Trail conditions Connecticut after Irene

[Nevergoback]

Hey all. Anyone have current conditions of the AT in Connecticut? I'm heading there this weekend.

[Leanthree]

I hope to hike from Bear Mountain Bridge, NY to Great Barrington, MA starting Saturday. and was hoping for some "boots on the ground" info as well. I can imagine swollen streams, washed out crossings and blow downs but want to know how bad/good it is out there.

At least drinking water won't be an issue.

[Leanthree]

So water.weather.gov is where NOAA has their river level forecasts. It looks that things should be back below flood stage by this weekend so the real question is which rivers really need a bridge that most likely isn't there? What is the condition of the section adjacent the Housatonic which was at flood stage around Kent? and Are there any marshy sections that are now impassible.

I heard that Rt 7 near Kent was closed due to flooding, anyone know if it is expected to reopen or its condition?

[lemon b]

Gonna walk Rte 23 to Washington Mt Road in the next couple of days. Not sure of Ct. But I bet Wash Mt Rd to Dalton is an extra pair of sock area after the rain.

[snowsusie]

Hey, Never and Lean. How was your hike? Can you provide updated trail conditions? I'm planning to hike in CT during October. Thanks.

[RWheeler]

From what I've heard, the trail around Kent has some erosion, but is definitely usable, while further north is still good. Just some of the smaller crossings that typically don't rise above the whole tread on shoes might be like ankle deep still.

[elytis]

Ok I hiked from bulls bridge to wiley shelter a few weeks ago and here is what I experienced.

1) walking south from bulls bridge to wiley shelter the first thing I encountered was water up to my mid thigh (i am 5'7'') that I had to wade through.
2) about a hundred yards later at the bridge over the ten mile river there was water that was above the stairs on one side of the bridge. Again you will get wet.
3) along the trail was lots of mud as minor streams had formed on the trail.
4) there were some downed trees that were not too hard to get around from top of ten mile hill to the NY boarder.
5) there was lots of mud once you reached the bottom of ten mile hill to the NY boarder.

Again that was from Bulls bridge in Kent CT to the Wiley Shelter in NY and this was a 2 weeks ago or so.

[tlap]

I was on some of the same trail last weekend, going south from the CT border and down past the Wiley Shelter. There's still some mud, but nothing extreme. The conditions remind me of mid-June hiking. The streams are running more than is expected at this time of year. Nothing unreasonable.

[Painted Turtle]

look at my post in 9/25/11 "Trail news and conditions"