2010 Walks:

Thursday, January 7th at 9:30 AM , Chatfield Hollow State Park
We had a nice sunny day.  There were many beautiful ice formations in the streams and "flowing" off the cliffs.

Saturday, February 6th at 10:00 AM, Wadsworthfalls State Park, Middlefield/Middletown, Hike and snack
(website: (http://www.ct.gov/DEP/cwp/view.asp?A=2716&Q=325274)  The waterfalls had lots of ice and were gorgeous.

Thursday, March 4th at 9:00 AM, Mount Pisgah area, Durham, Hike and snack

We had a lovely time exploring this beautiful property that belongs to the town of Durham and part of the adjoining Middlesex Land Trust property.  We saw a lovely stream, beautiful rock outcroppings and had a gorgeous view from the top of Mt. Pisgah.  There is a nice environmental review of the Durham property with a lot of good information if you are interested (www.ctert.org/ERTWebsite/pdfs/Durham_MtPisgah_597.pdf)

Saturday, April 3rd at 10:00 AM, Timberland Woods, Guilford, Hike and lunch

Thursday, May 20th at 9:00 AM, , Hike and Snack, Field Forest & Bear Rock, Durham

This was a 4 mile hike including a loop through the Field Forest and some off trail walking in the Cockaponset state forest.  We enjoyed the beautiful views from Bear Rock.  We had a lovely quiet time beside a small stream.  Many of us spotted small wood frogs.  We visited a vernal pool on our hike back and saw many creatures including tadpoles and salamander larvae.

Saturday, June 5th at 9:00 AM, National Trails Day!!! Hike from Mica Ledges (Durham) to Bluff Head (Guilford), Middletown, Hike and Lunch

We had a warm, but beautiful day for our 5 mile hike from Mica Ledges, through Rockland Preserve, and Broomstick Ledges Preserve to the Bluff Head Parking Area.  We had a firt quiet moment by the pond in Mica Ledges and had fun seeing the historic selectmann's stones and the 3 town boarder. We had a quiet moment enjoying the lovely views from a ledge. We noticed interesting rock outcrop and stopped to view the reconstuctedcolliers mound in Rockland Preserve.  We visited a small vernal pool and viewed tadpoles with legs and other cool creatures in pond scopes. This was the longest WoW hike to date.  The longer time period seemed to enable deeper connections with nature and eachother.

Sunday, June 6th at 1:30 PM, National Trails Day, Mother/Daughter hike.

This Trails Day hike had a large turn out.  We had over 20 women and girls on this 2 mile hike despite a sky that suggested rain might be near.  We had a huge range of ages from young kids and teens to grandmothers.  We found lots to stop and look at.  We stopped for a quiet moment by a pond...and then the sky just opened and it poured.  It was amazing to watch the power of nature as we went from occaisional drops on the pond to a deluge.  Luckily as we hiked our the rains stopped and we were able to look at tadpoles and a few caught frogs in a vernal pool.

Thursday, June 17th at 9:00 AM, Tree Identification Walk, Field Forest, Durham

We had a wonderful time on this 1-mile hike examining different trees and learning how to identify them.  Lucy taught eveyone how to look at the leaves and bark to see details many of us had missed.  She focused on straight forward ways to identify and remember the common trees in the woods.  

Tuesday, July 13th at 9:00 AM, Chatfield Hollow, Killingworth. 

On this hike for women and girls we started off with a visit to the fun indian caves.  On this hike we enjoyed the summer woods, saw lovely rock outcroppings, andThis 2+ mile hike will be open to both women and girls.  We will visit a cave, see lovely rock outcroppings and enjoy the summer woods and solved the mysteries to find a couple letterboxes. After the hike a few of us enjoyed cooling off with a swim in the pond.

2008 Walks

National Trails Day Hike to the Timberland Woods, Guilford

WoW!  We had 17 women ranging in age from 16 to the mid-60s at our Saturday, June 7th, 2008 gathering.  We had a diverse and interesting group.  The woods has changed a lot in the month since our May hike. The woods have "closed in" with leaves and the brightness of the green has faded slightly.  The mountain laurel that had only the tiniest buds are just ready to burst into bloom and a few had flowers.

After we had hiked over a mile and enjoyed each others company, we stopped where a small stream emptied into Upper Lake. After a short rest, we enjoyed trying a "Woods Awareness Moment".  Women paired up and took turns speaking what they were aware of in the moment.  e.g. the flute like bird song, the wind rustling the leaves, the sound of water tumbling over rocks, the sun filtering through the leaves, the shadows dancing as the leaves move in the breeze, the coolness of the breeze on my cheek....

We walked quietly through a beautiful valley.  The beauty of the rocks with moss and ferns made it easy to be quiet.

We had a lunch at a lovely spot where the river flows quickly over some rocks before flowing into the lake.

Hike to Mica Ledges, Durham

We had a wonderful WoW hike on Wed. (5/7/2008). We were blessed by an amazing clear blue sky and warm sunshine. We enjoyed talking and sharing about our lives interspersed with times of quiet. It was lovely to visit, but a treasure to share silence and revel in the amazing miracle of Spring. I have walked the trails at Mica Ledges many times, but I have never been as present as I was when we walked slowly and silently, observing and enjoying the beauty around us. We each took away different mental pictures and memories…here are some we shared after our first group slow, silent walk:

Beech tree leave - some still small and accordion folded, others large, new, limp and oh so bright green.

Little stream –trickling sounds, shimmering rocks

Little flower – blue on outside, yellow with rays like the sun inside

Birds –twittering and calling

Wet area – vernal pool – tadpoles

Ferns still unfurling

We arrived at the lovely pond with a light breeze in our faces…so there were no bugs.

We enjoyed sharing what made us smile:

The beautiful reflections of rocks and trees

Birds flitting across the pond

The gentle breeze

Frogs gurumping

After we got quiet again, we did a few standing yoga poses.

Together we did the sun breathe and mountain

Some people tried eagle and tree poses

It felt good to breathe deeply the spring air and drink in the beauty of the pond

We walked along silently and slowly up the hill beyond the pond…

Green, green, green, so fresh and bright green

A beautiful grove of beeches…such smooth bark

So many different wonderful bark textures

Mountain Laurel – many teeny tiny buds in dark pink

The scent of pines

Such beauty, such a gift to just be in the moment and enjoy it

We took in the view from the ledges with lots of mica (and feldspar, quartz, etc).

We chatted in the sunshine and enjoyed our lunches.