We started the trail with an extra two hikers -- my parents! As a kid we'd always hiked several easy to moderate mountains in Massachusetts, where I grew up, and Maine, where we'd vacation in the summer. They love hiking but have found mountains have become more difficult as they've grown older. We thought this trail would be a good option, and it was -- for the most part.
We got started late, and while it was a beautifully sunny early October day, the wind was fierce at times, making it unseasonably cool. The trail starts steeply from a parking area just down the road from Old Newgate prison. As with most of the NET in this area, it levels out once you get to the ridgeline, where you enjoy some really nice views, especially on a day as clear as this one.
There were some definite rock scrambles on this trail that the NET website describes as "examples of the Metacomet basalt eroding into chimney-like spires along the cliff edge." We'd been hiking for a number of weeks at that point and weren't as phased as we might have been on day one. My parents hadn't hiked in awhile so they found it a bit more challenging, but they appreciated the way you were able to get some great views without too much work. Most of the hikes we've done involve a long hike to see anything through the trees.
If we'd been hiking just a few weeks later, we would have had some absolutely amazing foliage views. Around our area in North-Central CT peak foliage seems to arrive anywhere from October 14-21, so we were just a tad early, but we weren't going to complain -- it was still gorgeous!
Interesting factoid about what I BELIEVE is this section of the trail. This ridgeline in East Granby sits to the west of Bradley International Airport and northwest of Runway 15. On November 12, 1995,
American Airlines Flight 1572 had trouble maintaining altitude during severe weather and ended up clipping the tops of trees along the ridgeline on its approach. Thankfully no one was seriously injured. I actually came across this episode on "Air Disasters." While I am not sure if you look carefully enough you'd be able to see any type of damage nearly 30 years later, you can hear the planes overhead on their way to the airport as you're hiking.
At one point on this trail we came across a trail log for the first time! I can get really distracted by these and love reading people's sentiments and seeing who's been on the trail and when.
As the afternoon wound down we were reminded once again that it's not a super brilliant idea to get started too late in the day, especially when the sun starts setting earlier. Not that we were in any danger in this case from it getting dark, but a windy, cool day only gets cooler the lower the sun gets in the sky. I'd left my layers in the car (another newbie mistake) and was pretty chilled.
Ideally, I'd hike first thing in the morning, but when you have kids and there are Saturday morning sports, that doesn't usually end up happening. And so we ended our journey as the sun was near setting, our hands were getting numb, and everybody was hungry. But wow, what a perfect blue day it was while it lasted!
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