Talcott Mountain
tags: hikingTo the Tower, Reservoir, and Back
Yesterday, June 23rd, I went hiking on a six mile loop at Talcott Mountain on the borders of Avon, Bloomfield, and Simsbury, Connecticut. I started just before eleven o’clock, and while the heat was bearable in the morning, it became pretty hot towards the end in the afternoon. I hiked along the Metacomet trail starting at Penwood State Park, not far from King Philip’s Cave. Right at the start, I had to cross the busy CT-185 with no crosswalk opposite the parking lot… Not a great first impression. After surviving that, I snaked through the woods and traversed across a power line trail for about a mile and a half before crossing paths with a lone white-tailed deer. After expressing my regards, I carried on until mile 2.6 where I reached Heublein Tower. This tower was built in 1914 as a summer home for the German Heublein family. It is modeled after the contemporary style of buildings found in Bavaria at the time. Here, I took a short Clif bar, water, and picture break as well as a moment to enjoy the cool wind at the summet.
All Downhill From Here
To begin my descent, I looped around the backside of the tower and headed on down. I was really loving the support of my new hiking boots from L.L.Bean here on my first day out with them. At the bottom, I reached the northern shore of MDC Reservoir #6. From here, I took a left and followed the walking trail around the reservoir. I then promptly missed my turn thanks to the overgrown trailhead and the “stay on trail” sign (not helpful!). Thankfully, I realized this rather quickly and got back onto my trail. Sadly, this section was not very enjoyable. By now, it was the peak of the day and nearly 90°F. The start of this section was largely exposed, overgrown, and swarming with bugs. I sadly rubed up against some poison ivy somewhere along here. Finally, this section went back into the woods and connected back to the start of the trail just before where I saw the deer. I made my way out, survied the road crossing once again, and went to put my car’s air conditioning on full blast for the ride home. All in all, very much befitting of a mountain hike, this one had its ups and downs… 😛
Song of the Week
Tree Critter by Todd Edwards, from the Hoodwinked movie sountrack. Quite the blast from the past, eh? You could almost fool me if you told me The Hives sang this.
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11,111 is pretty sweet. Thanks for that.
