Great Barrington to Norwalk via New Haven and Stony Creek

May 21st and 22nd:  Conquered our 25th State Highpoint (Connecticut), then drove to New Haven with a peek at Yale University, then to Norwalk, CT by way of visit to Stony Creek, on the south shore of Connecticut.

Granville Inn, the nicest accommodation thus far.  The innkeepers have owned it since 2020 and spent the Covid year redecorating and modernizing.  It's full of fun art - the owners believe if you can put a frame around something - voila, it's art.  On the wall over our bed was a 2 foot square piece of a rusty box spring - in a frame.

The innkeepers are friends of James Taylor.

After a great breakfast at the Granville Inn, we drove south via backwoods, mountain roads to Mt. Frissell Trailhead, just short of the Massachusetts - Connecticut stateline.  We tried a small diversion to visit Bash Bish Falls, but it was closed for trail rebuilding. 

Unlike the previous highpoints, this was a real hike (class 2 - moderate), largely due to the steepness of the approaches.  The trail was rocky (glaciated schist with marble mixed in), large "steps" from rock to rock, and straight up or down the hillside (i.e., no switch backs).  It went first up Round Mountain in the first 0.6 miles (elevation 2280'), then descended some across a saddle, then steeply up Mt. Frissell, reaching the top in about 1 mile (elevation 2451').  All of the trail is in Massachusetts up to this point; the trail turns south and drops to a shoulder of Mt. Frissell and crosses into Connecticut.  The highpoint is right on the state borderline at about elevation 2360 feet.  We retraced our route to return to the car, going down the steep climbs and climbing up to Round Mountain from the saddle.  We did it with slow steady steps, covering 2.4 miles in total.  Betsy used a branch for a walking stick.  No mishaps other than a few bug bites.

The start point.

The nicest part of the trail.

Mt. Frissell, from Round Mountain.

Summit of Mt. Frissell.

The Connecticut Highpoint Marker

Ditto.

On top.

View from on top. These hillsides are all covered with trees and hardly any sign of humanity.

Eastern Trillium.

Pink Lady Slippers.  Both flowers were trailside.

We drove down out of the mountains through rural towns, stopping for hydration in Thomaston, renowned for clock making, before speeding south  to New Haven, CT.  We checked into our hotel, showered, and then strolled into New Haven, home of Yale University.  Classes and graduation had just occurred and the campus was rather deserted.  Unlike some universities, Yale is integrated into the city of New Haven.  The featured architectural style is brownstone Neo-Gothic, but there were Neo-Classical buildings as well.  And most of the quadrangles are closed to the public.

Harkness Tower.

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

Yale Old Campus Courtyard.

Ditto.

Noteworthy evolution.

We had dinner in a Peruvian restaurant before wandering back to our hotel.

Today, we arose promptly and drove to the south shore of Connecticut to a town that had a volkswalk route, Stony Creek.  Betsy found her happy place - sweeping views of Long Island Sound and little rocky islands, salt marshes, estuaries, sea birds, and historic houses/cottages.  We breakfasted in the Stony Creek Market, along with a number of other retired folks - many of whom we encountered later as we walked.

 

The view from the Stony Creek Marketplace.  Who wouldn't want to sit here for hours?

The volkswalk route had three segments - one to the west along a salt marsh, with Osprey nesting platforms (with residents), lots of fiddler crabs ...

....Cattle Egrets, and....

a Curlew or ??.

The salt marsh was rock rimmed, with trees, grasses, and water, suitable for a painting.

Another segment of the Volkswalk route went south, past some very nice homes on several points.

Stony Creek, historically, was famous for its pink marble quarries.  The marble was used in the foundation for the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge and many other places.  Most every house in town using the rock in some way.

Stony Creek also looks out onto the Thimble Islands.  The information suggests that there over 300 of these islands, some are just rocks, with about 30 of them with homes.  Only one island (Governors Island) allows visitors.

After our walk of 4.3 miles, we sped off to Norwalk, CT.  We checked into the Norwalk Inn and rested a bit, before driving to Wilton, CT to spend the evening with Betsy's cousin Sue, her husband Bill and son Todd.  They fed us very well - moroccan meatballs, potato hummus and pita, freshly steamed lobsters, lobster ravioli and spicy slaw, with pecan pie for dessert.  We talked Pratt and Abrams family history, heard about Todd's working life and his girlfriend (they are heading to London shortly to spend a few months), and admired the garden and woodlands around the house.