Trumbull-Pequonnock

Date: Dec. 2, 2012
Report Type: TA Report:
Trail Name: Trumbull-Pequonnock
Town: Trumbull
Trail Conditions: Clear of blowdowns
Observations/Information: The trail gnomes have been extremely busy. The trails are clear of blowdowns, and, in fact, have been raked clear of leaves as well. There are assorted muddy spots, but more and more armoring is evident. The bridge over the river from the Blue Trail to the railroad bed is tilted at a 30 degree angle, so that crossing is effectively gone. Further south, I spotted a kiosk that said Indian Caves floating in the river. The blazes are fresh on the trails, so they are mostly easy to follow. The new NEMBA boardwalk is looking good. Feel free to move some rocks from the pile just north of the boardwalk to fill in the muddy spots. I nipped a few overhanging branches, so cyclists can ride without getting a free dental flossing.
Trail Ambassador Name: Tom Ebersold

TM Report: Trumbull-Pequonnock

Date: April 7, 2012
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: Trumbull-Pequonnock
Town: Trumbull
Trail Conditions: Excellent!
Observations/Information: ctnemba.ta_report@blogger.com
TA Report: Pequonnock River Valley (aka Trumbull) 4-7-12

Narrowed an ever-widening connector trail along Copper Creek between the White and the Blue Trail. Benched then added leaf cover to narrow. It's now tight and slightly winding - should be fun to bomb...

Meet quite a few biker and hikers - It was a great day - sunny >> shorts and t-shirt weather!

Before and after PICs on the TTC site
http://www.vizettes.com/ttc/concerns-projects/coopercreekConnector/index.htm
Trail Ambassador Name: Rich C

Trumbull-Pequonnock

Date: 4/4/12
Report Type: TA Report:
Trail Name: Trumbull-Pequonnock
Town: Trumbull
Trail Conditions: Excellent
Observations/Information: We started at the beginning of the railroad bed in Trumbull, rode to Old Mine Park and I was shown many new single tract trails. Some were flowing, some technical, some mixed, there has been much trail construction going on. Most of the trails were unmarked.
Trail Ambassador Name: Ed Perten

TM Report: Trumbull-Pequonnock

Date: 3-24-12
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: Trumbull-Pequonnock
Town: Trumbull
Trail Conditions: Great!
Observations/Information: Beautiful day in the Park - weather was a bit overcast most of the time but the trails were dry and compacted and the temps were hot enough for shorts.
Surprisingly there were very few bikers in the park but I saw a lot of hikers.
Spent a good portion of the morning doing TM, adding knicks here and there where needed, using my rogue hoe to fine tune a couple of spots that needed further benching in, etc.
Took a midday break to work with the Town Historian and Nature Guru to discuss content for the new kiosk. I am working with the Town on this and we hope to have it updated soon.
Came back and rode for a couple of hours after the discussion. Once again I met mostly hikers on the trails.
+++++++++++++++
Disappearing Curves (WTF?)
I see this all the time (I'm sure a lot of us do) and it's tiresome to combat...
It's amazing how many curves are constantly cut tight or even braided entirely by the unthinking "fast rider". If this occurs on a hill-- whatever was built to deflect water, turns gradually into a drain - a straight downhill fall line.
Even on flatter ground, cutting curves turns a fun flowy riding experience (when you need to watch ahead for every nuanced curve) into a boring and dull straightaway. It dumbs down the whole single track experience.

Please pass the word that cutting corners is bad and we ALL lose in the long-run from it.
Trail Ambassador Name: Rich C

TM Report: Trumbull-Pequonnock

Date: 3-17-12
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: Trumbull-Pequonnock
Town: Trumbull
Trail Conditions: decent
Observations/Information: First official TTC session of the year. Once again--sadly- we had a meager turnout but we at least accomplished what we had planned.

Joined by FC NEMBA armoring master, Dave Francefort we turned the ever-widening mud hole at the South End into an armored tight single track.

Before and after PIC says it all.

