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Letterboxing with
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The Kettle Hole Trail Series
8 BOXES CONSUMED BY THE GREAT FLOOD OF 10/2005 THE Following boxes are missing : 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 , 15. Clues to boxes 4 and 6 to be rewritten because landmarks have gone. The Kettle Hole Trail in Mansfield Hollow Park restored by The Friends of Mansfield Hollow. Please enjoy the park and carry out your litter. Mansfield Hollow Park Planted 8-2-02 By: Leader of the Pack and Pink Trotters Update: This series has been updated, restored, recarved and replanted by the Mansfield Maintenance Crew on October 9, 2005. All 17 boxes are back in service. Rated: easy 2 hours From Rte 195 Mansfield Center, take Bassets Bridge Rd. at the light . At the main entrance, turn in to the park and drive up to the pine picnic grove to park. From the water Pump proceed to the yellow gate and follow white and black kettle hole trail markers on the loop that will return to the picnic grove markers are numbered 1-17 and there are signs at intersections. The numbers correspond with a guide booklet originally put out with the trail and updated for the fiftieth anniversary of the dam during Mansfield’s 300th celebration. This letterbox series was used as an event series in 2002 and 2003 and now is open for all to enjoy. Please remember to be discreet this is a very busy park and re-hide each box well so that they are not mistakenly found. 1. ALTERED LANDSCAPE The vast amphitheater that lies before you has played its part in recent history. During the 1950’s quantities of sand and gravel were removed from the area for use in construction of the dike which adjoins Mansfield Hollow Dam. You can see a portion of the dike beyond the pine trees to your left. As a result of extensive excavations the unvegetated soil was left exposed and susceptible to erosion. White Pine and larches were planted on the slopes to prevent runoff. The remains of the loading dock used in the sand and gravel operation are to the right. * #1 “Fifty” – face #1: 12 steps behind the end of the two logs. #1 box is tucked in with bark in the large log pile on the left hand side . Please rehide well. 2. WHY DO THESE PLANTS LIVE HERE? Bend down and pick up a bit of soil between your fingers. Notice its sandy texture. Unlike a good garden soil, this soil contains very little humus. Humus is decayed plant and animal matter, which supplies nutrients and acts like a sponge to hold water. Since the sandy soil is poor in nutrients and does not hold water, plants which grow here must have special survival adaptations. The small bush called Sweetfern, and the grass around it, both have shallow, but wide-spreading, root systems. This allows the plants to soak up much rain water before the water drains through the soil and is lost. *#2 “Esker” – An Esker is a pile of stone and dirt left by a retreating glacier. There is one opposite the number on the trail. It is like the row of pebbles and shells a wave leaves on the sand. Face #2 - 220° in hollow butt of dead tree as usual try not to be seen. 3. ENEMY OF THE PINE The white pine, a familiar tree in New England, is easily recognized by the five needles in each bundle or fasicle. Many white pines are attacked by an insect called the pine weevil. In May, the weevil chews into the top of the tree( the terminal bud) and lays its eggs. The grubs, which hatch in ten days, feed on the inner bark killing the trees growth for the year. The following year, the White Pine will send up one of its lower branches as the dominant shoot. From then on the tree will grow crooked. *#3 “White Pine” take 7 steps up the trail – turn right. On the left in a hole under a log waits your prize. 4. A FOREIGN INFLUENCE Today the American Chestnut, once one of the grandest trees of the American forest, struggles for survival. No longer do we find the enormous trunks that measured ten to twelve feet in diameter. In 1904, a fungal blight, believed to have come into this country on the Chinese Chestnut, infected our American Chestnut. First detected in the New York Zoological Park, the blight spread rapidly as a result of wind – borne spores. The blight penetrates the bark at cracks where wood – boring beetles have made lesions. It then kills the standing tree. The Chestnut attempts to regenerate itself by sending up shoots from the still living, underground parts. The young Chestnut in front of you is one of these shoots. It too, will soon be killed by the Chestnut Blight. *#4 “American Chestnut” – from #4 face 4 trail at 260° 16 steps to pine left- behind stump. 5. SYMBOL OF THE REVOLUTION When the first explorers caught sight of new England, the most prominent features were the 150-200 foot white pines. The height and straightness of the trees made them perfect for ship masts. *#5 “Ship Masts” – 12 steps look right by dead stump. Seal well and hide again. 6. BROAD ARROW In 1761, when the British thought the colonists to be exploiting the trees by clearing them for farmland, they put the King’s broad arrow mark on all the White Pines suitable for ships masts. If a colonist felled a tree carrying the King’s mark, he was severely punished. This infuriated the colonists in that pine was a major source of their income. In retaliation, some of the settlers dressed as Indians, and cut down the marked trees. Later, when rage broke out into open conflict, the colonists showed their appreciation of the tree. For during the revolution our first flag bore an emblem of the white pine. #6 “King’s Arrow” – Be sure to do this when no one around! – Behind pine at your left. 7. LET’S IMAGINE Stop! Listen! What do you hear? A car, a jet, or even a group of people shouting? Would these sounds have been the same 300 or 400 years ago? Then you might have heard birds, a deer rushing by, or possibly the sound of rushing water from the nearby Fenton River. For a moment let your world melt away. Imagine yourself as a Nipmuck Indian hundreds