Cathedral pines in Cornwall, CT before the twister

[greenmtnboy]

I was in Cornwall, CT recently at their historical society and asked whether there were many pictures of Cathedral pines before the twisters took down most of the trees? They said not many! This is pretty surprising because 1989 when the event happened must have left many years for people to take pictures of Cathedral Pines before the storm. There are many pictures afterwards, not many before. Does anyone know of a site that has the pictures while the A/T went through these huge pine trees?

[Lone Wolf]

i have pics from when i went through there in 86 and 87

[Sarcasm the elf]

i have pics from when i went through there in 86 and 87

Was that still the official route back then?

[Lone Wolf]

as far as i know

[Sarcasm the elf]

as far as i know

Cool, I've been through there a number of times on what is now the Mohawk Trail (the old A.T.) but I never did figure out when they rerouted it. Personally I think the old section was a better hike.

[greenmtnboy]

Yeah, it went through Cornwall, Mohawk Mtn., which I hiked a couple weeks ago, Mohawk lake, and through various interesting parts of Cornwall, Deans Ravine, before looping back to Rt. 7. I know Gordon Ridgway now mayor of Cornwall an organic farmer who had hikers from around the world visit his farm near the trail, back then as they hiked north.

[soilman]

Here is a picture from August 1976. Sorry for the poor quality. It was shot with 110 film then later scanned.32034

[Pedaling Fool]

Here's a link about the twister with a embedded video from shortly after the storm; it's a little difficult to hear, since it's so old http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/green/21-Years-Later-a-Forest-Comes-Back-108251224.html

A few other stories/links http://ryanhanrahan.com/2010/10/18/cornwalls-cathedral-pines/

http://www.cornwallhistoricalsociety.org/exhibits/forests/tornado.htm


And here's an old whiteblaze thread on C. Pines http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/archive/index.php/t-5378.html

[Pedaling Fool]

...And here's an old whiteblaze thread on C. Pines http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/archive/index.php/t-5378.html

The above link is an archived copy from a google search.


Here's the actual thread, which allows you to click on links

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php/5378-Connecticut-Re-Routes

[greenmtnboy]

That one picture was impressive, none of the others opened for me.

[Sarcasm the elf]

I saw this very interesting photo on the Cornwall Historical society page, it's a 1989 aerial photo of the Tornado devastation:
http://www.cornwallhistoricalsociety.org/images/forestexhibit/1989CathPinesAerial.jpg

[greenmtnboy]

All they have at the Cornwall historical society are after the twister pictures, nothing before. Unbelievable.

[Kerosene]

I hiked that section in March 1975 and clearly remember Cathedral Pines and being impressed on a cool, sunny day. My journal for that day (Friday, 3/28) has us going 15.1 miles from Red Mtn. LT to Mountain Brook LT on the 8th and second-to-last day of our hike. I note that we stopped to admire the trees, but either I was out of film or was had limited shots available and didn't think I could capture the grandeur of the tall, straight trees. I found out about the damage in the early 2000's from other WhiteBlaze posters when I started to wonder why the AT didn't seem to pass through there anymore.

The latest snapshot I have from that hike was of a large waterfall in Dean's Ravine, which also isn't on the AT any longer.

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