So I decided to take advantage of the snow on the ground... Did a little hiking myself.. South Central CT. Guilford in New Haven County. I did this hike in the
fall 2 yrs ago.
Empty parking lot.
Elevation 225'. Temp 35°F(1.6C)
Mattabesett Trail
There's 2 ways to get to the top lookout points. An easy flatter trail going straight on the left and around the ridges or, make a right and head straight up and down the cliffs... Shorter time but harder hike.
I chose the steep hike. Of course pics might be deceiving. I had Crampons on but if it wasn't
for the foot prints already it would of been even tougher. Snow WAS NOT soft. I was baffled about that after the warm days we had and not many cold nights.
Looking back down... It was easy to lose your footing and start sliding a bit.
Continuing on now the trail is getting closer to the edge..
Absolutely amazed how hard the snow was. So Hard I was able to stand in between 2 deep foot prints without the snow collapsing.
Anyone got a sled? Gotta be over 300 foot drop.
First lookout point. Nothing special.. Moving along..
Another incline coming up
This should give some perspective. Camera was facing straight not pointed up. Good Balance, Knees, and Crampons needed. One bad move can send you rolling down the right.
Got to the top and Back on flatter trail heading to the next lookout spot. Just Jeans, TShirt and Sweatshirt. No gloves or hat. Was perfect
At the next Lookout point. Lake below multi colored and still frozen. So were the rivers driving off I-95 as well. Facing North. Temp now 32F. Elevation 650'. I climbed about 400 feet in 45 minutes.
Don't look down! lol
How deep was the snow? Deepest I came across was 10-14" range along the trails themselves..
Time to relax.. You can see Long Island Sound and Long Island from here. Over exposed Sky! Sorry
Love the Rocks and Steepness.
Snow on ground makes you see the rolling hills of CT. Used a special feature on camera to kinda show it better. Would be interesting without an trees.
Time to head back.... This person got too close for comfort. I bet his heart skipped a beat,.
Funny on the way down your body naturally shifted the weight with the slope so it was a little tougher going down because it seemed like you always wanted to push left... and that's not good here.
Your ankle can twist easy too with all the deep prints.
I met someone on the trail. He took the easy way and warned me of the ice/snow on the drop ahead. I told him I came up that way and I'll just slide down on my butt if I have to. lol (I didn't).
Up and Down we go again. I actually had to put my camera in my backpack going down. Didn't want to risk damaging it holding it in hand or neck
Back down to town. That felt good. Need another one. I'm sure there still will be snow after tomorrows rains. We'll see
