Nature report from backpacking trip on the Appalachian Trail
 in  Connecticut and southernmost Massachusetts, August 15-21, 2003

by Frank Wihbey, Editor

Quick jumps:  | About the trip | Late Summer's Journey | Some stories | Some highlights | Special things seen or heard | Observation list | Resource list | Nature reports from prior AT trips | Return to home page |

Late Summer’s Journey

There is something melancholy, yet attractive about late August in New England. On the one hand, the lazy, hot days of July, bringing long daylight and extravagant plant growth, have passed. But in August the insects are mostly gone, streams are lower and easier to ford, and the somewhat cooler temperatures and drier air are more pleasant for hiking. The month has a special lighting that is a little more intimate, especially the morning and afternoon illumination in the forest.

The Trail meanders roughly North-Northeast from its intersection with the New York border at Sherman. The elevation runs from about 300 feet on the banks of the Housatonic River in the southern end, to 2316 feet at Bear Mountain (the highest point in Connecticut) at the North end. A wide coastal plain and low, rolling interior hills characterize tiny Connecticut. Yet the northwest corner has true mountains. The AT travels through some surprisingly rugged country, giving challenges comparable to that in the other New England sections with mountain climbing, roots and stones in the trailway, and rock ledges or boulders to scramble over. But some sections invite an easy stroll, where the footpath is fairly clear and level, and passes through a natural border of herbs, ferns, moss, and shrubs.

The Nutmeg State has 3 million inhabitants, averaging 677 people per square mile. But this exceptional corner of the state and of nearby Massachusetts is typified by tiny villages with historic charm and a relaxed ambiance. The AT runs through great ranges of forest there, only occasionally passing through farm pastures or intersecting a road. In fact there is even an 18-mile long, relatively remote section, not crossed by any paved road.

The weather during the 7-day trip varied in temperature (lowest about 50º F., highest about 88º F.) and sky conditions (two afternoons with long downpours and thunderstorms, with the rest warm and fair.) The physical challenge was amplified by the warmth and constant high humidity, contrary to my expectations of August, mentioned above. The rare breeze was welcome for its cooling effect and for dispersing the moderate number of flies and mosquitoes.

Some stories

        A ramble into the past
By 1900 almost all land in Connecticut was cleared for farming. During the twentieth century, as farms were abandoned, the trees returned. Ironically the state is now two-thirds forested! But the signs of the agricultural past were everywhere, even at the higher altitudes: the rock walls tediously assembled from field-clearing by the now-gone early settlers, the cellar holes of vanished houses and the relict domestic flowers and shrubs still growing as if marooned in the native vegetation. Faint traces of old woods roads and wagon tracks go across the forest here and there. The AT sometimes follows their paths, then veers suddenly away, presumably according to the vagaries of public land acquisition and proper routing to the high ridges.

In the south end the Trail ascends Schaghticoke Mountain, named for the tribe whose land is traversed. It is perhaps in the preservation of place names in the local Native American languages that the most ancient memories are conserved: Choggam and Wachocastinook Brooks, Wetauwanchu Brook and Mountain, the Housatonic River, and the name of Connecticut itself.

        A walk through bounty
The lingering effects of the Northeast drought were literally washed away by long rains just prior to our trip. Most watercourses were full. The streams were running with sufficient volume to provide all the water we needed and even – in the biggest ones – a chance to cool off. Thus the woods were full of lush plant growth and new mushrooms. Some of the latter brought a curious side effect. For miles, as I walked I’d get an occasional whiff of something I assumed was deer urine. But it became much too frequent to be a result of such widely dispersed animals. I then noted its connection with a certain species of mushroom. As the days went on, the trailside specimens decayed further and further, attracting insects. I wondered what the biological strategy was – perhaps spreading the mushroom’s spores via the insects?

This time of year many trees had already produced their seeds, some in the form of nuts. I particularly enjoyed seeing the hickory again, as we used to gather those in the wild during my youth. Blueberries were in season in the highest places, a surprise since the season is just about finished at low elevations back home in Maine, demonstrating that the effect of altitude is very strong, compared to latitude.

If I once knew this, I certainly had forgotten that woody vines of great size grow in Connecticut, giving some areas the look of a rain forest. Their curious forms added interest to the network of shapes, usually dominated only by the straight verticality of the trees.

Merchants, postal clerks and other townspeople were pleasant and helpful to hikers.  In one case a storekeeper was painting the second story of his building and saw us wandering around on the street below.  He greeted us and asked what we were looking for.  Hearing that we found all the restaurants and delis closed in town (Monday is the usual day off for businesses in the area) he got down and opened his restaurant for us.  As we passed a local school (the AT briefly runs along a town road), a teacher and his family, who were organizing his classroom for the fall, called out to us to offer water and the use of a telephone, if we should need them.  These are by no means uncommon examples of "trail angels" showing spontaneous generosity to those hiking the AT.  

