Tales of the Trail
October 2, 2004
On Saturday, October 2, 2004, as part of Bolton History and Heritage Day, the Bolton Land Trust hosted a walk back
into Bolton’s past. Town Historian Hans DePold accompanied 75 hikers to the land trust’s Lombardi parcel, located
in the southeast corner of town, where in 1805 perhaps as many as 9,000 people gathered to hear the famous inspirational
religious orator Lorenzo Dow. Hans spoke about how our little town was once host to one of the “Woodstocks” of
the Great Awakening religious movement. Listeners perched on the huge rock outcroppings, which may have served
as the amphitheater for Dow and other speakers who gathered for the first “camp meeting” held in New England. Hikers
met at the Town Hall and carpooled to the site, where director Richard Treat led the group along the trail.
Photos
Owl Prowl a Success
January 30, 2005
The Bolton Land Trust hosted an “Owl Prowl” on a cold but windless night on January 30, 2005. The 85 attendees
first enjoyed an introduction by naturalist Kasha Breau, who used mounted owls to explain the differences among
owls who live in Connecticut, and played recordings of their calls so that we would know what we might hear outside.
The group drove to Gay City State Park and quietly made its way to the pond, where Kasha began with the screech
owl call. Within a minute a screech owl replied, and Kasha and the owl talked for a while. She then called for
a barred owl and a great horned owl, but no response was heard. Kasha said they were probably hunting, out of earshot.
Some “prowlers” returned to Chandler Hall for cookies and hot chocolate and more conversation about owls. Thank
you to Richard Treat, chairman of the land trust’s stewardship committee, for organizing this wonderful event.
April 3, 2005
Karen and Michael Tierney share their central Bolton neighborhood with the American woodcocks
that visit Bolton each year to eat worms and find a mate. The Tierneys shared their knowledge of these birds with
a group of interested bird watchers who came along for the Timberdoodle Tramp on April 3 in Herrick Park.
During the slide show that began the evening the Tierneys talked about why the woodcocks like Bolton: they come
for the boggy fields near woods, which provide ample room for their aerial courtship display as well as lots of
earthworms, their favorite food. The Tierneys played recordings of the various vocalizations of the woodcocks-peents,
twitters and whistles-and even offered a French recipe for how to prepare woodcock, although some bird dogs have
been known to turn up their noses at the prospect of a woodcock meal.
Due to very soggy field conditions the group drove to a nearby street and walked into a field where, at just about
dusk, the woodcocks’ peents started, followed by their spiral ascent to about 300 feet, then their apparent free
fall to the ground, where the routine began again. This mating ritual will last a few weeks.
The group returned to Herrick Park for refreshments.
Thank you to Karen and Michael Tierney for bringing this wonderful Bolton spring ritual to our attention with an
informative slide presentation and wonderful walk in a boggy Bolton field.
Photos
Blackledge River Ramble
May 15, 2005
About 80 walkers gathered on a humid day at the Lodi Farm on Route 85 where Judy Lodi and Jim Pendergrast opened
the doors of their old barn to display old family photographs. The group divided into two, one being the “through
hikers” who headed off through the rye field. Immediately a doe was sighted bounding through the rye. The walk
took the group through wetlands, a pine grove and along the Blackledge River, about 12 feet wide at that point.
A huge snapping turtle sat in the middle of a sandy portion of the trail and watched the walkers photograph her
as they walked by. Everyone successfully crossed a plank bridge over the Blackledge, and made their way to Deming
Road and onto the land owned by the Bolton Land Trust. The beaver dam was intact but no activity was seen. The
walkers headed north with the marsh to the left, with its grass hillocks, jumping frogs and a view of the beavers’
lodge. At the stone wall at the northern boundary, some walkers went a little further to see where another beaver
dam is in the works. Then the group circled back into the interior portion of the property and rejoined the trail
along the marsh, and continued back to the Lodi Farm.
Meanwhile, the group who stayed with herbalist Katherine Mashiek learned about many of the plants we see every
day. Wild columbine was starting to bud. Katherine explained that yarrow can be used to treat cuts. One of the
walkers provided a Portuguese recipe in which the watercress that is growing in a stream can be used, and Katherine
explained how dandelion flowers can be broken up and used instead of tomatoes in sauce. Many other plants were
identified and their uses described.
