Hike #19
Trail: Shenipsit
Section: Hebron Ave to Rt. 2 (Glastonbury, CT)
Direction of Travel: North to South
Distance: 6.0 miles
Approximate time to complete: 2.75 hours
Date Hiked: 12/2/2012
Date Published: 1/11/2013
I started this hike in the same area where I started Hike # 15…the area where I heard that strange bird call…the one that I meant to identify later but forgot. The area, known as John Tom Hill, has a multitude of communications towers and I passed them all on my previous hike as I made my way North. This time, however, Roscoe and I would be traveling in the opposite direction.
Before the hike, we dropped my car off at the cul-de-sac on Toll Gate Road…near Exit 11 off of Rt. 2 in Glastonbury. This is a good parking spot with plenty of spaces but it can be challenging to get to for some. If you are coming from the southeast corner of the state and taking Rt. 2 West, you can just take Exit 11 and make a right at the end of the ramp. If you are coming from anywhere else and take Rt. 2 East, you’ll have to take Exit 10 (since there is no Exit 11 coming this way). From Exit 10, make a right on Manchester Road…left on Wassuc Road and follow that until it bends to the left and takes you back over the highway. After you cross the highway, it becomes Toll Gate Road. So, just follow it to the end. I’ve used this parking location twice now (once on a later hike) and haven’t had any trouble…just don’t park in front of the gate…as I’m not sure how often that gets used.
Once my car was all set at the parking location, I hopped in the new Jeep with Roscoe and Jaci, and she drove us to the drop off point. The trail head off of Hebron Ave can be difficult to find since it looks like it passes right through someone’s yard, but it is there and it is blazed well. Still, I felt weird because it was really early in the morning on a foggy day and it was a lot darker than I had anticipated.
Not too long after we started, we got our first surprise of the morning. The map in the CFPA Walk Book indicated that the first road I should expect to see would be about three quarters of a mile into the hike. However, only about a few hundred feet in and we came to the cal-de-sac
of a residential neighborhood. Later, I would find that this road is called Pheasant Crossing Road. And, it is most definitely mentioned in the CFPA Walk Book description (just not on the map) so I don’t know why I wasn’t expecting it.
The trail doesn’t follow Pheasant Crossing Road for very long before it makes a right turn through what (again) looks like someone’s property.
At the back of the property, it ducks back into the woods but you are never really out of sight of people’s backyards. I had a cool nature moment here when an owl (I’m not sure what type) jumped off a branch about 20 feet above my head (scaring the you know what out of me) and flew to another branch of another tree about 100 feet away.
About three quarters of a mile into the hike, I finally came to the road I was expecting to cross first, Diamond Lake Road. The trail makes a slight right turn and follows the road for a really short stretch before turning left to head away from the road. Here, one of the neighborhood dogs barked and barked until we were well out of sight. It was still pretty early so I was thankful not to live in this neighborhood…then I remembered that our neighborhood is also full of barking dogs. I don’t understand owners who leave their dogs outside to bark all the time…maybe I never will. But, I’m glad that Roscoe isn’t too concerned with them…whether we are at home, on our regular walks, or while we are on these adventures. Don’t get me wrong…he gets curious but, thankfully, never feels the needs to bark in return. My silent assassin.
A quarter of a mile later the trail crosses another neighborhood road, Imperial Drive. This time, we weren’t bothered by any of the neighborhood dogs.
From here, the trail climbs and then descends again over the next half mile or so. The CFPA Walk Book notes a waterfall in this area. But, I never saw it. I’ve been disappointed by these “waterfalls”in the past. So, I wasn’t really too interested and didn’t spend a lot of time looking for it. I thought maybe I would be able to see it from the trail and, when I wasn’t, I just kept trucking along. This section of the trail also borders on the Marlborough town line. I didn’t leave Glastonbury the entire time I was on this hike, but this was the closest I came.
Here, around a mile and a quarter in, the trail turns west and climbs before descending ever so gradually over the next four miles to Rt. 2.
These were rather uneventful miles of hiking…not boring, just uneventful. The trail here is really nice and well maintained and I enjoyed this section of the hike.
Somewhere in this stretch, I did see a pair of deer. The first deer was hidden in the brush off to the side of the trail in a way that it was hard for me to tell that it was even a deer. At first, I could only see some kind of creature looking right at me, so I was relieved when it bolted off in the other direction and I could finally tell it was only a deer. I’m not 100% certain but I think this was the last deer I saw on my 2012 hikes.
