Manchester Community College Campus to Hartford Road Leg

 

Thursday was a windy day (seriously, what is up with the wind this spring?), but we set out to fill in our final gap in the 13 mile stretch from Forbes St in East Hartford, Connecticut, to the commuter lot near Bolton Notch State Park in Bolton.  This little leg is not even a mile long, but we walked a big loop on Manchester streets after leaving the trail to bring our walk to 3 miles.

Above, our walk began in the lovely campus woods, but soon took us along I-384, before curving back to follow the campus boundary. 

Below, looking at the MCC campus across one of the college's banks of solar panels.

Above, the trail descends a long hill curving off the campus property, before, below, turning onto Bidwell Street.

Above and below, we recently studied coniferous trees as part of the girl child's Ecology lessons, and one of the houses we passed on the trail has multiple exotic pines and cedars planted, affording us the opportunity to take a closer look at some non-native conifers.

Above, where our leg ended today, at the junction of Bidwell Street and Hartford Road.  I've read complaints about the poor trail signage here, and it's absolutely true, there is no indication whatsoever that the trail turns here. I can see where this turn might be missed and cause an unwary Traveler to go off-course.

Below, a look at the portion of the East Coast Greenway that we have thus far traversed, which is also entirely on the Charter Oak Greenway.  We are off to a solid start!  Next, to add to it from either end, along the Hop River State Park Trail starting at Bolton Notch, and the "East Hartford Tooth" which is a section of the trail that has not yet been completed, so we'll need to follow city streets for a few miles.

13 miles walked, 2,987 miles to go!