Mattabesett Trail Part 6: starting at Cream Pot Road and ending at Stage Coach Rd in Durham~ 10.5 miles but we did ~12 miles (parked at Steph’s) It took us 5 hrs with a break for lunch.

Today we decided to do a bigger chunk of the trail. It just so happened that the trail ended about a mile from Steph’s house so we went for it. We also are officially more than halfway through the trail and are headed north now.

Taking the blue yellow trail from Cream Pot quickly dropped us back on the Mattabesett. The first half of this hike was all quartz rock again with a good mix of hills and flatter areas.

This trip we encountered a rock name Mick Jaggerdy that was covered in smoky quartz.

The rock formations throughout the trail are stunning and there is a clear change in the makeup of the rocks, basically as soon as you cross Rte 77 in Guilford, the rocks change from quartz to basalt.

This section also takes you through Bluff Head, which is a beautiful look out point. On the left you can see to Hartford and on the right you can see to the Sound. We stopped for lunch and some stretching at the the cemetery before hiking the Bluff.

The birds here are great and today we got to see 5-6 giant vultures in the trees. Dana’s favorite grass (sedge grass) grows here and there were lots of wild flowers blooming including red columbines. We were very familiar with Bluff Head but have never only done the blue trail. There are a couple of steep hills to climb which have become so much easier to do, but we still feel them. The rest of the trail was pretty tame.

Adventurers included: Jes, Dana, Steph, Bryan and Dogo