Further Details on the TTC Site >
http://www.vizettes.com/ttc/concerns-projects/se-mudspot/se-mudspot.htm
Trail Ambassador Name: Rich Coffey, Dave FranceFort

TM Report: Trumbull-Pequonnock

Date: Feb 4 and Feb 5
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: Trumbull-Pequonnock
Town: Trumbull
Trail Conditions: Great (Dry)
Observations/Information: Friggin' awesome weather for Feb -- Had to get out! Did a quick loop thru the park. The Cooper Creek was especially vivid today.

Trails were nice and dry with the exception of the Blue in the Serengeti (isn't it always crap in there!). Snapped a few photos of the disaster area. I'm working with the Town and State to get boardwalks in there - the photo says it all!
Locked my bike back on the roof rack at Whitney and hiked back in and touched up the Blazing on the Yellow until I ran out of paint. Also blocked a few potential bootleg shortcuts by the river.
The trails were great but only saw a few hikers and bikers. Surprising, considering the weather...
++++++++++++
Returned on Sunday for a marathon TM session. Noticed trail gnomes have been productive all over the park! Improved drainage on the armoring they did on the Blue near the awesome log stunt.
Then headed up to to Red and built a couple of Rolling Grade dips on steep section that descends to the Copper Creek. It's starting to turn into a ditch.
Talked to a few hikers and bikers but still not that much traffic considering the day was gorgeous.
Trail Ambassador Name: Rich C

Trumbull-Pequonnock

Date: 1-22-12
Report Type: TA Report:
Trail Name: Trumbull-Pequonnock
Town: Trumbull
Trail Conditions: Snow
Observations/Information: Took the Hard Tail over to Trumbull, thinking it might be ridable. When I got there even the Rail Trail was still covered in 5-6 inches of snow and only marked with XC ski tracks. Not being a die-hard pioneer eager to slice though virgin snow, I opted to hike in instead. A brief hike to the North Bridge gave me a pretty good overview of the conditions. SNOW!!

I snapped a few photos with my cell phone near the Coyote Crossing. It was beautiful even though the sky was gray. Said hello to a few XC skiers and snowshoers but never saw a biker.  

This place gets a lot of traffic so soon enough, the trails will be packed down but for a short time XC skiing will be the norm...
Trail Ambassador Name: Rich C

Trumbull-Pequonnock

Date: Jan. 15, 2012
Report Type: TA Report:
Trail Name: Trumbull-Pequonnock
Town: Trumbull
Trail Conditions: Frozen solid, but no blowdowns
Observations/Information: I was surprised to see a complete lack of blowdowns in the Pequonnock Valley, as blowdowns have been a continual problem almost everywhere I have hiked. I was not happy to see the inroads the woolly adelgid have been making as far as slowly killing off the numerous hemlock trees in the area. The hemlocks are definitely showing signs of stress, as evidenced by the lack of needles on the lower branches. Once they die, it will create a huge mess of falling trees, as happened at Westwoods and West Rock. Everything is frozen solid and there are numerous spots with petrified bike tracks. I took the White-Yellow-Red-Blue Trails. The markings were generally easy to follow, although we did have a few instances of head scratching where some blazes could be added. The only trail work I did was cutting back a couple of multi-flora rose bushes in the reservoir bed area. There were a few dog walkers, plus one very brave biker on a day that showed 19 degrees on a bank clock when I left at 3 p.m.
Trail Ambassador Name: Tom Ebersold

