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Date Climbed
Elevation
Distance
Time
Gain
Conditions
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Connecticut's County
Connecticut's County
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I started today with a quick three-hour journey, completing all five county highpoints of Rhode Island. finishing with a visit to the state highpoint at 9 a.m. I stuck around and visited with a few others, this being one of the open-dates for visiting the infamous Jerimoth Hill (the old landowners disliked visitors and only allowed visits a few days a year. The new landowners seem to be more accomodating). Then, I popped into Connecticut with plans to start picking off the eight quasi-counties of the Nutmeg State. I didn't really plan to hit them all in one day, but things fell into place and I almost completed the feat! Alas, I had to cancel the last hike as darkness fell, and about a year later, discovered that I had visited an erroneous point in Fairfield County. In August 2006 - 73 months later - I made the quick dash out to properly finish Fairfield County. So yes, I have visited all eight Connecticut highpoints.
Sometime in the last few years, the state stripped virtually all of the powers away from the counties and split the duties among the state and/or local governances like the various townships and large cities. As a result, the counties in Connecticut exist in name only. They have absolutely no function any more, other than to give county highpointers something to do. A similar situation exists over in Rhode Island. First up: Burley Hill in Tolland County.
I arrived at the Burley Hill area around 11:30 and drove up to the towers that were atop a smaller sub-peak, and parked. To get to the actual highpoint, I hiked South through the forest for a few hundred yards before coming out into a grassy field, with grass about 6 feet tall. I found a faint footpath that ran along the perimeter of this field and after a few hundred more yards re-entered the forest on the north side of the field. Views were hampered by the trees but I kept hiking uphill until I came to three large groups of rocks which I took to be the highpoint. Only after ascending them did I see a yet larger pile of rocks about 100 paces to the east. Once I ascended these, I could see the land radically slope away to the east and I knew I had the highest point. The one-way hiking was about 0.5 mile, and the round trip took about a half-hour. Later I found out this highpoint comes complete with a surly landowner, but I never saw anyone and probably got lucky.
This highpoint was only about 15 miles south from Burley Hill, and was much less work. The drive to Snow Hill passes through a scenic drive (and walkway, judging by some benches) through mountain laurel, which was in bloom and made for a very pretty, flowery drive. The highpoint is located off a spur road behind some fencing surrounding a tower. It's an obvious rise in the ridge, and some fairly large boulders mark the highest points. After dutifully stepping on these boulders, I returned to my car and headed south toward Willimantic. It was not yet 1 p.m.
It was only about 20 miles of driving to Willimantic, which is just north of Gates Hill. After a stop at a pharmacy to pick up some Calamine Lotion (for some scratches and possible touch of poison ivy), I drove to the Gates Hill area. This is developed with homes and some cell-phone towers and has been heavily bulldozed and disturbed, so the true high point is hard to determine. I found some good sized boulders and berms to step on on the otherwise flattish summit area, and stepped here and there. This one definitely is 'subtle'.
This little band of hills are located in the Meshomasic State Forest near East Hampton, south of Hartford. The trailhead is located between two driveways in a rural/residential area. I arrived here around 3ish, figured out a place to park (not much room), then headed in on the trail. It's just over half a mile to the top, but compared to the previous highpoints this one was very nice as it was all trail and very easy to follow. No bushwhacking, no ticks, none of that stuff. The summit is topped by numerous large boulders, on which I stepped to get the highpoint. Overall, the hike took less than a half-hour and gained about 100 feet. Very pleasant, very pretty.
After Meshomasic, it was only about another 25 miles to this county's highpoint, near the city of Bristol. There are two contours of 1,050 ft just south of Lindsley Hill (which is 1,046 feet), so I'd be obliged to visit both. The first area was accessed via a paved road to a tower complex, but conveniently the builders did not build right on the summit, so the summit was still natural. Old trees and large boulders were still in place, which was very pleasant. I hopped on the largest boulder, then walked out back to my car. The second area is about a quarter mile to the south, at the far end of a miniature golf/driving range. That particular "summit" had some netting (to protect nearby homes from golf balls) and another radio tower. The complex was closed but I asked a neighbor mowing his lawn if it was okay to cross the property... he didn't know the landowner, and he personally didn't have a problem with it (my route also crossed his property, too), so I scampered up to that area, stepped on some berms and crud, and walked back out. It has been heavily disturbed. My hunch is the northern of the two areas is the true highpoint.
