By the next Saturday we had (mostly) forgotten our rough start from the week before and were ready to start again. Well, if by ready you mean listening to the kids saying, "No, are we really doing that again?!" and us saying, "Yup!" The funny thing about kids -- and we notice this week after week -- is that they complain and they whine but then they get out there and start talking with us and interacting without bickering, and it's really very nice.
This week we stayed a little closer to home and decided to take on a shorter section of trail (NET CT Section 19) that begins in the village of Tariffville about 15 minutes from our house. Right away we realized that this hike would once again begin with a somewhat brief but rather pointless road walk. We literally parked on a side street where the trail comes out of the woods, got out of our car and walked a half-mile or so on the street, only to spot the trailhead where we needed to enter the woods, with a parking area right at the trailhead. On the plus side, we did get to walk across the Farmington River, and the temperatures were much more reasonable than the week before.
This section of trail starts out with a really pretty jaunt alongside the Farmington River. It's probably gorgeous in the fall but it was mid-September when we were there and the leaves had really not yet begun to change. After a bit the trail turns northward into the woods and you gradually hike up a ravine for awhile. You're rewarded with a nice view of the river from up above and then begin a walk along a ridgeline.
This is a common theme, we would learn as the weeks went by. The trail often follows the
Metacomet Ridge, a dominant feature in our region from southern CT up through Massachusetts. Up on the ridge line we came across other hikers and mountain bikers, a series of signs for mountain bike trails (this appears to be a pretty popular spot) and an old chimney, the last remnant of a home that once stood in the spot. It's amazing to think that these are second growth forests, land that was deeply forested, then cleared for farms, and now growing up again into forests over the past 100-200 years.
After awhile the trail crosses a road and under high tension wires that we were quickly realizing are a ubiquitous part of this trail, at least in Northern CT. For every section they have been an ever-present companion, and sometimes the trail crosses under them back and forth several times over.
Back into the woods, there were stone walls that marked the boundaries of long-ago farms -- and a small smallpox cemetery from the 1800s with grave markers that have been completely refurbished in recent years so you can read them once again.
As we neared the end of the 4.8 mile-long trail, the incline headed steadily upward. This is one downside to hiking point to point on a trail rather than say, a mountain trail, up and back. If you climb a mountain, you know you're going to end the whole thing descending, obviously. That may kill your knees, but that's about it. I wholeheartedly admit I'm a wimp about hills. I can hike endlessly if it's flat. Since we don't live in a part of the country where trails seem to rely much on switchbacks, it seems when there are hills, they get steep, and they kept steep quickly.
All of us struggled up this hill, as we were already tired and also not expecting it. We were rewarded by the sight of this giant tree that seemed as if it'd been there for eons.
But the tree aside, we didn't have too much of a payoff for heading up. There wasn't a spectacular view or anything, although we did get some peaks at Bradley International Airport through the trees (below right). Eventually the trail meandered back down and eventually exited the woods near the start of NET CT Section 20.
Despite the heartbreak hill at the end, I really enjoyed this hike. It seemed to have a little something for everyone, with the water, the woods, the history. Things remained interesting throughout, we had enough water this time around, and everyone was less sore. Success!
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