Narragansett Trail/High Ledges Section
Posted By auntie on August 14, 2012

3.31 miles ★★★½
wow, first time i ever cut a planned hike short, but this was much more hikey than i thought, and was taking just too much time. also, too, the bugs were ferocious. nice hike, and i’d like to do it when i have more time and there are fewer bugs. it would have been a bit over 5 miles total, the way i originally planned it.

wyassup lake from high ledges
according to what i’ve read about this spot, during the winter when there are no leaves on the trees you can see long island sound from here. it’s still not as high as lantern hill, but pretty high.

birch tree roots
this poor old birch tree must have had an “interesting” life for its roots to be this weird.

chantarelles or jack-o-lanterns?
as i parked at the trail head, a couple pulled in right behind me and parked. they, too, were headed out into the woods, but in the opposite direction from me. the woman said they were going mushroom hunting. i am totally jealous. this really is mushroom season right now, and there are so very many different kinds in the woods. for example, these are either chantarelles (yummy) or jack-o-lanterns (poisonous). not being suicidal, i don’t pick anything, but i really, really wish i knew enough to know which was which.

black trumpets
now this, according to mr. google, is a black trumpet, and there are no poisonous look-alikes. not only that, but it’s supposed to be one of the best-tasting mushrooms you can find. i saw adjectives like “smokey” and “buttery.” had i known this before i went out, i might have tried a few.

old man of the woods mushroom
this is another very distinctive mushroom, and also edible, though not as choice as the black trumpets. also, it does have poisonous, similar-looking relatives.
this hike was in north stonington, ct. you can find a useful trail map here. i did the part from the wyassup lake boat ramp to legend wood road and back. (one good thing about an “out-and-back” hike is that you’ve pretty much walked through all the spider webs on the way out, and so don’t have to spend a lot of time pulling them out of your mouth and hair on the way back.)
Let’s do this in the fall… after bug season!
i’d love that. it’s a pretty challenging hike, but of course not as challenging as long pond. and i’d like to do the whole loop that i had planned.
[…] is the hike i aborted in august—i had the time to finish it today. it also encompasses part of a hike i did waaaay back in […]