Posted By auntie on October 6, 2015

6.3 miles; voluntown, ct

i did the southern part of this back in april and today i tacked on a little over 2 miles by looping north of hodge pond road before i went back through the southern loop. i really love this part of the pachaug—i was struck by how beautiful it is. and it has lots of interesting cellar holes and bridges. granted, the trails are not hiking trails—they’re used by motorized vehicles for the most part, like atvs and dirt bikes. but bad footing doesn’t make the forest any less lovely.

hodge pond

it occurs to me that although i’ve posted about hikes in this area a lot, i don’t think i ever put up a picture of the pond for which it’s named.

apples

more food for the wildlife—some misshapen, buggy-looking apples from an old apple tree.

canada mayflower berries

i’m arsed if i know what these berries are. it’s canada mayflower (Maianthemum canadense). it came to me as i was typing. phew. mr. google tells me that the berries are, technically, edible, although they are very bitter and can cause diarrhea. i will pass, thanks.

beautiful bridge over myron kinney brook

not far from the northernmost point on this hike, after a very short stint of road walking along kinney road, you turn back into the woods and come to this beautiful bridge over myron kinney brook. really nice, very sturdy and substantial.

stinkhorn (Phallus ravenelii)

of course, all through this hike i was scouring the woods looking for hen-of-the-woods mushrooms. no luck. all i found was this rather impressive-looking stinkhorn mushroom. dig that crazy latin name…

you can find the hodge pond loop in the hikefinder under pachaug, hodge pond loop. trailhead, auntie’s trail map.

Categories: Connecticut, Walks and Hikes
Tags: 5–7 miles, CT, Griswold CT, Voluntown CT