If you want to check on the hikes that I completed so far as part of this challenge, go here.
Prologue: A hiking challenge is going on this year by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEEP) in the state of Connecticut where I live, “Sky’s The Limit”. We have to finish a hike in the chosen 20 Park and Forest locations before December 3rd this year Each location has some specific points of interest that the departments asks us to take pictures of and document them. Most of the Parks and Forests are located in an hours of driving distance, except a few. I decided to take this challenge and hopefully will be able to complete all of them. Here we go!
Next up is Stratton Brook State Park. This is # 17 on the list provided by DEEP. I am not following the order they have listed. I am just going to any hike I can whenever I can from that list. 🙂
I have been to Stratton Brook State Park several times, mostly for company picnics that were organized by the client I was working for back then. However, it has been over four years that I had been there. So this summer when I saw this park on the list, I was thrilled. However, we got more thrills than we bargained for. **Shudders**
Stratton Brook State Park in the town of Simsbury, CT is a beautiful location for swimming, picnicking, and enjoying the beautiful wooded areas surrounding the lake. You can also do fishing, biking, and hiking in the region. It also houses a seasonal nature center if anyone wants to know more about the flora and fauna of the area.
Here I am posing in front of the beautiful red covered bridge that goes over the Stratton Brook which eventually joins Farmington River.
One notable point of interest is this Massaco Forest Pavilion built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1935.
We came across this Timber Boardwalk / Bridge along the trail that we took.
However whet we didn’t expect was to find a small bear behind us. Yes, indeed, we took the Red Trail after doing the Farmington Trail, a quarter mile into it we head this huge noise behind us. Turned back to find a small bear walking across the trail behind us. Lucky for us it was looking at the opposite direction from where we were, and turned that way and walked further into the forest. We were frozen to death and stood silent for a while until it walked further away. That is when I took this pic. Yeah, the big black blob is of that bear.
It was a small bear, but big enough to attack us if it want to. We waited a solid 5 mins before we walked, almost ran, to the main trail and back to the heavily populated area before the bear decided to turn back and make a tasty meal of us. 😛 **Shudders and Shivers** We had to cut short our hike because of that, and I didn’t want to go back again in case the bear remembers missing its meal. 😛
Twenty years of living in America, this is the first time I encountered a bear. Certainly a memorable one I should say, albeit we got more thrills than we bargained for. 😛
Galavant Reflections 