Conn. AT Trail Conditions

[Migrating Bird]

I hiked from NY/CT State Line, Hoyt Rd. to the CT/MA State Line, Sages Ravine starting on Sunday, April 12th. late in the day and finishing Friday, April 17th. The entire trail was very dry. I only encountered 1 small patch of snow. I had dry feet the entire hike. As this was my first hike of the season carrying a full pack and I took the week off I was in no particular hurry. I only saw 3 hikers carrying full packs and less than 20 day hikers even though the weather was perfect. I carried my hammock for this trip.

4/12 Hike from Hoyt Rd to Ten Mile River Campsite, 3 miles. The campsite was vacant, both rivers were at flood stage.

4/13 Hike from Ten Mile River Campsite to Mt. Algo shelter, 8.2 miles plus the blue blaze to Bulls Bridge. As the Housatonic river was at it's highest point of the season, I wanted to see the water flowing at Bulls Bridge, (covered bridge). I was not disappointed.

4/14 Hike from Mt. Algo to Silver Hill Campsite, 10.5 miles, brief rain shower during the night ended by 8:00am. I made a quick dash into Kent for breakfast and to swap out some food as the food I had packed hadn't agreed with me. The decent from St. Johns Ledge was very slow as last years leaves covered the rocks. I met two other overnight hikers on the decent who were taking it very slow. The highlight was seeing a bald eagle land in a tree along the river walk. The pump was working at Silver Hill Campsite although the water was rust colored even after filtering, so I did not use it. What a great campsite, with pavilion, swing, tables and deck.

4/15 Silver Hill Campsite to West Cornwall Rd. 5.5 miles, plus .5 miles for the high water detour. As long as I had to take the detour, I walked down the hill to gas station for a snack. I was still not feeling well at all, so when I reached West Cornwall Rd., I hitched back to Kent. Easy hitch, 2 quick rides and I was in Kent. I stayed at the Fife'n Drum. I was having trouble adjusting to trail food and was just nauseous and feeling flat.

4/16 West Cornwall Rd. to Rt 44 Salisbury 16 Miles. Easy hitch back to the trailhead, one ride. Back on the trail by 7:45 and feeling much better. There was not much going on at Limerock race track, so the hike was really peacefull. I did not see anyone on the trail except for a couple of day hikers just south of Falls Village. I detoured into Falls Village to visit with Denny and Dave Jacobs at Jacobs Garage. I had purchased a new snow plow from them and took the opportunity to stop by and say hi. I then hiked on to Rt 44. As mentioned above, the only snow I encountered on the trail was a small 20' patch at the edge of the meadow on Prospect Mt. I called Maria to see if she was open for hikers yet. She was, what a great experience meeting her and staying at her home. She really goes out of her way to help hikers even at 85 yrs. old. We didn't eat dinner until 9:00 pm and I did not get to bed until 10:30 her stories were so interesting.

4/17 Rt. 44 to Sages Ravine, 7.5 miles. plus 3.2 miles on the Paridise Lane & Undermountian Trails to Rt.41. The day started off rainy and was overcast the whole day. At one point the fog was blowing up slope through the trees was stunning. Although not crystal clear, the views from Lions Head and Bear Mt. were beautiful. I was very disappointed to see that the Riga Shelter had sustained significant fire damage. It is still functional, but one of the front support posts was left hanging as the base and completely burned away. From the evidence, it appears that the fire was un-intentional as dirt was packed into the burn site to put it out. I don't stay in shelters as many do but to see one of the most beautiful shelters in CT damaged was disturbing. I was concerned that ice would still be present on the north side of Bear Mt. but there was none, however, the rain overnight was enough to make the decent, well interesting. The trail is sustaining significant damage on the steep section as hikers have widened the trail by trying to circumvent the ledges. Perhaps it is time for some rebar or steps. I circled back to the Undermountian Trail via the Paradise Lane Trail and onto Rt. 41. Note: I did not go all the way through Sages Ravine, but I'm confident it is still ice and snow covered as there was a significant snow pack this year.

Summary, I was very lucky, the weather was spot on, lows in the mid 20's and highs in the 60's. The trail was scary dry although all brooks and springs were running strong. Wildlife spotted, were: 2 deer, and 2 kill sites where deer hair was spread all over. 1 Bald Eagle, 1 falcon, 1 Male bluebird (Kent), 3 garter snakes, 1 red eft, 1 deer tick on pants, 1 partridge.
I found the people in Kent to be very friendly and more than helpful. Easy in/out to resupply. The treadway was mainly leaf covered and quite slippery in spots and nearly non-existant due to the lack of hiker traffic.

[tiptoe]

Nice report, and I'm glad you had a good hike despite feeling not so good at the start.

[Just Tom]

Thanks for the report. Going out next weekend, and this gives me confidence.

Question for you, was the pump at 10-mile river working?

[Sarcasm the elf]

Sounds like I just missed meeting you by a day or so. I did the 36 mile A.T./Mohawk Trail Loop Friday-Sunday. I was surprised by how dry the trail was at the time. I expect that the conditions are quite different today with the torrential rains that the state received over the last couple of days. As you said, the treadway is still covered over in leaves and while there were a few blowdowns here and there I thought that overall it was in excellent condition for early spring.

[Driver8]

I was out that way Saturday, linking up a couple of gaps I hadn't hikes before on the trail. Did the "derailment stretch" of the trail in Falls Village - you can still easily make out where the derailment happened a decade ago. Then drove to Bulls Bridge and hiked south to the summit of Tenmile Hill and back - the Housy and Tenmile River were a couple feet down from peak but still frothy and loud.

