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Published: March 2nd 2016
Peak color in November!
South central Connecticut in peak color from the first overlook on Chauncey RidgeFoliage season can’t already be over. This year was the best in a long time, so many bright colorful trees. I want more! It can’t be over!! I WON’T LET IT!!! As pointless as this attitude sounds, it led directly to my hike today.
Wistfully reading the
foliage reports, I discovered that south central Connecticut still had peak color. This part of the region turns later than the rest, and holds on to it longer. Normally, even here color is fading by Halloween, another sign of just how remarkable this year has been foliage wise. Southern Connecticut is a longish drive, but certainly doable as a day trip.
Once I knew the region, I needed a hike. This part of the state contains taprock ridges, narrow north-south hills carved by glaciers. The obvious target was the largest, Sleeping Giant Mountain. Unfortunately, web research revealed it’s popular, plus it’s within a
state park with obnoxious fees for non-residents. Much more digging on state hiking sites finally uncovered a gem,
Giuffrida Park, a city park protecting two ridges close to an Interstate. Few have ever heard of this place, and that is exactly how I like it.
I needed three hours to drive
Reservoir view
View of the reservoir with Chauncey Ridge behind it, from the dam to the park. The first part involved heavy rain; I trusted that morning’s weather report and pushed through. Sure enough, by the time I crossed the state line things cleared up, and the sun came out by the time I reached Hartford. Even better, many of the trees still had past peak color. These were yet another sign of just how good this year has been, with nearly perfect weather for color and few storms to bring down the leaves.
Beyond Hartford, the highway passed through an obvious landscape of rolling hills. The exit appeared near one of them. The local road passed through standard suburbia and lots of trees with yellow leaves. It finally reached a parking lot next to an obvious reservoir between two ridges, the park.
Giuffrida Park protects the reservoir and its watershed, the town water supply. Wonderful colorful trees lined the banks on both sides, a small taste of the hike to come. Exposed cliffs appeared in the distance above promising nice views. This was just what I wanted. Less wanted, the reservoir meant all hikers must be out before dusk.
The trail started by crossing directly below the reservoir dam. This
World of color
A forest of yellow trees, all peak! dam was made of cut stone blocks, and looked quite old. At the far side, the trail crossed below the spillway. Worryingly, it did so across grassy ground without any kind of bridge. At this time of year, with the water level low, that wasn’t an issue but in spring it must be impassible.
On the far side, the trail briefly climbed a hill into the trees. Here, I entered an unexpected wonder world. Everything was peak color! Bright yellow and fiery orange stretched as far as I could see! Normally, even peak forests present a patchwork of color; the mix of tree species means they turn at different times. Here, the trees were all young and the same species, so they all turned at the same time. They must have been planted to protect the watershed. Today, the forest became a place to lose myself in endless color. I wanted this place to never end.
For a while, I got my wish. Every step drew me further into this color dream. The yellow trees in particular practically glowed in the sunlight. Slowly but surely, however, the path headed toward the barely visible cliffs in the distance. It
Kissed by the sun
Endless view of peak color yellow trees started to climb, slowly. When I saw the rock pile ahead, I knew it was only a matter of time.
The trail reached the rock pile and climbed it through switchbacks. Quickly, these got steep. The glorious trees continued. As the trail climbed, steep vertical cliffs became visible on the right. The trail finally reached the top of the pile where it intersected the cliff, at the bottom of a very steep gully. Some of the rocks had drill holes indicating the cliffs are artificial, an old quarry, and the pile is tailings.
In the gully, the trail became a brutally steep chimney climb. It had to be done as a crab crawl, using three limbs for holds while finding the next with the fourth, repeatedly. Thankfully, it was over quickly. The gully deposited me on the top of the ridge next to the cliff. Frustratingly, it had no view whatsoever except for the tops of the trees growing below. Granted, all of those trees are yellow, but I wanted more for that climb.
The trail turned right toward the main part of the cliffs. It still had no view. Then, it reached and climbed a four
On fire
Yellow and red trees at full peak color foot ledge. At the top, I saw something that was definitely worth the climb. It nearly made me forget the amazing forest I had hiked through to get here.
This part of the quarry cliffs reached above the trees. I saw a view absolutely huge by Connecticut standards, stretching from here south to New Haven and Long Island Sound. Left and right contained more taprock ridges, including a long ridge with an obvious observation tower on the far right, Sleeping Giant Mountain. Aside from roadside pullouts, I’ve never seen a view this large for so little hiking effort.
Everything was covered in peak foliage! Colorful tress stretched as far as I could see, individuals close and a patchwork of color in the distance. Careful observation revealed that much of that patchwork covered subdivisions and strip malls, but who cares this time of year? The best part of all was a golf course in the middle distance, where the foliage made a brilliant contrast against the greens.
