C - Caleb's Peak, Kent, CT

Monday, June 20, 2016

C - Caleb's Peak, Kent, CT

There are several options when heading up Caleb's Peak (named for a farmer who lived to be 104!). You can approach from Rte. 341 in Kent, across the meadow and over Numeral Rock, where Kent students paint the year of the graduating class. This way is about a 7-mile round trip, which I might go back and do some day.

I had already gone up over St. John's Ledges on the AT two summers ago, and that was a challenge!

The route I decided upon was the most direct. An ascent from where the AT crosses Skiff Mountain Road.  It was steep at first, had a nice, level stretch in the middle (with evidence of a recent fire?), and a final ascent with switchbacks that make it more pleasant. A nice workout if you push yourself, but easy in stretches, and enjoyable overall!

Welcoming white blazes

There be rattlesnakes in them there rocks!

 My wife warned me to "watch out for rattlesnakes!" Where they have been seen in the state, frequent reports have come from the AT. Apparently rocky, south-facing slopes are where rattlesnakes are more likely. I didn't encounter any this time, just a garter snake.
   

Nice view overlooking Kent and the Housatonic River valley

View from the summit

Notable Sightings:

• Eastern Chipmunks (many)
• Gray Squirrels
• American Robins
• Garter Snake
• Veery (heard)
• Wood Thrush (heard)
• White-breasted Nuthatch
• Eastern Wood-Pewee (heard)
• Tree Swallow
• Red-eyed Vireo (heard)
• Ovenbirds (heard)
• Black-throated Blue Warbler (heard)
• Canada Geese (heard)
• Blue Jays (heard)
• Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (heard)