Lots of ppl were out hiking on the beautiful Saturday. Still lots of leaves. I hope to finish the stretch from the base of St. John's Ledges to Hang Glider Point in the next couple months, thus finishing CT.

[Driver8]

PS: I also visited the Fife n' Drum for dinner after hike. One of my favorite places.

[Madpaddy]

Great report!! My wife and I really enjoyed the AT in CT....we went thru there several years back in the fall. We are in the Landscaping business and loved seeing some of the largest White Pine trees we have ever seen...definitely leftover remnants of old growth forest in some section even right along the trail. Surprising to hear it was so dry along the trail after such a tough winter, but great to hear you had the best time and took your time too taking it all in.

[Migrating Bird]

Thanks for the report. Going out next weekend, and this gives me confidence.

Question for you, was the pump at 10-mile river working?

Yes the pump is working and the water was tasty. I did not mention it as when I wrote the report. Please note, the pump is at the shelter not the campsite which is about .2 miles south of the campsite. Sorry for the omission. The pump also works at Silver Hill Campsite, but after filtering the water it turned a pleasing shade of orange (read rust) as the day went on. As there were better sources available, I dumped it out.

[Migrating Bird]

Sounds like I just missed meeting you by a day or so. I did the 36 mile A.T./Mohawk Trail Loop Friday-Sunday. I was surprised by how dry the trail was at the time. I expect that the conditions are quite different today with the torrential rains that the state received over the last couple of days. As you said, the treadway is still covered over in leaves and while there were a few blowdowns here and there I thought that overall it was in excellent condition for early spring.

Hey Elf, It would have been really neat to meet up. I also was amazed that the trail was so dry. I was really concerned with someone starting a fire, it was that dry. I think I counted 4 blowdowns all of which were easily stepped over except one large one in a little draw on the north side of Prospect Mt. which required a little climbing to get over, I hate going off the trail and widening/changing the threadway.

[Migrating Bird]

Great report!! My wife and I really enjoyed the AT in CT....we went thru there several years back in the fall. We are in the Landscaping business and loved seeing some of the largest White Pine trees we have ever seen...definitely leftover remnants of old growth forest in some section even right along the trail. Surprising to hear it was so dry along the trail after such a tough winter, but great to hear you had the best time and took your time too taking it all in.

Do you recall the large white pines (grove) just south of Falls Village along the river. Well they took a beating this winter. When I mentioned that to Denny Jacobs, he confirmed that they fell due to the heavy wet snow at Thanksgiving. If interested, there is a great book titled "Reading the Forested Landscape" by Tom Wessels. It has helped me understand how to identify features in the forest which are easily overlooked.

[Sarcasm the elf]

Great report!! My wife and I really enjoyed the AT in CT....we went thru there several years back in the fall. We are in the Landscaping business and loved seeing some of the largest White Pine trees we have ever seen...definitely leftover remnants of old growth forest in some section even right along the trail. Surprising to hear it was so dry along the trail after such a tough winter, but great to hear you had the best time and took your time too taking it all in.

If you want to see some more impressive white pines and hemlocks, there is a place called Cathedral Pines that the Mohawk trail goes through a few miles east of the A.T. It is a section of old growth that was never harvested. Sadly it is much smaller than it used to be as a tornado destroyed a large part of it some years ago, nonetheless it is still impressive.

Here is a photo of the sign at the entrance, I forgot to take photos of the trees themselves as the best pictures would have been from the roadwalk, and I was too busy being amused by my hiking partner screaming like a schoolgirl each time we passed a dead snake in the road.

[Madpaddy]

Do you recall the large white pines (grove) just south of Falls Village along the river. Well they took a beating this winter. When I mentioned that to Denny Jacobs, he confirmed that they fell due to the heavy wet snow at Thanksgiving. If interested, there is a great book titled "Reading the Forested Landscape" by Tom Wessels. It has helped me understand how to identify features in the forest which are easily overlooked.

Yes I remember that section indeed!....my other half took many cell phone pictures of that stand, however we couldn't stand back far enough to get a true sense of the scale of the trees and certainly not enough to do them true justice. Sad to hear they took damage this winter but understand it. White pines are tender and their limbs snap off under heavy weight. I will pickup Tom Wessels book and thanks for mentioning it is as a reference....we hike along and get where we want to go but stop a lot and take in the wonder of it all too.

[Madpaddy]

Thanks Elf....we will check that section out......we have 4 agricultural interns here on the Cape working for us this year and it would be a great field trip. Thanks for the pictures.....I am looking forward to walking CT again some time soon....it has great New England flavor and so much beauty.

[linus72]

here's 2 shots of the amazing cathedral pines from last summer. happy earth day! I' just have to finish Lion's Head to the Mass border at Sage's. Going to do it this summer. Heading out onto northern NY sections this weekend for my first overnighter of the season.
cahtedral.jpg cathedral6.jpg
- still majestic!

[Madpaddy]

here's 2 shots of the amazing cathedral pines from last summer. happy earth day! I' just have to finish Lion's Head to the Mass border at Sage's. Going to do it this summer. Heading out onto northern NY sections this weekend for my first overnighter of the season.
cahtedral.jpg cathedral6.jpg
- still majestic!

Thanks Linus....awesome pictures....much better than the ones we took. Thank you for sharing them....have a great hike down in NY!

[linus72]

Thanks, can't wait to get back out to kick off the season, even if its a little on the chilly side!

[Grinder]

Nice report. Thank You. I'll be walking the same stretch towards the end of May. I hope it warms up a bit.