Hop River Road to Pucker Street, Columbia Leg

 Yesterday was an absolutely glorious May day in Connecticut, so the girl child and I slipped away for a couple hours to pursue a short out-and-back 2.5 mile hike on the East Coast Greenway/Hop River Trail.  We really can't say enough good things about this rail trail.  It's level, it's meticulously maintained, and most of it is safely well off-road.  (I will have *things* to say about the on-road portion in my next post.) Great way to chop another mile off our big journey!  We parked at the Hop River Road parking area and headed East towards Willimantic.

Above, what is the girl child looking at down the trail?

Below, a beautiful male Rose-breasted Grosbeak! We saw several species of song birds and woodpeckers, as well as 5 different butterfly species.

Above, the lovely, tranquil Hop River flows sleepily by parallel to the trail.

Below, there are several pastures and hayfields along this leg.

Must be a delight to trail ride here!  Hoofprints and piles of horse-nuggets tell us that plenty of folks enjoy this part of the trail atop their equine friends. 

Above, bluets dot the banks of the languid Hop River. 

Below, our turn-around spot for today.  Part of our mission for this short leg was to scout a safe way down the enbankment from the Pucker Street overpass in preparation for today's planned drop-off for a longer one-way leg.  But you'll have to wait until my next post to find out how we fared!

22+ miles walked, 2978.5ish miles to go!