Posted By auntie on July 24, 2019

2.5 miles; Coventry, RI

This was a quick after-work hike… well, for those of us who still work. We had a nice little group for this section of the Washington Secondary. Only 1 more section to go now that’s passable.

Nice View

There are a whole lotta lakes in Coventry, and some very pretty lakeside properties.

Lizard on the Cheese Bridge

I don’t know why somebody graffitied a lizard onto the deck of the Cheese Bridge, and I also have no idea why it’s called the Cheese Bridge. There are some things we are just not meant to know.

Paintng in Autumn

This was not the only leaf that got memorialized by the stripe painting machine. I guess that’s one of the hazards of painting in the autumn.

As I mentioned earlier, we have just one more section of the Washington Secondary Bike Path to do. It won’t get us to the state line, because RI is in the process of replacing bridges and upgrading the surface of the trail as far as Connecticut. As to what happens after the trail crosses the state line, well, that is anyone’s guess.

Track (click for details)

You can find out more about and get maps of the Washington Secondary Bike Path at this RI Dept. of Transportation website. As always, click the image above for details about this hike and to download the gps track.

Category: Rhode Island, Walks and Hikes, Washington Secondary Bike Path | No Comments »
Tags: 2–5 miles, Coventry RI, RI

Posted By auntie on July 22, 2019

3.9 miles; Exeter and Richmond, RI

A continuation of the earlier hike today, still looking for Black Trumpets. I did not find any here, either, but I did find something unexpected… that I’m allergic to bee stings. Oh, happy joy.

Tunnels!

I totally need to revise my Favorite Hikes page about this hike. There’s now a neat double-tunnel to access Arcadia from the State Garage.

Roaring Brook Handicapped Access Trail

It was on the Roaring Brook Handicapped Access Trail that I got stung. I’m not sure if it was a bee. It probably wasn’t, but instead some kind of wasp or hornet. They had apparently made a nest on the underside of the boardwalk. I never even saw them, but I sure did feel them! It stung pretty sharply, but I kind of shrugged it off, thinking, “Oh well, I’m sure it’ll stop stinging shortly,” and moved on with my day.

Unripe Elderberries

It was about 5 minutes before I started feeling… itchy. But just in a couple places. I attributed this to the heat—it was in the mid-80s and I was pretty sweaty.

Another Sad Butterfly Wing

After another 10 minutes or so, I realized I was not only getting more itchy in more places, but I had the chills. The chills? With temps in the mid-80’s? Light dawned on marble head: something was NOT RIGHT.

By the time I got to my car I was getting a bit light-headed and VERY ITCHY pretty much all over my body. Still shivering, too. It was probably not smart at this point, but I proceeded to drive myself home, where my husband immediately insisted he drive me to the local walk-in clinic. At this point I was covered in a bumpy red itchy rash, literally from head-to-toe.

Amazing how quickly you get seen when you say, “Uh, I think I’m having a reaction to a bee sting.” They gave me a shot of Benadryl and made sure I wasn’t suffering any swelling or shortness of breath, and then sent me home.

Lesson to everyone: you never know what you’re going to be allergic to, especially as you get older. Carry Benadryl tablets in your pack at all time. Maybe an EpiPen, if you can find and afford one.

Oh, and I never did find any Black Trumpets. Alas.

Track (click for details)

You can find out more about this hike from my Favorite Hikes page. As always, click the image above for details about this hike and to download the gps track.

Category: Rhode Island, Walks and Hikes | No Comments »
Tags: 2–5 miles, Exeter RI, RI, Richmond RI

Posted By auntie on July 22, 2019

2.5 miles; Hopkinton, RI

It’s once again Black Trumpet mushroom season, and I headed to this property because I had heard “it was lousy with black trumpets” last year. Alas, not this year. But I did find the motherlode of Golden Chanterelles!

Golden Chanterelles

There were literally more of these than I could pick in good conscience. So many! So I sent a heads-up text to a friend who also is a wild mushroom junkie. He made a pizza with them. Mmmmm…. pizza.

New Signage

Don’t recall ever having seen this sign on a preserve before. It’s kind of sad that they needed to post this.

Mill Bridge

I also am very fond of this great stone slab bridge over Canonchet Brook just upstream from the old mill site.

Beautiful Mushroom

Not sure what this is, but it could be a Destroying Angel. Never take a chance with a mushroom you can’t ID for absolute sure, especially if it’s a white mushroom. The Destroying Angel will kill you.

Luna Moth Wing

Sad little vignette here, with just the one pretty wing of a Luna Moth. Wonder who ate it?

Track (click for details)

You can find out more about the Canonchet/Hoxie Preserve from this Town of Hopkinton website (scroll down… and they spell it differently than I did). As always, click the image above for details about this hike and to download the gps track.

Category: Rhode Island, Walks and Hikes | No Comments »
Tags: 2–5 miles, Hopkinton RI, RI

Posted By auntie on July 20, 2019

2.86 miles; Coventry, RI

A continuation of the Trails & Walks group’s hike of the entire Washington Secondary Bike Path, this section runs through Coventry. Temps for our last section of this, done last December, were in the single digits. Today it was expected that they might hit TRIPLE digits. Ah, New England…

Flat River Crossing

Because it was predicted to be so darned hot, we got an early start at 7:00 am. It was a tranquil morning, and the ducks and geese were off to their business like commuters on 95.

Prayer Garden

There was a church which backed onto the bike path, and they had a nice little “Prayer Garden” set up with benches and some pretty plantings.

