#maggievacation - Conquering West Rock

Hi Friends of Grandma and Grandpa.  It's Maggie again.  Thanks for encouraging Grandma and Grandpa to let me blog again.  I never had a platform to voice my opinions before.  Frankly, I like it.  As a dog, I spend a lot of times observing what humans do.  You guys work way too hard and are always doing chores.  What's up with that?  Luckily, my time with Grandma and Grandpa has been pretty balanced.  They get their chores done, like washing the truck (hard to call that a chore when I had so much fun doing it), but still have time to do fun things like take me to West Rock Ridge State Park.  Here Grandma and I are going over the route we will take today.

Grandpa has been searching out hikes for us to do together. You know we already did East Rock, so it seemed natural to do West Rock next.  There is also Sleeping Giant State Park, but we are going to do that another day. Here is where we will be going. Right up to the top of the West Rock.

However, we have to get there first.  We start out on the red trail.  It is an easy woods road. I heard some weird sounds coming from the brush.  I stopped and was very still.  I put both of my ears up so I could hear better.  Grandma and Grandpa are much taller than I am.  They could see over the brush.  They said they spotted a gang of turkeys - a couple mama birds with youngsters. Now I know turkey, so they must have been mistaken.  Turkey comes in slices from the deli at the grocery store.  As soon as Momma opens the package, it smells great and makes my mouth water. This was definitely not turkey.

It wasn't long before we got our first glimpse of Lake Wintergreen.

Here Grandpa and I are getting up close and personal with the water.  We ran into a fisherman and his son.  They said they were just fooling around, but I could tell they really wanted to catch some fishies.

I would have stayed to help them, but we had miles and miles to go before lunch.  Here I am leading the way across the spillway.

I really like hiking, but it can be a lot of work getting Grandpa and Grandma to stay on the trail. They are always stopping to look at some plant or bug or view out over the valley. But when I want to stop to smell some really fresh pee or some dead animal, they are always pulling me along.  Sometimes, life is just not fair. But every once in a while they let go of the leash, and I am free to walk at my own pace.

There was a lot of up in this hike.  Here we are just half-way up the West Rock.  You can see out all the way to New Haven.  My apartment is down there somewhere. Grandpa says that I must be a Scranton because he says I pose just like George Washington did when he crossed the Delaware. Then Grandpa muttered something about how Uncle Matt knows all about George Washington; I didn't catch his entire meaning.  He said, "Ask Uncle Matt."

It is really far down, but I can still hear the kids from the Common Ground Summer Camp playing down there.

We finally made it to the top.  Grandma needed a rest, so we sat down on the steps to the overlook parking lot.

There was a great observation pavilion and a huge, strong, wooden picnic table.  From the top of the pavilion and overlook, you could see all the way to the Quinnipiac River. We were at the dog park on the far side of the river yesterday.  Boy, Grandpa and Grandma sure do get around.

Having reached the top, it was time for our reward.  Grandpa broke out the kibble bag for me. He and Grandma had sandwiches.

No sooner did we start eating when Grandpa's cellphone rang.  It was Mommy!  She was calling all the way from California to check up on me. I tried to re-assure her that I was soldiering on without her, but I think she knew I was having fun without her.

After the call, it was time to hit the trail again.  We followed the blue trail (also know as the Regicide Trail,) down the other side of the ridge.  Here we came across Judge's Cave.  Way back in 1649, fifty-nine British judges convened to condemn King Charles I to death. When the monarchy was restored eleven years later to Charles II, the new king demanded revenge for his father’s death. Some of the jury were seized and executed, others ran away and hid. Two of the judges hid here in the summer of 1661.

Here we are looking down on Konolds Pond. It is surround mostly by private property, but if you really want to fish for bass, blue gills and crapies, you can find a little public access from the Litchfield Turnpike and at the end of Warren Road.

Having hiked along the ridge for a mile or so past numerous cell towers, we finally turned down the orange trail to head back to Lake Wintergreen.  Too bad the the state park doesn't allow camping. This beach would be perfect.

As we hiked along an old woods road, I could tell that someone has been very busy.  What do you think all this is? Grandma and Grandpa were trying to figure it out, too.  It looks like a bunch of people made a lean-to or three.

We finshed the 5.53 miles in plenty of time to get home for Happy Hour.  I am not sure there will be much ball chasing today.

However, I am sure by tomorrow I'll be ready to tackle the Sleeping Giant.