Trail developers and organizers and the National Park Service (which manages the AT and the federal lands corridor through which it passes) take great pains to preserve a "wilderness experience" for hikers.  In most cases, though one is actually quite near "civilization", the illusion maintained is nearly perfect.  One comic example of a lapse of the effect occurred as we crossed the ridge above Salisbury.  I clearly heard the gunning of engines and enormous screeching of tires and brakes.  Hearing no follow-up crashes, and then hearing many repetitions I wondered what was going on, until finally the Lime Rock Park raceway came clearly into view. When there are no track events, for a fee, amateur drivers can attend Racing School and play at being race drivers.  The fun of the day seemed to be controlled skidding on giant puddles of water in the track!  The juxtaposition of those really incongruous squeals, and the forest landscape near at hand, struck my funny bone!

Some highlights

Unlike Maine where some mountaintops are above treeline, due to the lower geographic latitude the mountains in Connecticut are forested from bottom to top. Once in a while though we entered high birch-beech zones, and even a few expanses of pitch pine and scrub oak. The latter two species are seen in only a few locations in Maine, for example in high windblown habitats on the summits of Mount Desert Island. But the presence of nearly constant tree cover kept us from baking in the direct sunlight.

The second day’s hike included a level stroll of 5 miles along the West bank of the Housatonic River. Not only was this a lengthy relief from the exertion of climbing hills, but it was a welcome variation in scenery, and one of the finest riverside walks I can remember along the AT (rivaled only by a similar milieu along the West Branch of the Piscataquis River in Blanchard, Maine). The “look” of the watercourse was that of a lazy, silty Southern river, especially where it was backed up behind a dam. But where it flowed freely over rocks, the real volume of waterflow was apparent in the waves of white water! The name of one of its tributaries, Salmon Creek, probably reflects a very old time when the fish were plentiful and clean. The Housatonic River is an environmental success story. When I was a child it was known as a polluted stream. After years of pollution abatement, the fish have returned, though there are still health postings about fish consumption similar to what we have on newly cleaned-up streams in Maine. 

The slopes of the mountains forming the west wall of the Housatonic River Valley tend to be precipitous, compared to their other sides, which do not bound a river. These cliffs, warmed by the morning and afternoon sun, invite soaring on thermal air currents. Raptors and corvids were seen doing exactly that every afternoon. At a place along the AT there called Hang Glider View, I guess humans occasionally try to emulate them!

Early in the morning as we ascended Bear Mountain, my hiking partner suddenly cautioned me to stop. I said, “What is it, a moose? A bear?” Because these animals are extremely rare in the Nutmeg State, I would value even a fleeting glimpse of either, but certainly would not expect it. I looked ahead and saw that it was a big, charcoal gray porcupine and so was puzzled at my friend’s reluctance to proceed. Then it dawned on me and I said, “They cannot shoot their quills. They penetrate only by direct contact.” The porky stared at us for while and then apparently got tired of looking at our sweaty faces. We enjoyed watching his slow, deliberate amble into the forest.

Along the trail from time to time we noticed Indian pipes growing amid the organic matter on the ground.  Although fairly rare, they were easy to spot because they tended to grow in clear patches on the forest floor.  For the first time I actually saw a pollinator in the plant, in this case a bumble bee,  proving that it is a wildflower rather than a fungus.  It is a chlorophyll-less plant that depends on a host, subsurface mycorrhizal fungi, for its nourishment. There had been a recent discussion between correspondents in the Maine Nature News about this very topic. (See August 5 and August 12, 2003 weekly reports.)

Special things seen or heard

There were two memorable places that stand out in my mind: one high and one low. Lion's Head is an outcropping of the summit ridge of Mount Riga. It is one of the few places on the Connecticut AT where the mountain bedrock breaks out into the open, allowing unobscured views in three directions. A rest there served as a reward for the day’s strenuous hiking. Sages Ravine is just across the line in Massachusetts, where the watershed of Sawmill Brook divides the terrain between two mountains. Because it runs east-west, sunlight penetrates mostly in the mid-day hours. The result is a welcome coolness of air and water for hikers, and an ideal habitat for hemlocks. One specimen of hemlock was 3 feet in diameter, signifying great age for this slow-growing tree. I am sure there were many even larger, not as near at hand. The dappling of light and shadow there gave the ravine a dreamy quality. The brook runs into small clear pools, over mossy stone ledges and down many short cascades. I truly enjoyed the mile walk through there.