Bindweed

This was a great day, again, for wildflowers. We saw all sorts of things in bloom; evening primrose, tansy, crown vetch, centaurea, and many more. I thought these bindweed flowers were particularly lovely, even though I assiduously root the stuff out of my yard everywhere it pops up. It’s a very noxious weed.

Affirmations on Post-Its

This trail also conveniently goes right by an ice cream shop, where we stopped to use the tables to sit and adjust packs and do other minor hiking housekeeping chores, although it was sadly WAY too early to be open for business. I found these post-its on the ground nearby. Why, thank you anonymous post-it planter!

Ode

Lots and lots of dragonflies accompanied us today, too. I wish I had the facility with this family of insects that my friend Bruce does, but I don’t. It’s a dragonfly. I’m pretty sure about that.

Track (click for details)

You can find out more about and get maps of the Washington Secondary Bike Path at this RI Dept. of Transportation website. As always, click the image above for details about this hike and to download the gps track.

Category: Rhode Island, Walks and Hikes, Washington Secondary Bike Path | No Comments »
Tags: 2–5 miles, Coventry RI, RI

Posted By auntie on July 15, 2019

6 miles; New Haven, CT

I decided to do this 7-mile blue-blazed trail in sections after seeing how intense it was with my friend Stacy last month. VERY glad I made this decision. It’s a rugged trail and has some serious ups and downs. Interesting, though. Can’t wait to do more.

Panorama: click to embiggen

First off, last month it was foggy and rainy, and we got a great view of… fog from the overlook parking lot. Not so much today! You can see clear out to Long Island from here. Or so.

Also, for those of you perplexed, perhaps, by the name of this trail, see this link about the trail and its history.

Many structures

There were lots of interesting structures along this part of the trail, cellphone towers and fire observation towers among them. This particular building is actually the air vent? I guess? for the tunnel that the Merritt Parkway passes through that runs under this ridge. It’s called the Heroes Tunnel, and the state is making plans to blast another tunnel beside it. Check this website for info. Eeesh. I’d better get going with finishing this trail up soon!

Lowland Yellow Loosestrife, Lysimachia hybrida

I don’t recall ever having seen this before, and I had to spend a lot of time with my research assistant professor Google. But I think it’s whorled yellow loosestrife. I think.

What a View

All the climbing on this trail was certainly worth it, at least up to this point. Heck of a view!

Giant Water Tank

Another structure, this time a gigantic water tank. It looked like the mother ship had landed.

Native Rhody

I was also in time to catch at least a glimpse of the native rhododendrons in bloom.

Sleeping Giant

That’s a view of the Sleeping Giant from part way up the red trail back to the overlook. This was the worst climb I’ve done in quite a while… It was a half mile of straight UP, sometimes 4-points-of-contact climbing. At one point I was convinced that I had actually suffered a fatal heart attack and was now in hell and doomed to spend the rest of eternity climbing up the red trail in 90-degree heat. I am not even remotely kidding. This trail kept going and going. Every time I made a turn I’d think to myself, “The parking lot HAS to be just up here around this corner.” It wasn’t.

The End

Until, blessedly, there it was. The end of the red trail, the overlook parking lot, and my car. Whose internal thermometer was reading 100ºF (that’s 38ºC for my thousands of non-American readers LOL).

Track (click for details)

You can find out more about West Rock Ridge State Park and its many hiking trails from this CT DEEP website. You can read more about the vast (825 miles at last count) network of blue-blazed trails throughout Connecticut at the website of the Connecticut Forest and Park Association. Be sure to check out the interactive map. As always, click on the image, above, for details about this hike and to download the GPS track.

Category: CFPA Trails, Connecticut, Walks and Hikes | 1 Comment »
Tags: 5–7 miles, CT, New Haven CT

Posted By auntie on July 12, 2019

2.1 miles; New London, CT

This was supposed to have been a lighthouse cruise with my friends Ernie and Jenn, but the cruise got cancelled due to “mechanical difficulties,” so we went hiking instead. This is such a special place, and I was so happy I could finally show it to someone!

Mamacoke is part of the 750-acre Connecticut College Arboretum, and is managed as a “natural area.” According to their “About” page:

More than 200 acres are dedicated as Natural Area, lands kept as free as possible from human disturbance, and specifically available for observational research, teaching and recreation. Another 200 acres are available for manipulative projects, such as controlled burning experiments and vegetation management demonstrations. These lands have a rich tradition of long- and short-term ecological research by faculty and students.

There are more areas devoted to gardens, wildflowers, and lawns and a beautiful pond where the Flock Theater holds performances.

Butterfly Weed

Mamacoke is, while technically an island, connected to the mainland via a tidal salt marsh. Before you get to that you walk through grassland that has been seeded with bright orange butterfly weed. This is a relative of common wild milkweed, the main food for Monarch caterpillars. We did see Monarch butterflies, too, so I guess it’s working.

Rock Fern, Polypodium virginianum

The white-blazed trail at Mamacoke circumnavigates the little island, which is dominated in its center by a monstrous rock outcropping. At one point the trail travels along the very foot of these cliffs, and they tower over you imposingly.

Train Tracks

Oh, did I mention that you have to cross some train tracks to get to Mamacoke? You do. It’s not Amtrak or anything, but I am told it’s still an active rail line.

Track (click for details)

See the above-linked Arboretum page for details about this hike, including a very nice interactive map of the entire college campus and arboretum which shows the whole trail system. As always, click the image above for details about this hike and to download the gps track.

Category: Connecticut, Walks and Hikes | No Comments »
Tags: 2–5 miles, CT, New London CT