Back at the Lodi Farm participants enjoyed cold drinks, chocolate chip cookies and another chance to look at the
wonderful collection of photographs of scenes from Bolton’s past, as well as some old programs from graduation
ceremonies from decades ago.
Thank you to Judy Lodi and Jim Pendergrast for hosting this wonderful day.
Photos
Wild Edibles Walk
June 4, 2005
Kasha Breau, our friend from the Owl Prowl in January, led a group of 65 through a field and around the perimeter
of the parking lot in Herrick Park on a very warm June day. This was also the Connecticut Forest & Park Association’s
Connecticut Trails Day, so we had many visitors from other towns as well.
Kasha pointed out dozens of plants that can be eaten or used medicinally, many of which we see everyday in our
own backyards and some of which we consider to be irritating weeds. For instance, Kasha says not to get angry at
the dandelions; instead, get out there in the early spring and pick the leaves and the very young flower heads
(long before they bloom) and use the leaves in salads and steam the buds, which are sweet. Narrow leaf plantain,
sourgrass, curly dock and chickweed can also be used in salads. Throw some white clover flowers into your salad
for color, and pick that pesky Japanese Knotweed (bamboo) when it’s very young and tender and use it as you would
asparagus. Tea can be brewed from cinquefoil and yarrow, both of which abound at Herrick Park and probably in our
yards, too.
Many Bolton plants can be used medicinally, too. The leaves of jewelweed can help poison ivy and mosquito bites.
Even poison ivy itself can help treat skin ailments but Kasha said that you “really need to know what you’re doing”
to use it. Coltsfoot, when boiled down, may soothe a sore throat; willow when chewed might calm a headache, and
the seeds of the broad leaf plantain may act as a laxative. A black birch twig, when chewed, is a substitute toothbrush.
After the walk Kasha treated the group to samples of her delicious stinging nettle soup and a pretty and tasty
green salad using traditional lettuces mixed with greens we saw in the field. The Bolton Land Trust is grateful
to Kasha for helping us better understand and appreciate the plants we see everyday around us.
Photos
Rose Farm Ramble
September 10, 2005
On a warm, clear September Saturday about 45 hikers met where the Hop River Rail Trail crosses Steeles Crossing
Road to begin exploring the 100-acre Rose Farm that has changed little in 300 years. After a short distance the
group stepped off the rail trail and began an uphill trek that hugged the edge of two of the farm’s lower fields.
The trail entered the welcome shade of the woods and continued uphill, passing old stone walls and an area of ledge
before emptying into the farm’s upper fields where the barn could just be seen. The group skirted the edge of two
more hay fields to the highest point on the farm. The view on this day of the Hop River Valley was fantastic, reaching
across the valley to the Giglio farm on South Road and to the ridges that lead into Coventry on the other side
of the river.
While the group ate Glastonbury-grown apples and looked at a display of photographs of the farm taken by Bolton
resident Kyle Dooman, town historian Hans DePold talked about Jonathan Edwards’ time in Bolton as the town’s first
pastor. Edwards was a prominent figure in the Great Awakening religious movement of the 1730’s and 1740’s, and
his writings reveal how his philosophies were shaped by the time he spent in the fields of the Rose Farm. The beauty
of the day of the Ramble certainly could make one understand why the farm had such a profound effect on Jonathan
Edwards.
After Hans’ presentation the walk headed downhill through the cow lane formed by parallel stone walls. At the bottom
of the hill is an old animal impoundment surrounded by stone walls, and just past that is a stone-lined watering
hole shaded by a large American Linden tree. Beyond the spring is a grove of oak and hickory trees that may be
close to two centuries old.
The group headed into the woods again, retracing their steps, downhill this time. Just under two hours after heading
out, the group returned to the rail trail.
Thank you to Hans DePold for sharing his knowledge of the farm and Jonathan Edwards. Thank you also to the land
trust’s stewardship committee members Richard Treat, Jim Pendergrast and Michael Tierney for planning the location
of the trail, organizing work parties to prepare the trail, and for spending many hours mowing, weeding, weed-whacking,
trimming and throwing stones to get the trail in shape for the Ramble.