Norton Outlook

I live on a ridge of mountains that are the highest points in the county, but you would never know it if you visited my home because I am surrounded by trees, which essentially blocks the horizon in all directions. Up on the roof, I can see some of the horizon the six months of the year when the trees are defrocked, but it is still not visually impressive.

To be impressed, you have to hike into the woods to Norton Outlook, an outcrop of rock that is in the clear. Once or twice a year, I like to be impressed so I hike to Norton Outlook. Although Norton Outlook is only two-fifths of a mile from my home, you can't get there from here and I have to hike about a mile and a half over various trails to get there.

Wednesday's weather was inviting. Clear skies and temperatures in the mid-40s, so I decided to hike up to Norton Outlook. It was a fairly easy hike. There was no snow or ice to slip me up. It was muddy and puddly in spots, but my Totes waterproof boots kept my feet dry.

Forty minutes later, I reached the outlook and was pleased to see that I picked a perfect day. The sky was perfectly clear – minimal haze and smog to ruin the view from Long Island Sound to Mount Holyoke in Hadley, Massachusetts.

I spent about a half hour on Norton Outlook taking photos, enjoying the view and getting impressed!

View to Southeast

View to Northeast

Annotated Southeast View

Annotated Southeast View

Big Rock Candy Mountain

Late Sunday afternoon, I joined my harmonic and her boyfriend on a hike through the woods around our premises. We went on a trek that they had done before, but some of it was new to me.

About 30 minutes into the hike, they showed me a huge outcropping of quartz. I have seen small outcroppings in our neck of the woods before, but nothing like this.

In addition to the mountain of quartz, there were shards of loose quartz in a variety of sizes scattered throughout the area. Some of the pieces were sharp (I have a small puncture wound on my hand to prove it). Some of it looked like rock candy. I had never seen anything like it before.

The photo shows me on the side of “big rock candy mountain” taking it all in.

marker

I took today off to go hiking through the woods surrounding us up here on Compounce Mountain. My goal was to find a concrete marker that I spotted in the middle of the woods a few years ago.

That occurrence was in the spring or summer and my hiking companion did not want to check out the marker because we would have had to cut through 100 to 200 feet of heavy brush to get to it.

I figured that it would be easier to get to the marker in early March before the foliage appeared, so this morning, I set off with my daughter to find the marker.

About 30 minutes into the hike, I found a marker, but not the one I had seen years ago. This marker was located on the north side of Old Alcott Road in Wolcott, which is a dirt road that served long-abandoned homes in the area. Now the road serves two purposes: access to the New Britain Reservoir and the Tunxis Blue (hiking) Trail.

The initials engraved into the marker (TLWS) did not make any sense to me, so I photographed the marker (image above) and we continued on our hike for another 90 minutes, but we did not encounter the other marker.

Returning home, I looked at my maps to retrace our hike and then I realized the purpose of the marker. The marker was located on the border between Wolcott and Southington, so I assume TLWS stands for Town Line Wolcott Southington.

I am trying to determine how old the marker might be, but so far, no luck.