I am making great time! Very little traffic, even on the interstate, so the possibility of me completing all of Connecticut seemed to grow as I steadily knocked them off. This one required that I pop into New York state, then drive up north toward Pawling, then double back through some extremely pretty (and pricey) scenery back toward Connecticut. The Fairfield county highpoint actually lies on the NY/CT state line. A small abandoned (?) driveway leaves the small highway right at the state line, and gets to within nearly 200 feet of the highpoint. What appears to be an old block fence tends north/south, and an obvious cairn sits on this decrepit fence, so I took that to be the probable highpoint, but to be sure I walked around a bit and stepped on other candidate rocks. It was still just 5 p.m. Now, up north to the Connecticut/Massachusetts state line for the CT highpoint, Mt Frissell. Update: I have removed this county from my completion list after learning I followed a bad set of directions and missed the HP by about 200 feet.
Update (August 8, 2006): Beth and I were in the region, heading toward West Point coming down from Vermont and Massachusetts. We followed US-7, which went by a whole bunch of good highpoints and got close to this one. I was keen to revisit this highpoint after my stupid error from 2000. We found the driveway along Wakeman Road and the state line, and drove in - ignoring all the posted notices. Beth opted to stay in the car while I dashed into the brush. From the driveway bend I stayed on a north bearing through the brush and after a few minutes spied the concrete NY-CT state line marker, as shown on the map. This put me a bit north of the Fairfield highpoint, and it's probable I crossed over it on my way to the marker. To be sure, I walked back south a few yards to where the gentle ridge of the eastward slopes was distinguishable, and tromped a bit in the area to 'statistically' ensure I had visited the highpoint. The whole escapade took about 10 minutes, and I hurried back to the car where we quickly drove out and on our way to Middletown, New York and our hotel. So now I can comfortably claim a Connecticut state completion.
My drive up north from the Fairfield highpoint went slow as I followed a slowpoke for most of the way up US-7. Very pretty countryside, however. The Connecticut highpoint is actually located on the southern slopes of a small peak that summits in Massachusetts; it's the only such state highpoint with that peculiarity - a "liner". The access is via some dirt roads from the town of Salisbury. I arrived at the area around 6:30 p.m., and headed in. Mountain Laurels were in bloom and I was hiking through laurels about 10 feet high! Very beautiful. After a mile or so, the route leaves the main trail (an old Jeep road) and heads up the hill, following the Connecticut/New York state line meridian for about a half mile. It gets a bit steep, and the laurel was so thick I had to walk sideways sometimes. Shortly I came to a stone marker set at the point where Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York all meet. From here it was a few hundred more yards east along the Massachusetts/Connecticut state line to a very big rock cairn set at the highest part of the boundary, the Connecticut highpoint. Some points along this route opened up and I had incredible views out across the various river valleys. With all the laurel in bloom, parts of the hillside where a light pink in color. Absolutely beautiful. Now, back to my car. It was a nice hike back, overall a 3.6 mile round trip with about 400 feet of gain. I was back to my car at 7:30 p.m. Now, I just had one more county to go for the whole state, and about one hour of good sunlight left. Off I went to...
It was about 30 miles of slow driving to this area, north of the town of Winsted, and by the time I arrived at the area it was 8:40 p.m. and the sun was pretty much set. And I got lost. My directions were predicated with the warning that construction was going on, and that street names may change... and they did, so I actually drove to the wrong trailhead. I hiked in about 15 minutes, then just gave up and returned to my car, and took a hotel in Torrington, south of Winsted. Early the next morning I came back, and in broad daylight found the right trailhead, and hiked in. It was only about 1.5 miles round trip to the grassy summit on the hill. It was very beautiful but lots of flies. I met some locals out walking their dog (who barked at me, of course). With Connecticut now completely done, I proceeded north into Massachusetts for its state highpoint and another nearby peak.
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(c) 2000, 2006 Scott Surgent. For entertainment purposes only. This report is not meant to replace maps, compass, gps and other common sense hiking/navigation items. Neither I nor the webhost can be held responsible for unfortunate situations that may arise based on these trip reports. Conditions (physical and legal) change over time! Some of these hikes are major mountaineering or backpacking endeavors that require skill, proper gear, proper fitness and general experience. |