E - East Kent Hamlet Nature Preserve, Kent, CT

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

E - East Kent Hamlet Nature Preserve, Kent, CT

After the strenuous and confusing climb to the "summit?" of Leonard Mountain, and a bit of trail mix to refuel, I drove up 341 to Kent Hollow Road, and the East Kent Hamlet Nature Preserve. According to the Kent Trails book, the Kent Land Trust has worked for some years to acquire this property; a former Girl Scout camp in use until the mid 1990's. 

A very well-paved parking area!

Evidence of this former camp abounds. Although the KLT had to raze many of the structures for safety reasons, there are still some stone fireplaces and chimneys (not sure how leaving those up is "safe," but they do look cool!)
 

Stone fireplace

The maps were clear, and the trails were somewhat well-marked (at least in the woods). The trails all spurred off of main paved roads, which made for some less-than-comfortable walking to already-tired feet.

Information board with complementary maps!

 My original plan to connect the two loop trails into a "figure 8" double loop was cut short by a missed turn, but it was for the better anyway.

After passing two stone fireplaces, the trail opened up to a meadow with potentially tick-infested taller grass, but I made it through safely! The meadow was very scenic, and a nice change of scene from the woods for a short stretch. The woods can feel comforting at times, but also make one feel claustrophobic at times.

Open meadow

An old, unblemished beech!

  After some momentary open sky, I entered back into the woods, but this time on a more conventional woodland path. There were some beautiful, and unscathed old beech trees!

I also was able to "pish" in some sort of warbler with a familiar, yet unidentifiable call. In the summer, most birding must be done by ear, as dense foliage and no incentive to come out of hiding, keep most birds unseen. This particular bird did come out when pished, and I was able to spot and identify a male American Redstart!

A nice bolete!

The trail climbed to a height, where it looked like it would open up to an overlook. However, upon reaching the top of the rise, the trail simply turned back downhill!  The trail passed an impressive, multi-angled rock wall. It made me wonder if adding rocks to the wall was a punishment for misbehaving campers!




 



I proceeded back to the parking area by way of a different paved road, and I decided to take the side trip down an unofficial trail toward the sound of water falling. I was rewarded with a very nice waterfall and brook!

Waterfall worth the small side-trip!

Notable Sightings:

• Wood Thrush (seen!)
• Hermit Thrush
• Black-throated Blue Warbler
• Pine Warbler (seen!)
• American Redstart (seen!)
• Veery (seen!)
• Red-eyed Vireo (seen!)
• Ovenbird
• Eastern Phoebe
• Eastern Wood-Pewee 
• Downy Woodpecker (seen)
• Hairy Woodpecker (seen)    

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Looks like a nice pond for paddling...next time!