Nepaug State Forest, III
1:45 PM - 3:15 PM, Saturday, 24 August 2024WEATHER: 81°F; HUMIDITY 44%; PRESSURE 30.22 IN; WIND SPEED W-5 MPH; CLOUD COVER 20%; VISIBILITY 16 MI.The reason this post has a titled with a “III” post-nominal is because we have walked to the official letterbox in this forest twice before. Sometimes I’m hesitant about the number of times we have been somewhere, but this is known to me to be a fact. Actually, the intent of today’s walk was to find the location of the letterbox, and we were going to try to do it by memory and see if the old log book was still in the cache with our names and stamp.
Just in case we were to get lost, before we left, I tried to download the clues that would instruct us on how to find said letterbox, but as it turns out, this is one of twelve, out of thirty-two the state sponsors, that is ‘inactive.’
I am just now, in post-editing, seeing that the entrance sign in my collage above reads, “Nepaug, a Connecticut State Forest.” I like their choice of phrase. And the reason I chose to ‘pose’ next to a mushroom was to gibe my fiend JumboC if he ever sees it. He loves mushrooms.
“This trail starts off on the [new] blue-blazed trail which is a tight winding path up the mountain. The top downwards is along slightly overgrown forest roads.
The official parking lot has recently been expanded and is spacious, but despite this fact, the trails are lightly trafficked.”
((731' - 538')/14) = 13.79-stories
I posted twenty-plus pictures of ‘the same thing’ below because I wanted to try to show when the trail’s width, inclination, or erosion would change. As usual, this is a had-to-be-there type of situation.
The Outdated 2008 Forest Map
The ‘official’ 16-year old map just shown is outdated and no longer correct. We used it and we were ‘lost.’ The state should just have it removed so search engines don’t pull it up anymore. Anyway, I knew that even if their new blazed trails were going to replace the ones on the map… the old ones would still be there. I wouldn’t assume the State has the money to plant anything in the way; but how long would mother nature wait to overgrow them?
Red was 2019; Gold 2024
The Google Earth Map with my trails highlighted on it shows the original [red] path we took a few years ago when we found the Letterbox #10, and today’s walk [gold] after we, of course, followed the official new blazes up the hill. I think they did this to avoid erosion problems, but that is just a guess. We actually and unknowing merged with the old trail briefly but kept walking all the while looking for things that we remembered. I absolutely understand how people, even experienced hikers, can lose their barring.
My AllTrails map, “Nepaug State Forest,” featured next shows the route, of course, but also where some pictures were take. I’m not currently a paying member of AllTrails [great service though], but the website still allowed me to upload ten of the batch I posted above.
We definitely walked up a bit to start the hike [I had to focus on my breathing while not letting Coley see me ‘struggle’], but the scale on the embedded chart looks way harder than it was. Was it really thirteen-stories up and down over 2.58-miles? Maybe, but I don’t believe it was despite what the computer is telling me.
Absolutely nothing upsets me more than when a location, business or otherwise doesn’t have a number for their location. On the official State website (https://portal.ct.gov : accessed 24 August 2024) the Department of Energy & Environmental Protection only explains how to get there, “From the junction of Route 202 and Route 44 in Canton, follow Route 202 west 3.1 miles to the Forest entrance on the right.” I only want the puzzles to start when we get there and not before! Anyway, if you want to visit input one of the following into your GPS device and it will take care of getting you there without any nonsense.
Nepaug State Forest Parking
41°49'27.4"N 72°58'22.7"W
41.824327, -72.973011
Driving times are approximate:
Torrington = 0 hour, 15 minutes.
Hartford = 0 h, 40 m.
Tolland = 1 h, 0 m.
New Haven = 1 h, 0 m.
New London = 1 h, 20 m.
Boston = 2 h, 15 m.
NYC = 2 h, 15 m.
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