TM Report: Trumbull-Pequonnock

Date: 12-3-11
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: Pequonnock River Valley
Town: Trumbull
Trail Conditions: Wet in Lower Areas, Dry on the Ridge
Observations/Information: Finally had a moment to return to the trails (it's been over 6 weeks!). I met Steve McAllister at the Daniels Farm and we hiked in to scout out conditions on the connector trail between the Yellow (Mullholland) and the Main Blue/White.
In our walk in, much of the lower areas were still muddy and leaf cover naturally was everywhere.
Prepared to see a soggy, rough rock washout; our destination the trail was actually fairly dry and in good shape.
It looked like the rock strewn short climb on the curb was "readjusted" for a nicer ride. Pleasantly surprised to not have to resort to build a reroute (our original intention), we just dug out a few knicks where needed on the lower stretch.
We then walked back to the lot and headed up to Whitney to knick and bench a few spots that I remembered were getting kinda funky. I knew the trail I had built in the early fall had a narrow section I wanted to widen but upon arrival, I noticed riderrs had already cut a small shortcut there so I just benched the shortcut a little better. (Being Trumbull, it was best to simply fix the shortcut then to try and block it--especially since it was only a few feet long. )
I took a short break from the Park to stop over at John Lauria's. He had a copy of the Fairfield County Weekly that featured a real nice photo spread of the Valley hike I co-lead back in Oct. 85 plus people showed up for that! It turns out (as I found out later), the magazine is also available over at the Corner Deli if any one is interested.
After finishing up some other TM near the Whitney Lot, we rode for a couple of hours. The weather had warmed up considerably. We hit the Red Trail (north of the Copper Creek) and rode the Yellow slab rock trail thru the Central Maze, Trails were dry up on the ridge. Surprisingly there were hardly any riders in the park!
I'll notify the Town re the Blowdown up north where the Red meets the White - there's a braid there now but it's still best to get this one cleared. Other fallen trees along the Red were cut or had real nice stone-assisted up and overs.
Fun ride / great weather -especially considering it's Dec!
Trail Ambassador Name: Rich C

Trumbull-Pequonnock

Blockage on the Yellow Trail

Date: 2011-11-05
Report Type: TA Report:
Trail Name: Pequonnock River Valley
Town: Trumbull

Sizeable branches blocking the first right
after the picnic tables

Trail Conditions: Some mud, trail blockages here and there
Observations/Information: Yellow trail after second stream crossing is majorly blocked. First right turn after the picnic tables is blocked, too. Little blockage on the Southern section of the Rusty River Trail. Many muddy spots that either need nicks or armoring.

End of the Red Trail near the white and the park

Trail Ambassador Name: Mark Lurie
Trail Ambassador E-mail: ctnemba@gmail.com

Cool looking challenge feature

How did you use the trail? MT Biking
Trails Ridden: Blue, Red, Yellow, White, Purple (future), Orange (future)
Time of day: Morning

Doh!  Fail!

Time/Duration (hours): 2.5
Approximate Distance (Miles): 8

TM Report: Trumbull-Pequonnock

Date: 9-17-11
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: Pequonnock River Valley
Town: Trumbull
Trail Conditions: Dry
Observations/Information: The Joint TTC / FCNEMBA-sponsored Trail Work Session today focused on building a berm on the Red Trail. Last July we worked with the Freeriders to build a reroute and this session was a follow up to enhance the long downhill ride and more effectively close the washed-out gullied fall line our collaborative reroute was built to avoid.

The assembled team brainstormed and thought a berm might be the best solution. The large rocks were moved with a rock crib (netting and poles) and made a super-solid foundation for the berm. We were blessed with an abundance of Grade A mineral soil available nearby and this was tightly packed in.

With this berm in place, the downhill run is even faster now and the kicker and rock bridge that follow make a fun ride on a solid sustainable solution. The sharp turn at that bottom may choke a few less technical riders ("moi!") but this is a Freerider-inspired Red Trail - not for the faint at heart.

BTW: There should be an article with more photos on Trumbull Patch shortly - we had an unsolicited reporter with us on the project!
Trail Ambassador Name: Rich C, D Francefort, K and R Tucker, C Keczkemethy

TM Report: Trumbull-Pequonnock

   

   

Date: 9-5
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: Pequonnock River Valley
Town: Trumbull
Trail Conditions: Semi Dry
Observations/Information: Blowdowns From Irene - The Blue Trail got Hammered!
Got a chance to ride the park in the morning and check out the Blowdowns from Irene. Both Steve M and Cara (Trumbull Girlz) had scouted out the park earlier so I had a clue where the fallen trees were. I had also coordinated with a couple of locals to clear what they could. Fortunately, the Good Samaritans / Trail Gnomes have been busy and most of the issues in the south part of the park have been eliminated.
LINK >> http://www.vizettes.com/ttc/concerns/blowdowns/blowdowns.htm
also PIC> redtrail-upandovers.jpg

