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Well, I finally got over to the Trumbull Dog Park. It's located deep inside Indian Ledge Park, residents only allowed. But it was Thanksgiving, so in the spirit of Arlo Guthrie we thought that one big pack of dogs was better than two small packs of dogs, and rather than try to bring their dogs home we decided to have our dog join in. Besides, we never heard of a town ticketing on Thanksgiving before.
A lot of people don't understand the purpose of dog parks, which is socialization, NOT exercise. The photo below shows the proper way to greet, which is something dogs have to learn. People greet with rituals like a handshake or by saying, "Hi. Nice to meet you." Dogs sniff butts to say hello, and a polite dogs learns to let other dogs sniff HIS butt. This is the proper way for dogs to greet each other.
The Trumbull Dog Park was nicer than the neglected Milford park, but not as nice as the one in Ridgefield. It is very close to what the park in Shelton will be. It has two sides, one for small dogs and one for larger dogs. It's set in thick woods, so there is no grass, and a lot of woodchips have been set down instead. The area at the top of the large dog enclosure was muddy, and our dog came home with some of stinky mud on her, though not enough to keep me away from a park like this.
The photo below is a set of three pan photos stitched together (you may need to click on it to get a better look). Some of the others in the park were having trouble with their dog eating the sticks and digging in the mud.
We made the mistake of not reading the rule until we were leaving, but met all the rules anyway. No children under 10, that was interesting. I guess they don't want any little kids getting bit or acting inappropriately with the dogs, which makes sense. Might be hard for parents to use the park if they also need to watch their kids, though.
Old Mine Park in Trumbull is appropriately named, being just full of interesting old tungsten mines. These are in the wooded sections of the park, not the manicured area down below, as seen here:
Walk up the trails behind the ballfields and picnic area. Here's one of the bigger mines right along a hiking trail, surrounded by security fencing. The trails are mostly old mining roads, and easy to walk:
The tungsten ore was removed from what were formerly hydrothermal 'veins', and hauled to the processing plant down below where the picnic area is. The ore reportedly was not very good quality.
A bit further up the trail is another of the larger mines. This one goes back another 10 feet or so from the rock face, where you see black shadow in the photo above the water surface.
I used the camera's flash to illuminate the cave and see what it looked like. Hey, anyone see some little heads sticking up out of the water way in the back? They're frogs! On my computer at home I was able to zoom in and count more than a dozen:
Looks like Green Frogs. Give these frogs a puddle anywhere and they will have a party, even as December approaches (by the way, we also heard some Spring Peepers peeping):
The area around that particular hole in the ground was very green, with the rock covered with lichens, ferns, and moss:
Picking through an old mine heap a few feet away, I found these eggs, which I believe are from a Red-Backed Salamander (they would like the moist hole):
In another part of the park, near another mine (I think you are always near a mine at this park) there was a patch of Blue Cohosh berries:
Here's a second mine deep enough to have a security fence:
It's not a big park, but the mines really add interest. Here's a page with some interesting photos of the ore processing facility. Tungsten was mined for use in light bulbs.
As a bonus, this is a Trumbull park that does not ban nonresidents, presumably because they took federal dollars to build the Housatonic Rail Trail that runs through the park.
After pulling into the main parking area and finding it mobbed with November hikers, I decided to try out the north side of the park. I drove down Tuttle Ave and parked at the small lot for the red circle trail. There was a pasture with horses across the street, and not a single hiker. Sweet. The Red Circle Trail and a bridle trail immediate split along this stream.
They do a great job marking the trails at Sleeping Giant. The blazes are always fresh, they're easy to understand, look professional, and there are generally just the right amount of blazes. Because there are so many trails, they have to use lots of colors and shapes. They have "crossover" trails that are blazed one color in one direction and another color in the opposite direction. And finally you have the bridle trails marked with a white horseshoe on black (or "U"), as well as some "X" trails, also white on black. I started out on the "U" trail.
Here on the north side I got an entirely different perspective of Sleeping Giant. The trails were easy to walk, and I came out onto this farmland scene.
My search for treasure then took me onto the Quinnipiac Trail for a bit. Things were definitely more rugged here than on the bridle trails.
You walk up the woodland trail and then BAM, there's a view at the top of Hezekiah's Knob:
After that I meandered on various trails in search of treasure. The trails got much busier. As much as I've hiked in the Giant I still found myself on trails I'd never been on before, like this portion of the Orange Trail, where I caught glimpses of the Tower in the distance:
As the sun sank towards the horizon (it gets dark so early these days!), I looped back towards the parking area, but not before a detour onto the violet trail.
That was probably a mistake, because I found the sun setting while I was still up on the ridge. Oops. I was comforted by the flashlight in my backpack and my gps. Still, the footing is tricky even in daylight. I wouldn't want to hike down in the dark.
Well, I'm sorry, I should have some spectacular pictures of my trip down the gorge to my car, because there were all kinds of waterfalls, cascades, and so forth. They just went on and on as I descended along the stream (the same stream that's in the first photo). I was stunned, having never seen this before (and the water was running pretty well). But it was much too dark. So I will endeavor to return, because that is my new favorite entrance to Sleeping Giant :-).
A lot of people don't understand the purpose of dog parks, which is socialization, NOT exercise. The photo below shows the proper way to greet, which is something dogs have to learn. People greet with rituals like a handshake or by saying, "Hi. Nice to meet you." Dogs sniff butts to say hello, and a polite dogs learns to let other dogs sniff HIS butt. This is the proper way for dogs to greet each other.
The Trumbull Dog Park was nicer than the neglected Milford park, but not as nice as the one in Ridgefield. It is very close to what the park in Shelton will be. It has two sides, one for small dogs and one for larger dogs. It's set in thick woods, so there is no grass, and a lot of woodchips have been set down instead. The area at the top of the large dog enclosure was muddy, and our dog came home with some of stinky mud on her, though not enough to keep me away from a park like this.
