skilly) and two optional hucks near the end. We cleared a dead cedar that was blocking the trail just above the hucks. This trail was also dry except for one short section.

The trails at Tyler Mill have gotten some favorable attention lately. Blazes have ben painted and new well-built bridges have been put over the (many) wet areas. A few sections of trail look like they're just too hard to keep clear and have been abandoned.

The trails we hiked were well-ridden. I came away with a new respect for a place I had written off as having nothing but muddy, old-school crud. I'll be going back with the bike, soon.
Trail Ambassador Name: Glenn Vernes