Slowly, reluctantly, I pulled away from that view. I had only so much daylight, and much more hiking to do. The trail turned away from the former quarry and followed the
Gully climb
The final gully scramble to the top of Chauncey Ridge top of the ridge. It was rocky, but relatively flat and easy to follow. Trees here were stunted by the wind, but still tall enough to mostly ruin any chance of a view. To add insult to injury, they were also past peak and rather dull.
The path reached another overlook, but not a beautiful one. Turns out that the park only covers one side of the ridge, and the other part is being actively quarried. The view overlooked a giant ugly pit. Trucks at the bottom that seemed small enough to be toys gave an idea of the huge scale. The one saving grace was the view of the ridges beyond, covered in more foliage. The towers of Hartford peeked beyond a ridge on the far left.
After the quarry, the trail continued on top of the ridge. I scrambled over seemingly endless hillets and groups of rocks, all surrounded by moss and scrubby trees with no leaves. After what came before, this was decidedly unscenic.
Finally, the trail reached a rocky rise leading to an obvious open area. The path broke out onto another cliff with a great view of the ridges to the west,
Golf course view
Peak foliage over a golf course from high above dominated by Sleeping Giant on the left side. The valleys between had yet another carpet of peak foliage. This was beautiful, but also short. Immediately afterward the trail reentered scrub, now surrounded by grass.
Thankfully, the scrub didn’t last long. I soon found myself on another west facing open cliff, this one with a huge view. In addition to the ridges and foliage, it showed the reservoir in full, far enough down to possibly trigger vertigo. Far to the left, I could spot the parking lot where I left my car!
This cliff also had my first view of the ridge on the other side. It’s a little lower than this one, so the trees still had leaves. All of them were peak to just past peak, a glorious tapestry of color. Still more ridges with colored tress lay beyond it. I really wanted to get there before daylight runs out.
Sadly, beyond the cliff the path reentered scrubby trees and started to slowly descend. I’ve passed the peak of the ridge. On the plus side, I reached another west facing cliff. This one overlooked the end of the reservoir. The view showed the next ridge over
Hartford towers
View of Hartford from the quarry overlook close up, covered in a tapestry of colored leaves. The ridges beyond it had plenty of color too.
After that cliff, I descended into an area where the trees started to have leaves again. Most were past peak, but some red ones had brilliant color. The path became quite rocky with trickier footing. Unexpectedly, it then rose to yet another cliff. The view showed the last part of the reservoir and the brilliantly colorful ridge now directly across. At first glance, the path appeared to follow the narrow cliff, which would probably be suicidal. Careful observation revealed the trail markers showing the scramble path up the cliff away from the edge.
The scramble ended on top of the ridge’s last rocky knob, with one of the best views since the first. It showed the ridge on the far side of the reservoir in full, plus the water itself far below. The left side stretched across valleys of peak color to Sleeping Giant. The right side showed the towers of Hartford in the distance. Great view, although those with vertigo should definitely think twice.
After the cliff, the trail scrambled over a rocky exposed ridge. This was harder
Reservoir and ridge
The reservoir and Lamentation Mountain, all peak color hiking than the rest, but with much better views. Then, the trail reached the end of the ridge and started to descend. Unlike the path up, now it followed the natural ridge line and was much more gradual. The forest was a more traditional one this time too, a mix of species. All of it was past peak and some trees were completely bare.
As the trail dropped, the foliage went through a wonderful change. Trees changed from past peak to peak. The diversity of species meant it happened gradually, just more and more color as I headed down. The color had lots of variety, from bright yellow to fiery red.
Suddenly, the trail entered steep switchbacks. These were on dirt and fallen leaves, creating more risk of falling than the rocks above. I took it slowly and carefully, using trees for handholds. The glorious foliage continued. One unexpected treat of the scramble was looking out at the tops of trees further down the slope, brightly lit by the afternoon sun.
At one point, I saw what looked like a wood bridge far below. The trail ultimately reached it, at the bottom of the valley between this
Ridge descent
The final descent off Chauncey Ridge. Look for the wide path in the middle distance ridge and the next. It crossed the bridge and ended on what appeared to be an old logging road. Looking upstream from the bridge showed the (now dry) stream emerged from a narrow gorge with vertical walls. Unexpected and pretty.
On the road, I faced a painful choice. A trail up the other ridge started here, intersecting a trail along the ridge near some west facing overlooks. Assuming I could make it in time, the other trail would then lead back to the parking lot. On the other hand, measuring the mileage showed I’d be pushing it time wise. Having my car towed would not be fun, regardless of the foliage beforehand. In the end, I wanted still more color and figured the views were worth the risk.
This climb resembled a less steep version of the previous descent. The trail passed through yet another carpet of colored trees. With the low sun, the taller ones practically glowed. More red ones appeared than the other ridge, plus spots with bare rock and scrubby pines. The vegetation change normally signals a slightly colder climate.
