Posted By auntie on November 9, 2014

5.5 miles; sterling, ct

today was a sunday, and with hunting season in full swing, i just didn’t want to venture into rhode island, so i decided to stay in connecticut. and i also wanted to scratch another trailhead itch. back in april of last year, when i hiked the pharisee rocks trail, i started from this same little picnic area across from porter pond in sterling, and at that time i noticed that the blue-blazed pachaug trail continued south from there. i figured this would be a good day to see where it went, and grab another section of the pachaug.

(parenthetically, for a state that doesn’t allow hunting on sundays, there was an awful lot of gunfire in the woods. just sayin.’)

most of the hike

this hike is a lollypop loop that circles great meadow pond and starts and ends at the porter pond picnic area, and for most of the way, you’re on dirt roads through the pachaug forest. they’re in good shape and pretty easy to walk on, if maybe a bit boring. they are also beloved, apparently, by dirt bike riders, as i was passed by at least half a dozen.

tamaracks

those yellowing evergreens in the distance are american larch, or tamarack trees. mr. google tells me that the word “tamarack” is an algonquin word meaning “wood used for snowshoes.” i’ll buy that, i guess. the trees aren’t dying, by the way, they’re deciduous conifers, and the needles turn yellow and fall off in the autumn, so technically, not evergreens.

great meadow pond

you can see more of the yellow tamaracks in the middle distance of this photo, and you’ll note that i can recognize them from a very long way away. ahem.

beaver lodge

oh, and there was a beaver lodge on the pond, too.

precarious-looking crossing

the blue-blazed pachaug trail, which i followed for about half of this hike, crosses the spillway for great meadow pond on a couple of rickety-looking half-logs with ridges cut into them that, er, maybe could use replacing? maybe?

mill site

the parts of the trail that were not following dirt roads were beautiful, passing through thick white pine woods on a carpet of fallen pine needles. at one point you cross another brook at what is obviously an old mill site, with multiple rock-lined spillways and cellar holes.

another trailhead itch to scratch!

here is the point where the pachaug trail and i parted ways. the trail continued across pond road, but i turned left to get back to my car. i just can’t let that go unexplored.

i have added this hike to the hikefinder under pachaug sf, porter pond loop.

Categories: CFPA Trails, Connecticut, Walks and Hikes
Tags: 5–7 miles, CT, Sterling CT