Two new sections of trail change that calculation completely. A thru hiker might still chose to start at Godfrey road but, if you do, you'll miss two compelling new segments of the trail. The first section runs from Collins Gifford Valley Road near Northville to the Benson Road; covering a distance of 8.6 miles. The second section links the Benson Road crossing with the original route at the place where the original route crossed the West Stony Creek North Branch (the bridge about 2 miles from Godfrey Road parking area). This second section covers seven miles and both sections together add 15 miles of new trail to the the NLTP.
I recently walked significant portions of both of the new sections on successive weekends at the end of February and beginning of March 2016. Both trips, were made possible by the use of micro-spike "boot chains". In both cases the trails were extremely icy and neither excursion would have been possible without the micro-spikes (Images 1 and 2).
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| Image One |
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| Image Two: Unusually icy conditions prevail in early spring 2016. Walking these trails would not have been practical without the use of micro-spikes. |
The first of these two outings covered a portion of the the new trail that runs from the Benson Road to West Stony Creek North Branch (north of the Benson Road). The following weekend I walked the section starting at the brand new trailhead on Collins-Gifford Valley Road to the crossing of the West Stony Creek. Both hikes covered about ten miles for the round trip.
Notices at the trail registers warn that though a bridge is planned, currently there is no bridge over West Stony Creek. This is important for anyone planning to start a NLTP journey at the Gifford Valley trailhead because West Stony Creek is a significant stream. The creek can easily be forded at times of low water, but in the spring, or after heavy rains, it could present an impassable barrier.
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| Image Three: The only other hiker I saw on two full days of hiking is seen above on the far side of Stony Creek. He evidently hiked from the Benson road south to the creek crossing. |
Not surprisingly, on the day I was there, March 6, 2016, fording the stream would have been a risky undertaking. West Stony Creek at the place where the trail crosses is wide and in early spring it carries a significant volume of water. The creek does look to be shallow, probably no more than knee deep, but with lots of ice and freezing water to contend with I can't imagine a casual hiker trying to cross at this time of year. The crossing will look completely different in six weeks and by mid-summer it might be possible cross without getting your feet wet. But without a bridge you need to factor the creek into any plan to pass thru this section. I shot a couple of short videos to illustrate.
I'm going to come back to these two outings in future posts, but for now I'll let a quick summary and some photos do the talking. Setting aside the value that these re-routes provide by finishing the long story of the NLTP, the first section, from the Collins Gifford Valley Road to the West Stony Creek crossing is a great new hiking route all on its' own. After climbing steadily for the first mile this section of trail enters a rapidly maturing oak forest that is notably different from forests along most of the NLTP. Then, at just under two miles you reach Mud Pond. The setting for the pond is attractive and open rock is visible on the ridge line northeast of the pond. The ridge appears to be easy to reach and probably has some nice views. I'm planning to return at some point to see for myself.
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| Image Four: Mud Pond in late winter splendor. |
Past the pond the trail passes through a complex of small ridges coming down from the surrounding mountains and it crosses two stream carved valleys. Along the way the forest transitions to a more typical mix of Hemlock and northern hardwoods. This is a very attractive section of trail and the second major stream crossing, about a mile from Stony Creek, is at the head of a small gorge that also looks to be well worth a visit with time to explore.
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| Image Five: Details seen along the trail. |
At just under five miles the trail reaches the ford of West Stony Creek. The area of the crossing, on the south side of the creek, looks to have a number of attractive potential camping spots and I suspect that this will become a well used destination.
All in all, the five mile stretch south of Stony Creek is a lovely hike on its' own terms and I have no doubt that I will return soon. When it is possible to cross it's 2.8 miles from the north bank of the creek to the Benson Road. Walking that section of trail is near the top of my list of possible future outings.
The second of my two recent hikes started at the Benson Road and covered the first five miles of the seven mile route to where the new trail joins the prior route of the NLTP. That outing was similar to the one I've just described with very ice trail conditions defining the day. The highlights of this section include the passage of Woods Lake; a long-time favorite local destination. Along the mile long shore of the lake the trail traverses some splendidly rugged terrain in crossing a ridge of Little Cat Head mountain. Little Cat Head reaches barely 2000 feet in elevation but it's an intriguing mountain with potential viewpoints. From the ridge to the point where I turned around the trail passes through mostly young second growth forests with sections of more mature Hemlocks along a couple of small ridges. I suspect that the section from where I turned back to the place where the new trail joins the old route is more interesting, but I had to leave that for another day. The Ten mile round trip --crunching along over icy ground the whole way-- is my limit for this time of year.
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| Image Six: Glare ice along the shore of Woods Lake. Heavy rains in the prior week followed by a temperature plunge to near zero created hard ice conditions. |
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| Image Seven: More Ice |
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| Image Eight: And more ice. |