With the sun getting low, I started to worry about reaching any overlook. Then,
Lichfield Hills
The Litchfield Hills in the far distance, from a Lamentation Mountain overlook the path reached the junction with the ridge trail. Unfortunately, it was nowhere near any ridge! I took the branch heading uphill and pushed on.
I entered a forest of young trees with little undergrowth and lots of fallen leaves. Ironically, I could see a long way through the trees but could barely find the trail. No visible cliffs either. With the low sun, I needed to turn around soon. The colored leaves all around made the climb worthwhile, but I really wanted that view.
Just when I started to wonder if having my car towed would be worth it after all for another view, I saw a sign warning of sharp cliffs ahead. Soon afterward, the trail made a sharp right turn and climbed toward visible taprock in the distance. Only one problem, still no view.
Now that I was on the ridge, I had to have a view. I’ve come too far not to. Truthfully, I probably should have turned around by now. Instead, I pushed on trying to find an open spot in the trees. Five minutes later, I finally had it.
Needless to say, the view was definitely worth the hike. It
Lamentation Mountain trail
Typical trail view on Lamentation Mountain ridge showed the river valley to the west of the ridge with rolling hills beyond. Sleeping Giant Mountain loomed at the far left. The far right had something special in the distance, the southernmost portion of the Litchfield Hills, Connecticut’s section of the Appalachian Mountains. The cliff was steep, so I also got a vertigo inducing view of what was directly below. This was a little surprising, a dairy farm with cows grazing. Everything was covered in peak foliage, an endless carpet of color glowing in the low sun. Sadly, some of this scenery was marred by obvious tract housing and a strip mall, but that didn’t matter on a day like today.
Now, I had to pay the price of that view. The sun was getting low, which meant I was risking a ticket or worse. I drank in that view and then headed back, as quickly as I could safely hike. The initial scenery was the same as the way up, which helped with moving faster. No temptation to stop and look meant a quicker hike. I finally got back to the trail junction, and this time took the ridge trail. The map showed it headed for the
Last overlook
Last view of peak foliage, southwest from Lamentation Mountain parking lot.
Beyond the fork, I got a totally unexpected surprise. The trail swung back to the edge of the ridge, and reached another west facing viewpoint! This one was just as impressive as the last one, showing the valley between this ridge and Sleeping Giant. Unlike the previous one, this view also showed the towers of New Haven in the far distance to the left. Everything featured a carpet of peak foliage, of course. I wanted to drink it in one last time, but the view also showed just how soon the sun would set. I had to keep moving.
The viewpoint marked the end of the ridge. Beyond it, the trail entered a forest of yellow and red trees and started to descend. It was less steep than the previous ridge, a good thing because I could move faster. In one stretch, it showed a view of the reservoir and the ridge on the far side. The cliffs I hiked across earlier are steeper than I thought they were. They looked great with the orange light of a low sun shining on them. Unfortunately, that meant the day was almost dusk, and I still had so
Reservoir
The reservoir from the rocky beach along the trail far to go.
Beyond the last overlook, the trail entered an area of big rocks and became steep. I had reached the last descent off the ridge. The path now required a careful rock scramble through a forest of young trees. All of them were yellow. The fallen leaves make this part harder than it otherwise would be thanks to slippery holds. Finally, the rocks ended and the forest flattened out. It was still all young yellow trees. Earlier in the day with direct sunlight, this must have looked as amazing as the initial part of my hike.
The path finally reached a dirt track. Here it turned left and entered a swampy area. Initially, this was disappointing after all the foliage earlier. Deeper in, I got a truly unexpected treat, late season flowers! The weather had been nice enough that some of the plants still had flowers attached. They were small and long past prime, but I’m amazed they were here at all in early November.
After the swamp, the trail left the dirt track and turned left, flat and straight. Quickly, it entered an area of pines. These were all young and close together, another
Pines and foliage
Final foliage in a forest of pine trees sign of a planted forest. Soon afterward, I saw a rocky beach in the distance. Getting there, this beach had a very familiar view, of a long ridge with shear walls across a long thin reservoir. I’m nearly done. This was a very good thing, because the view also showed that the sun had now set. I probably had twenty minutes left to reach my car.
Thankfully, the trail now followed the shore, flat and nearly straight though the pines. Surprisingly, a few young deciduous also made an appearance in this forest. They had all tuned yellow, an amazing contrast with the deep green everywhere else. I wanted to drink in the beauty, but had to just keep moving.
Ten minutes later, I burst from the forest into the parking lot. It was dusk, so I could still see. More importantly, my car was still there with no tickets. I wasn’t the only one leaving things to the last minute either. I quickly changed my boots and was on my way. Another brilliant hike, in one of the most beautiful foliage seasons in years, was over.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Lost in color
As always you've absorbed your surroundings and gotten more out of a hike than most. Great to see you blogging again. Thanks for sharing the richness of colors.