Almost everywhere the forest understory was graced by mountain laurel, the state flower, unfortunately well past its time of blooming. Its unblemished thick green leaves at least added a reliable carpet of background color. However there was no lack of late summer wildflowers at trailside. 

In trail registers at a couple of leantos (AT shelters) and via a note placed on rocks at one spot on the trail, claims were made of sightings of rattlesnakes.  Assuming the observers were knowledgeable, this would most likely be the timber rattlesnake, a species that is not very aggressive nor strongly venomous.  There is the possibility that milk snakes were observed in one or more of these cases, as there is a superficial resemblance, as when it is fleeing from human intruders and the head and upper body are obscured.  I believe the milk snake is the species we saw on exactly such an occasion.

I could not help but notice the absence of some familiar birds, either due to being out of their range or their season, for example ruffed grouse, white-throated sparrow, and wild turkey. However the mystical song of the hermit thrush was there, as always the true voice of the deep forest for me. For others perhaps the call of the loon, or the howling of the coyote symbolizes remoteness. We were out of range of the former, but heard the late afternoon social yipping and other coyote vocalizations, that had become familiar from a previous AT backpacking trip.

Observation List

        Fauna
Amphibians and reptiles seen or heard: American toad, Eastern garter snake, Gray treefrog, Green frog,  Milk snake?, Red eft (of the Red-spotted newt or Eastern newt), Timber rattlesnake?
Birds identified by sight or sound: Bald eagle, Barred owl, Black and white warbler, Black-capped chickadee, Blue jay, Canada goose; Catbird, Common crow; Common raven; Downy woodpecker, Eastern phoebe, Eastern wood peewee, Goldfinch, Hermit thrush, Nuthatch, Northern flicker, Red shouldered hawk, Red tailed hawk, Rufous-sided towhee, Tufted titmouse, Yellow throated vireo.
Insects and arachnids seen: Ants, Bumblebees, Butterflies, Cicadas, Crickets, Daddy-long-legs, Damselflies, Deer flies, Dragonflies, Funnel-weaving spiders, Gnats, Grasshoppers, Green flies, Millipedes, Mosquitoes, Moths, Web-weaving spiders, Yellow jackets.
Mammals identified by sight or sign: Coyote, Eastern chipmunk, Gray squirrel, Mole, Porcupine, Red squirrel, White-tailed deer.
Other fauna seen: Slugs.

        Flora
Trees and shrubs in fruit (or nut):  Bilberry, Black Walnut, Blackberry, Blueberry, Hickory, Huckleberry, Oak, Wild cherry.
Wildflowers seen:  Bachelor's buttons, Gill-over-the-ground, Goldenrod, Harebell, Indian pipe, Jewelweed, Lady's thumb, Meadowsweet, Milkweed, Queen Anne's lace, Red clover, Other unidentified wildflowers.
Other notable flora: Dwarf oak, Dwarf pitch pine, Hemlock, Lichens, Mountain laurel, Mushrooms, Poison ivy, Wood fungi.

Tree nuts, collected along the Appalachian Trail in Connecticut

Resource List

•     The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Eastern Region, John Bull and John Farrand, Jr. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1977) 

•     The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers: Eastern Region, William A. Niering and Nancy C. Olmstead (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1979) 
• Dwelley, Marilyn J. Summer & fall wildflowers of New England (Camden, Me.: Down East Enterprise, 1977)
• Johnson, Judith B. The heritage of our Maine wildflowers : a complete guide--identification, lore, medicinal uses, edible uses (Rockland, Me.: Courier of Maine Books, 1978)  
•     Maine Amphibians and Reptiles, Malcolm J. Hunter, Jr., Aram J.K. Calhoun, and Mark McCollough, eds. (Orono, Maine: University of Maine Press, 1999) 
•     National Audubon Society Field Guide to New England, Peter Alden et al. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1998) 
•     Walton, Richard K. and Robert W. Lawson Birding by Ear: Eastern /Central. Sound recording, 3 audio cassettes (Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 1989) 
•     Walton, Richard K. and Robert W. Lawson More Birding by Ear: Eastern /Central. Sound recording, 3 audio cassettes (Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 1994)
•     Saunders, Aretas A. A Guide to Bird Songs (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1951)

Rand's View, looking North along the Appalachian Trail in Connecticut, one of the most photographed scenes along the AT in that state

Your comments on the text and photos would be appreciated. 
E-mail Frank Wihbey, Editor: menature@maine.edu

Acknowledgement

I wish to acknowledge the help of Gretchen Gfeller Web and Public Relations Specialist, Fogler Library, with image editing for this page.

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updated June 01, 2005