Maybe I’ll remember seeing one as I type up future recaps. But, for now, I think this was the last one. And, that makes me wonder where they all went. Over the last five or six hikes I saw at least one deer on every hike. I even had the one hike where I saw something like twelve of them in a span of two minutes. After this hike, nothing. Did the hunters thin out the herds that much? If so, that’s pretty crazy.
The last mile or so before reaching Rt. 2 was pretty interesting. The fog was starting to lift so it was almost like walking in a rain forest. There is one section where the trail is at a pretty low elevation and it climbs only to descend again. The Walk Book illustrates a viewpoint but I couldn’t see anything in the thick fog. I think any view that there might be is probably only of the cars flying by on Rt. 2…which I could hear but could not see. The descent was pretty cool. At this point, I was still getting over a bit of fear / hesitation each time I had to hike downhill (after my fall on Birch Mountain). And this one is a bit challenging as it was over mossy, wet rock. But, I lived to tell the tale. For the record, most people will probably hike this trail in the opposite direction. So, instead of a challenging descent…they will be greeted with a challenging climb. All stuff you should be able to manage either way.
Once we reached Rt. 2, I took a minute to read the signs which clearly state that hikers should not cross Rt. 2 on foot. Fortunately, there is an access trail (white blazed) which will lead me and Roscoe back to the car. As you will read about in future hikes, the route around Rt. 2 is made up of several access trails and a really long road walk. Fortunately, if you plan ahead and park accordingly, you can avoid those miles (they don’t count towards the CT 400 anyway).
As we rounded out our hike, we passed a shooting range which was empty and looked like maybe it was abandoned (I would find out a few weeks later that it is still in use). We also passed an old toll gate (thus the name Toll Gate Road), which is pretty cool. It is basically just a set of stone columns in the middle of the woods but there is still enough detail to imagine what it used to look like. This, combined with the old ski lift in the middle of the woods at JB Williams Park caused me to consider which town has the coolest old stuff in the middle of the woods. For me, I think Glastonbury is the winner (if only that old drive in theater in Bolton didn’t look like it doubled as a landfill). So, congratulations Glastonbury! You have the coolest random stuff in the middle of your woods. At least, for now…
Trail: Shenipsit
Section: Hebron Ave to Rt. 2 (Glastonbury, CT)
Direction of Travel: North to South
Distance: 6.0 miles
Approximate time to complete: 2.75 hours
Date Hiked: 12/2/2012
Date Published: 1/11/2013
I started this hike in the same area where I started Hike # 15…the area where I heard that strange bird call…the one that I meant to identify later but forgot. The area, known as John Tom Hill, has a multitude of communications towers and I passed them all on my previous hike as I made my way North. This time, however, Roscoe and I would be traveling in the opposite direction.
Before the hike, we dropped my car off at the cul-de-sac on Toll Gate Road…near Exit 11 off of Rt. 2 in Glastonbury. This is a good parking spot with plenty of spaces but it can be challenging to get to for some. If you are coming from the southeast corner of the state and taking Rt. 2 West, you can just take Exit 11 and make a right at the end of the ramp. If you are coming from anywhere else and take Rt. 2 East, you’ll have to take Exit 10 (since there is no Exit 11 coming this way). From Exit 10, make a right on Manchester Road…left on Wassuc Road and follow that until it bends to the left and takes you back over the highway. After you cross the highway, it becomes Toll Gate Road. So, just follow it to the end. I’ve used this parking location twice now (once on a later hike) and haven’t had any trouble…just don’t park in front of the gate…as I’m not sure how often that gets used.
Once my car was all set at the parking location, I hopped in the new Jeep with Roscoe and Jaci, and she drove us to the drop off point. The trail head off of Hebron Ave can be difficult to find since it looks like it passes right through someone’s yard, but it is there and it is blazed well. Still, I felt weird because it was really early in the morning on a foggy day and it was a lot darker than I had anticipated.
Not too long after we started, we got our first surprise of the morning. The map in the CFPA Walk Book indicated that the first road I should expect to see would be about three quarters of a mile into the hike. However, only about a few hundred feet in and we came to the cal-de-sac
of a residential neighborhood. Later, I would find that this road is called Pheasant Crossing Road. And, it is most definitely mentioned in the CFPA Walk Book description (just not on the map) so I don’t know why I wasn’t expecting it.