of years ago. You have just woken … Notice your surroundings…. The sounds, smells, sights, and feelings which greet you. Since you have no office to go to what will you do today? Hunt, fish for your next meal? Sew new clothing in preparation for the coming winter? Obviously your worries in today’s world are much different than the concerns of an Indian. #7 “Deer” - Over log in front of you 8. KETTLE HOLE The pond before you is the result of a geological formation called a kettle or ice block hole. Kettles are one of the many signs of large sheets of ice, called glaciers, which covered New England thousands of years ago. When the glaciers started to melt and recede, not all of the ice escaped freely. Sometimes large blocks of ice broke off the main glacier and were surrounded or buried by drifts of soil. When the ice melted, a slump, depression or Kettle Hole remained. Go down Blue dot again when you
see #11 turn left to go to #8 “Kettle Hole” – face 8 155° 19 paces to stump with many legs – under 9. EROSION Note places near the trail here and along the sides of the kettle where erosion is a problem. Without rooted plants to hold the soil water from rain and flooding is washing the soils downhill. Erosion also occurs from overuse of a fragile landscape. Repeated use by hikers, and bikers can wear on the land. #9 “Erosion” at Y in trail see it on your left! Go back and look at the Kettle Hole the left bank shows signs of erosion, soil and gravel washing away. Face #9 260° behind large tree. 10. HUMAN IMPACT ON THE LAND You are looking out over a section of the man made Naubesatuck lake. The lake was created as a permanent recreational facility following the construction of the Mansfield Hollow Dam. Waters from the Fenton and Mt. Hope Rivers flow into the lake north of this station. #10 “Fenton – Mt. Hope” - tree at 60° root and rock cave hides it. 11. BASS MASTER The lake, created by the building of Mansfield Hollow Dam is a favorite of fisherman from all over. Drop a line in here and try your luck and skill to catch the bass and Northern Pike that are the anglers local challenge. Go back the way you came to get 11 #11 “Bass” – under big rock to right of sign set rock gently so lid doesn’t crack. 12. GOOD TO EAT! The Shagbark Hickory obtained its name from the way its bark continually warps away from the tem. The tree reminds some people of a shaggy dog. The Hickory was greatly used by both Indians and colonists. The colonists boiled the nuts, strained the liquid, and were left with a rich fresh cream they called Hickory milk. It was a familiar scene to see children gather with their hammers and hickory nuts for what was called a “nut crack”. Wood from the Shagbark hickory is second only to that of the locust as the most valuable fuel wood. The green wood is a perfect fuel for the preparation of smoked hams. #12 “Shagbark Hickory” Shagbark Hickory bear right 26 steps... look right for a decaying stump. Stamp and return to trail at Y (turn right to continue on the trail). Now on your left is # 13 (after about 2 small steps). 13. NATURE IS A CLASSROOM
#13 “Lyme Tick” – Behind the skier at 260° 14. Familiarity In A New Land
#14 “Oak “ in the post- careful now move gently don’t be seen! 15. ENVISION A FOREST Although you may not see active signs of change, the area around you is involved in a transition. The forest is slowly expanding into this area of dry sandy soil. It does so by a method called succession, whereby one plant community replaces another until a stable or climax community is established. Note the grass in sunny areas, an apple tree and other leafy tree moving in along with the shrub and pine. Pioneering weeds and grasses are the first plants to invade the sandy soiled. When these plants die and decay they provide organic material which enriches the soil. Slowly the soil becomes rich enough for more demanding varieties of plants. As the soil matures at this site, successive communities of sumac, pine and oak will replace each other as plants better suited to the changing conditions replace these now growing. #15 “Apple” – near base of apple tree near 14 16. THIS AREA WAS NOT ALWAYS A LAKE
Look across the lake at the trees growing along the shore. Do you notice that for about half of the way up, there are no branches? During the winter months the water level in the lake rises as the river water is held back by the dam. If the lake is already frozen, the entering water flows under the ice pushing it up through the branches. This causes shearing of the lower limbs, leaving the trees bare below the high water mark. #16 “Cranberry” Go across open area keep on the right 16 on the right near water. From #16 go 44 paces on trail take left trail at 150° 15 paces straight to pines. Go 5 steps more on run off trail in the pines and see a stump on right . Look in roots. Stamp secretly! Return to lake side trail. 17. NATIVE NEW ENGLANDERS This area of Connecticut was inhabited by the nipmuck Indians long ago. Nipmuck is a form of Nippamaug. The word “nip” or “ nippe” means water and “ amaug” means fishing place. The Nipmucks were a woodland Indian who relied on hunting and agriculture for food. Being small in number the Nipmucks were a relatively passive tribe. The old Nipmuck Indian trail started in new London and ended in Holyoke, Massachusetts. The present Nipmuck trail, one of Connecticut’s hiking trails, is about 26 miles long. A portion goes through the Mansfield hollow Dam recreation area. ( Blue Dot Trail) #17 “Blue Dot” – along lake trail look for arrow turn left up rooted stairs to grove. At Y bear left to 17. Face #17 – Blue dot at 260° -to blue dot on next rise- to next blue dot. Take trail at 50° for 10 paces then diagonal right to pine. THE KETTLE HOLE TRAIL The Kettle hole Trail you walk on today has been re-established by: The Friends of Mansfield Hollow, in memory of Mr. Richard Nagy, teacher and friend. Please enjoy the park and remember to leave it better than when you came. |
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