Park Walks: Spring Morning Rain

Washington, Connecticut

A rainy morning walk at Macricostas Preserve, a part of Steep Rock.

Park Walks: Steep Rock Preserve, Hidden Valley in Winter

Washington, Connecticut

January was unusually cold in Connecticut and there were major problems with ice formation. Damaging floods resulted from ice blockages on the Connecticut and Housatonic Rivers. Even the little Shepaug in Litchfield County had a bumper crop of ice floes.

Park Walks: Lakewood Park

Waterbury, Connecticut

Lakewood Park, at the south end of the Great Brook Reservoir, is a quiet place in winter. I get the impression that it's quite old and may have had more activity in years past. A bit of looking around online shows that it's still a popular spot for swimming from the small beach in hot weather. Still an interesting place to explore on a cold December morning.

Park Walks: O'Sullivans Island, Part Two

Derby, Connecticut

An old railroad bridge crosses the Naugatuck River just a few hundred yards north of its merge with the Housatonic. Both rivers were industrial corridors in times past. Now there's some urban renewal here and there but little industry remains.

Park Walks: O'Sullivans Island, Part One

Derby, Connecticut

A chilly morning, 12/317, under a heavy overcast sky with temperature just above freezing. Recently I'd noticed that O'Sullivans Island had been reopened as a recreation area after being closed for years during environmental cleanup. It's actually a peninsula, not really an island, that extends into the water at the junction of the Naugatuck and Housatonic Rivers.

The water was high and there was quite a bit of flooding along the shore and some interior areas of the park.

There's a free-access boat launch adjacent to the park area and fishermen frequent the island as well now that it's open, but there are issues about the fish in the Connecticut rivers with their history of heavy industrial development and pollution.

The mirror surface of the water echoed the ominous deep overcast late morning light.

[more to come]