The trail doesn’t follow Pheasant Crossing Road for very long before it makes a right turn through what (again) looks like someone’s property.
At the back of the property, it ducks back into the woods but you are never really out of sight of people’s backyards. I had a cool nature moment here when an owl (I’m not sure what type) jumped off a branch about 20 feet above my head (scaring the you know what out of me) and flew to another branch of another tree about 100 feet away.
About three quarters of a mile into the hike, I finally came to the road I was expecting to cross first, Diamond Lake Road. The trail makes a slight right turn and follows the road for a really short stretch before turning left to head away from the road. Here, one of the neighborhood dogs barked and barked until we were well out of sight. It was still pretty early so I was thankful not to live in this neighborhood…then I remembered that our neighborhood is also full of barking dogs. I don’t understand owners who leave their dogs outside to bark all the time…maybe I never will. But, I’m glad that Roscoe isn’t too concerned with them…whether we are at home, on our regular walks, or while we are on these adventures. Don’t get me wrong…he gets curious but, thankfully, never feels the needs to bark in return. My silent assassin.
A quarter of a mile later the trail crosses another neighborhood road, Imperial Drive. This time, we weren’t bothered by any of the neighborhood dogs.
From here, the trail climbs and then descends again over the next half mile or so. The CFPA Walk Book notes a waterfall in this area. But, I never saw it. I’ve been disappointed by these “waterfalls”in the past. So, I wasn’t really too interested and didn’t spend a lot of time looking for it. I thought maybe I would be able to see it from the trail and, when I wasn’t, I just kept trucking along. This section of the trail also borders on the Marlborough town line. I didn’t leave Glastonbury the entire time I was on this hike, but this was the closest I came.
Here, around a mile and a quarter in, the trail turns west and climbs before descending ever so gradually over the next four miles to Rt. 2.
These were rather uneventful miles of hiking…not boring, just uneventful. The trail here is really nice and well maintained and I enjoyed this section of the hike.
Somewhere in this stretch, I did see a pair of deer. The first deer was hidden in the brush off to the side of the trail in a way that it was hard for me to tell that it was even a deer. At first, I could only see some kind of creature looking right at me, so I was relieved when it bolted off in the other direction and I could finally tell it was only a deer. I’m not 100% certain but I think this was the last deer I saw on my 2012 hikes.
Maybe I’ll remember seeing one as I type up future recaps. But, for now, I think this was the last one. And, that makes me wonder where they all went. Over the last five or six hikes I saw at least one deer on every hike. I even had the one hike where I saw something like twelve of them in a span of two minutes. After this hike, nothing. Did the hunters thin out the herds that much? If so, that’s pretty crazy.
The last mile or so before reaching Rt. 2 was pretty interesting. The fog was starting to lift so it was almost like walking in a rain forest. There is one section where the trail is at a pretty low elevation and it climbs only to descend again. The Walk Book illustrates a viewpoint but I couldn’t see anything in the thick fog. I think any view that there might be is probably only of the cars flying by on Rt. 2…which I could hear but could not see. The descent was pretty cool. At this point, I was still getting over a bit of fear / hesitation each time I had to hike downhill (after my fall on Birch Mountain). And this one is a bit challenging as it was over mossy, wet rock. But, I lived to tell the tale. For the record, most people will probably hike this trail in the opposite direction. So, instead of a challenging descent…they will be greeted with a challenging climb. All stuff you should be able to manage either way.
Once we reached Rt. 2, I took a minute to read the signs which clearly state that hikers should not cross Rt. 2 on foot. Fortunately, there is an access trail (white blazed) which will lead me and Roscoe back to the car. As you will read about in future hikes, the route around Rt. 2 is made up of several access trails and a really long road walk. Fortunately, if you plan ahead and park accordingly, you can avoid those miles (they don’t count towards the CT 400 anyway).
As we rounded out our hike, we passed a shooting range which was empty and looked like maybe it was abandoned (I would find out a few weeks later that it is still in use). We also passed an old toll gate (thus the name Toll Gate Road), which is pretty cool. It is basically just a set of stone columns in the middle of the woods but there is still enough detail to imagine what it used to look like. This, combined with the old ski lift in the middle of the woods at JB Williams Park caused me to consider which town has the coolest old stuff in the middle of the woods. For me, I think Glastonbury is the winner (if only that old drive in theater in Bolton didn’t look like it doubled as a landfill). So, congratulations Glastonbury! You have the coolest random stuff in the middle of your woods. At least, for now…