But there are some massive fallen trees still on the Blue right over where we did our armoring job back in May. The Braid that has inevitably formed goes straight thru the swamp and the tree is now actually over the river and started to clog debris floating downstream.
PIC>bluetrailBlowdowns2.jpg
PIC>bluetrailBlowdownsBlocked.jpg
PIC>bluetrailBlowdownsRiver.jpg

The other massive blowdown remaining is up by the Indian Ledge Town Park at the trailhead of the Blue. I have contacted the Town (who normally handles the big stuff like this) and hope they can at least take care of this one near the Town Park. They responded that other residential and commercial areas with blowdowns obviously take precedence.
Trail Ambassador Name: Rich C

Trumbull-Pequonnock

   

Date: 9-4
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: Pequonnock River Valley
Town: Trumbull
Trail Conditions: Varied
Observations/Information: New Trail Connector to the North Bridge

I spent some time last month (when time permitted) to build a new trail connecting the Rail Trail to the North Bridge and finished it on Sunday. The second alt route to the Bridge (besides the popular northern wash out) was a fall line as well and needed rerouting. Built to sustianable standards, the new trail is a fast bomb down and an easy ascent up. I noticed many tire treads on it early Monday morning so it seems to be assimilating into the Network very quickly.
PIC > nbridgeNewTrail1.jpg
PIC >nbridgeNewTrail2.jpg

Mini Map Here > http://www.vizettes.com/ttc/concerns-projects/nb-connector/nb-connector.htm

Trail Ambassador Name: Rich C

Trumbull-Pequonnock

Date: 8/30/2011
Report Type: TA Report:
Trail Name: Trumbull
Town: Trumbull
Trail Conditions: Lots of debris on trails- derailleur grinders
Observations/Information: Seven of us, led by Cara and Jon, rode and stopped a lot to pick up sticks and clear brush.
Trail Ambassador Name: Paula Burton

Trumbull-Pequonnock

Date: 8/10/11
Report Type: TA Report:
Trail Name: Trumbull
Town: Duh, Trumbull!
Trail Conditions: A little slick
Observations/Information: Paula and I rode Trumbull Wednesday night. Paula rode the rescheduled Girls Ride and I did the unofficial Dudes Ride. Trails were damp but not muddy, and traction hard to find, espescially on the slick roots and damp rocks, of which there are many. We rode the Slick Rock, Mulholland Drive, and the new reroute. We saw many other riders, amd it was dark in the woods by quarter-to-eight.

Trumbull has been a popular area for a long time, and the trails are pretty beat up as a relult, with lots of erosion and lines going every which way. But good work is being done to make the place not only more sustainable but a better place to ride. The new reroute, for example, is both more fun and more challenging than the old line, leaving no excuse to take the old one.
Trail Ambassador Name: Paula Burton, Glenn Vernes

Trumbull-Pequonnock

This is Prudence

Date: 7/23/2011
Report Type: TA Report:
Trail Name: Pequonnock River Valley
Town: Trumbull
Trail Conditions: Bone Dry
Observations/Information: Been a while since I last visited P-Valley. My last attempt resulted in a broken chain not a 100 yards in and a walk of shame back to the lot.  There is a new route across the stream by the jeep trail that I am surprised took this long to develop.

Nice ride in the Valley. Met a few Doggers including Prudence and her dog Jake who I run into all the time. Down along the blue trail, however, one woman was letting her pitbull run free and the dog nearly bit me.

Riding back to where she was I told her that her dog almost bit me and needs to be on a leash. The dog was a rusty color should you ever encounter it again.

The New Re-Route of the Old Re-Route on the Red Trail looks great! The TTC et al did a great job with the flow except choked at the end near the stream crossing. I would have made the turn higher up so as to have a smoother transition to the stream or just drive straight into the stream and build up a little stone ramp, or build a board walk.

