A Walk Across the Giant

Fall in New England, it's a really nice time to hike - cool days, colorful leaves...   and the Quinnipiac Trail through Hamden is a great trail - woods, hills, views, rivers etc etc.  But for the last couple of years, there have been trail interruptions for road and bridge construction and a little logging.  The projects are near done, and pretty soon I think the trail will be remapped and remarked.  Until then, it's a little tricky through this section, and the CFPA recommends an alternate route around the mess. The original and detour routes make a loop hike I've done a lot - this time I took pictures. The trail leaves Sleeping Giant State Park along the Mill River, and runs right smack into bridge construction on Mt Carmel Ave, and the road realignment project at the corner of Whitney Ave, Mt Carmel Ave and West Woods Rd.  Once the construction is completed, the blue trail will go over the new bridge and back into the woods along old walls and fo...

With a couple of hours to kill, I took what is one of my favorite hikes through Sleeping Giant Park.  Out on the quiet northern side of the mountain, parking at the Circle trailhead on Tuttle Ave, this little loop starts with a walk through horse country, a short uphill hike, and then a nice little wander by streams and waterfalls.  And since we're still drying out from string of storms that came through this summer, there's plenty of water running. I hiked along the horse path west from the parking area, past the pastures along Tuttle Ave.  Sections are pretty soggy where the water runs off the hills but doesn't quite drain out to the road.  Turn uphill at the Red Triangle trail.  This one leads up along a stream gorge - nice scenery but little water.  There is one steep and narrow section of the trail where it crosses the top of the gorge, but a fallen tree makes a good handrail to lean on.  Turn back east at the Violet trail...

Are you in Connecticut?  Yes? - good.  Then get outside now!!  The weather is great (when it's not raining), good hiking temps, and the forests are exploding with Mountain Laurel - little pink or white flowers sparkling all over the place.  Get your friends, pack up the kids and get out there! No time to get out, you think?  Connecticut has more than 70 state parks and 30 state forests. Add the trails in municipal parks, preserves and utilities, and you're minutes from a hike almost anywhere in the state.   Come on out. Got an hour?  Take this little hike along the White Trail at Sleeping Giant State Park. Cross the bridge from the parking lot, onto the White Splash around in the stream a little Summer is almost here - Mountain Laurel in bloom Beautiful open woods After a night of heavy rain, even the trail is a stream. Look for little froggies hopping around the puddles.

I've read a lot of "why I hike" blogs and contests recently.  I wrote this article for the February edition of Giant News - the Sleeping Giant Park Association newsletter.  You can read that beautifully edited version by becoming a member and picking up a copy.  In the meantime, scroll through this one - I've put links to some of my favorite Sleeping Giant photo pages at the end... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * I want Candice’s autograph.  If you remember the last issue of the Giant News, Candice hiked all the trails on Sleeping Giant in one day to earn the distinction of Giant Master Marathoner. I started hiking again last year just to get off the couch and do something.  And since Sleeping Giant was nearby, it was a great place to start.  I checked the web site looking for hike dates, and read about the Giant Masters program, recognition for hiking all the nearly 30 miles of blazed trails.  Great, I thought – a goal (and a neat look...

   It's been a tough winter - more snow that I can remember.  And while hiking through nearly three feet of fresh powder was fun, the crusty stuff has put a damper on my hikes the last weeks/months.  But I have just a few trail sections to finish at Sleeping Giant, and just a few weekends to do it before winter is over.    I had a six mile hike planned (Greg - that's about two leagues or 480 chains) over the Blue trail, doubling back on one section of the White - starting off at Hartford Turnpike.  This section of the Quinnipiac Trail doesn't see much traffic - compared to the rest of the trail though Sleeping Giant State Park anyway.  I tried to hike it a month ago, but first step in I was thigh deep in snow.  Better to put this one off until some of the ground is visible through the snow, right?    Well, the day finally came.  It hasn't snowed in weeks, and the temperature was supposed to soar into the 50's (or into the ...

It's New England.  If you don't like the weather, wait a minute. The warm weather from the last few days gave way to howling winds and plummeting temperatures - back down anyway to the 20's and 30's where it belongs for January.  It's clear and sunny, and the last day of holiday before I go back to work tomorrow, so time for a little hike. You may have noticed photos from the last few days are trails at Sleeping Giant State Park.  I wrote an article for the Giant News - the association's newsletter.  The article was about being a Four Season Giant Master , hiking all the marked trails in the park in each season - spring, summer, fall and now finally winter.  On the off-chance the article is published in February's edition, I figure it's a good idea if I actually become  a Four Season Master by then.  Otherwise, my limited credibility as a writer suffers.  So I'm back on the Giant for the next few weekends pumping out the miles. ...

As happens all too often here, a good snowstorm is followed quickly by warmer temperatures and at least a little rain.  That mucks up the trails as the surface thaws; mud and ice make a really slick track. With the thaw yesterday, and rain this morning, the planned walk along the river was cancelled - it would have been really wet and sloppy.  But there was still time for a little wander. After a hearty New Year's Eve celebration, I spent New Year's Day in a fog - and today the weather played the same trick.  Nothing changes the mood of a hike quicker than fog.  Even familiar trails get a little mysterious - scenery in the distance revealed a little at a time. With fog swirling around the valleys, the view off the cliffs make it look like I've been hiking above the clouds. And just as it started to rain again, back down at the foot of the hills.

Violet and Yellow Trails - 5.4 miles After all the snow a few days ago, it was time to get out into the woods for a couple of hours.  Head to toe on the Giant and back again.  I picked the Violet and Yellow trails since they stay off the rocks (for the most part anyway) and were likely to have the best footing.  Packed snow most of the way, with just a bit of blazing my own trail.

On Sunday,  the Sleeping Giant Park Association celebrated the season with their Holiday Hike and Social.  About 50 people showed up for a two mile hike, and more met up for the party a little later.  After all, who can resist a roaring fire, cookies and snacks and hot mulled cider with friends on a chilly afternoon.  Add in a Christmas Carol sing, and you've got the Holiday Social. Hiking down the Nature Trail A short break at the overlook Almost time for the carol sing The SGPA is a volunteer organization to protect and enhance the park - maintaining and improving the hiking trails with the Trail Crew, organizing hikes to bring more people into the park and to teach them what's around, maintaining the park website and its quarterly newsletter to keep us informed about what's going on there.  And keeping an eye on neighboring land to protect and expand the park. They do a tremendous job making sure Sleeping Giant stays a great place to visi...