Parking at Chittenden Park in Guilford and ending at Willow Road in Guilford ~ 8.3 miles
Parking at Chittenden Park the trail starts by walking down to the shoreline. There is a short boardwalk to take. Anyone allergic to bees should take note that the bushes surrounding the boardwalk were covered in them. Dana and I walked through unharmed, but they do swarm around you and it is a little intimidating. We found some cool toenail shells that we collected to commemorate the trail with.
Walking back to the parking lot and up the road started an almost 4 mile hike on blacktop. The only good part here was that we saw a bald eagle flying overhead. I get it that the NET wanted to connect trails from the Long Island Sound to the Massachusetts’ border, but that required that the first 3 plus miles be on black top. When I go for a hike I want to be in nature: woods, mountains, etc. not walking around a town, even if it is a quaint little New England town. You literally have to walk through a train station and through neighborhoods.
The trail stupidly took us to a green by the Henry Whitfield House Museum that apparently used to be part of the trail, but when we got there, the entrance to the green had been blocked off. So we backtracked down to Stone House Lane and walked up the driveway of the Whitfield House. We followed the blue markers through the back around a little path in the woods only to be dropped out on Stone House Lane again. We continued on town roads (found some Sasquatch, some bears and coyote cutouts) busy roads (found a diner) to crossing over highways, to a moderately quiet street (except the jackass in the red truck who couldn’t be bothered to move over) with a pretty farm, to finally, finally, finally finding the woods. We made the best of it and still had fun like kissing bears and showering with sunflowers. But I think this part of the trail was just dumb.
Once we were in the woods it was a very pretty trail. Lots of rocks, moss and mushrooms. The terrain is easy the entire way and virtually flat. There were some muckier areas, and small streams and wooden plank bridges throughout. Also some rocky areas they were fun to play “hot lava” on and jump from rock to rock. The woods at one point dropped us into a very pretty open field that we circled around. Dana introduced Bryan and me to Autumn Olives which we all tried. They were tart, but good. The trail goes back in the woods for a few and then back into an open field that you circle around. It was a beautiful day with gorgeous blue skies so it was easy to be in the moment and appreciate the beauty at this point.
The trail ends at Willow Road ,in a residential neighborhood, that will quickly drop us back into the woods. I know where the next section ends, (meets up with the Mattabesett also in the woods), so I am hopeful that the rest of the trail will be in nature.
Adventurers included: Jes, Dana, Bryan & Dogo