Looks like there is new blow down on the red trail just past the Swamp Roller. A PP is starting to emerge around it and looking at it, it will be big job to open up. Would make a nice skinny, though.

Also, the armoring on the blue trail down by the stream is awesome.

In the ledges section, near the cave, I found a fire pit with a lot of trash. It's really sad that this still happens.

Trail Ambassador Name: Mark Lurie

Trumbull-Pequonnock

Date: 7-17-11
Report Type: TM Report
Trail Name: Pequonnock River Valley
Town: Trumbull
Trail Conditions: Excellent - Nice and Dry
Observations/Information: Dave got there super early and raked out a better curve south of the rock. Steve and I met at 9 am in the Daniels Farm Lot and talked bit with the Freeriders in the parking lot, They had done a huge amount of work on the section on the previous Wed. and said they'd stop by a little later to help out.
Steve and I walked in with the tools (although I had stashed some things velcroed to my bike when I rode in briefly the the night before). Dave was busy benching when we arrived.
Dave had to cut out a little early and the Freerider entourage came by just after he left. They loved the "corrected curve" that Dave put in south of the big rock. The Freeriders helped out a lot by moving a large amount of deadfall to define the new line and block the old. [I made sure they understood to keep it elevated so water won't channel.]
 After a bit, they zoomed out on their big bikes all getting air on the kicker we featured at the top, and Steve and I continued with benching and reclamation. It was agreed that they (the Freeriders) will continue to refine the trail over the days ahead (touching up the berms, better defining the lower section. etc.). We may return in a month or so to do further reclamation.
This section has a lot of flow now and a few nice terrain challenges. Hopefully everyone should be happy...and this sustainable reroute--spearheaded by the Freeriders--will settle in, trouble-free from this point on...
Trail Ambassador Name: Rich C, Dave Francefort

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

TM Report: Trumbull-Pequonnock

Date of Activity: Saturday, June 18th, 2011
Condition of Trails: Damp but Rideable (rocks and roots still slippery)
Location: Pequonnock Valley State Forest
Another beautiful day best spent outside! I've disbanded the TTC Monthlies because too much else was going on in Trail Work, etc. this month so today I hiked in solo.
Back in January when the TTC met with The Trumbull Parks Commission, they asked us to improve the blazing. Today's TM was focused on adding adequate blazing on the both the Blue and the White Trail north of the Serengeti.

Rapelers

I hiked in from the North End and said hi to a couple of rapelers off the rail trail. Once across the bridge. I had to hobble around a blowdown where you make the turn south onto the Blue. Once past, I proceeded to blaze and trim a few spots here and there . It was muggy and the rock and roots were very slippery but the trails were surprisingly not that muddy considering the deluge we had this week.

serengeti-jungle

I continued on the all along the river and once at the Serengeti, I forged into the jungle where the Blue cuts a muddy path across a marshy tall grassland. I trimmed a lot but its kind of a hopeless here as the plant growth is so spectacular along this section, it may close in again in a couple of weeks.

TurtleRock

Circling back on the Sandy Rim trail (past the Gap Jump), I picked up blazing the white when I got near the Pine Forest area above Turtle Rock. This area of barren pine forest floor is a hodgepodge of trails every which way but I merely beefed up the white blazes someone had thoughtfully put here last year. The White is now blazed and trimmed all the way up past the playground.
Feeling mighty grubby at this point, I sauntered back to the car, downed a burger and beer at a nearby deii and returned to ride 1/2 hour later.
I made it a quickie ride, south on the White and then up to the Central Maze to ride the Slick Rock Trail (it was still a bit slippery).

blowdown.jpg

There were a couple of HUGE blowdowns near the flowy trail that descends northward to the Orange Stream. I ran into my friend Steve McAllister at the stream and he agreed to snap a few shots of the blowdowns. TTC -affiliated locals were notified to take care of these - and if they prove too formidable, I'll ask the Town to finish it up. It's amazing the power of heavy rain and winds - the trunks on these fallen trees were massive.

Trail Ambassador: Rich C

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