Hat City Series #4 LbNA #8070 (ARCHIVED)
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Add Location| Owner: | Adoptable |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | Apr 23, 2004 |
| Location: | |
| City: | Ridgefield |
| County: | Fairfield |
| State: | Connecticut |
| Boxes: | 3 |
| Planted by: | Louise  |
|---|---|
| Found by: | toolie bird (3) |
| Last found: | Sep 2, 2008 |
| Status: | FFFFFFFFF |
| Last edited: | Apr 23, 2004 |
Location: Pine Mountain Open Space
All letterboxes contain stamp, logbook, stamp pad.
Allow 2 hours for a round trip to find the SOMBRERO, JUNIOR SOMBRERO, THE CLOWN and 1 BONUS microbox.
Clues for the BONUS can be found in one of the other 3 letterboxes.
All were alive and well on 5/4/11.
Hiking difficulty: a few very steep hills; strenuous
1 pace = 2 steps = 5 ft.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Pine Mountain Open Space is contiguous with both Hemlock Hills and Bennett’s Pond Open Spaces; they hold additional letterboxes in the HAT CITY SERIES.
A map of Hemlock Hills and vicinity is available at www.rosaopenspace.org/catalog/index.html.
The HAT CITY SERIES reflects nearby Danbury’s serving as the center of the hat industry from 1790 until the 1950s.
When you stamp in, be careful if there are hikers or other letterboxers about. You might need to move away from the letterbox site before stamping. Unfortunately, deer have eaten so much undergrowth in CT that there is little to block your visibility.
Repackage the contents of the letterbox, seal all plastic bags, secure the lid and replace the box exactly as found.
DIRECTIONS:
From the staggered intersection of Pine Mtn Rd, Miry Brook Rd, George Washington Hwy, and Briar Ridge on the Ridgefield/Danbury town line, drive 0.7 mile on Pine Mtn Rd to “Private Property Beyond …”. Parking area had room for about 6 cars.
Parking area coordinates: N 41 deg 21’ 13”, W 73 deg 30” 05”
CLUES:
From the parking area walk 50 paces downhill on Pine Mtn Rd. From the sign "Pine Mountain/Access to Ives Trail", follow the Yellow trail steeply uphill, generally SE.
After 56 paces an unmarked trail joins from the right. (In fact, the start of this trail was obvious just opposite the parking area.)
Continue uphill on the Yellow trail about 60 paces until an Orange trail leaves to the left.
(This Orange will be your return route.)
Reading material while you catch your breath:
Beneath the Pine Mountain Open Space and the northwestern portion of Hemlock Hills Open Space is very hard metamorphic rock, now called Fordham gneiss. (It’s also in the Bronx.) This gneiss is well over one billion years old and the oldest exposed rock in Connecticut.
When the leading edge of the European and African continents collided with the North American continent, 450-400 million years ago, the deeply buried rocks were folded. Since the North American continent was then near the equator, the warm climate led to the build up of extensive carbonate deposits on the continental shelf and on top of the Precambrian gneiss. Both the carbonate shelf deposits and the oceanic crust were metamorphosed under great heat and pressure and later exposed as overlying rock was eroded away. The carbonate deposits were metamorphosed to marble and can be found in Hemlock Hills in the ravine directly west of Pine Mountain Rd. The old oceanic crust (called Manhattan schist and which is exposed on Manhattan) underlies most of Hemlock Hills.
Although (at least) 4 continental glaciers advanced across southern Connecticut, they did not dramatically reduce the average elevation of the bedrock, but they did form U-shaped valleys and asymmetric hills with gentle north but steep south slopes.
You can see many glacial erratics, large boulders that were transported within the ice and deposited during the melt period. Look especially along the southwest ridgeline between Pine Mountain Road and the old Ives cabin.
Now follow the Yellow trail 235-240 paces until the Orange and Yellow rejoin.
Walk 43 paces to find a wooden arrow “Bennett’s Pond/Lake Windwing” sign. Here the Ives Trail joins your route.
[For the curious:
This trail heads very downhill to the S and is marked by an unlabeled Orange plastic square and new Red blazes. It is not recommended after a heavy rain or when trails are icy.
In 280 downhill paces this side trail reaches the junction 2 other “Bennett’s Pond Trail System” trails: one indicated by a White square on a wooden arrow pointing ESE and another by a Blue square.]
Continue generally East on the yellow/Ives trail.
After walking 120 paces you reach the remains of a fire ring (think cinder) and a really good overlook toward the S and W. With binoculars Ridgefielders can find the St. Stephen’s and Jesse Lee church steeples at 195 deg. On a clear day (supposedly) sailboats can be seen on Long Island Sound.
Near here the composer Charles Ives had a weekend cabin where he wrote “From the Steeples and Mountains” in 1901.
THE CLOWN watched you walk by her home just seconds ago.
From the "fire ring" overlook, retrace your last 21 paces on the yellow/Ives trail.
Stop with one double and single tree combo next to the trail to the SW and another adjacent to the NE. The BEANIE is 2 steps behind the smaller combo.
After stamping in please repackage the contents of the letterbox, seal all plastic bags, secure the lid and replace the box as found.
Return to the "fire ring" and follow the yellow/Ives trail until a sign reassures that Pine Mtn Rd is behind you. The yellow trail splits here. Walk 55 paces toward the SSE, quite uphill on the Ives Trail to reach an old stone chimney.
[Until about 1760 many settlers who bought tillable land nearby also received title to a number of acres on Pine Mountain that could be used as woodlots. As time passed these woodlots were divided and redivided so that by the mid-1800s many were only 2-5 acres in size. Some were cleared and used for pasture, but others continued as woodlots or were abandoned. There are stories of Revolutionary War soldiers who built small cabins on Pine Mountain, but no supporting evidence remains. Primitive root cellars and charcoal mounds have been found nearby, but not within the Open Spaces.]
Follow the Yellow/Ives trail due E for 9 minutes (or about 400 paces for counting fanatics). [The lake sometimes visible ahead and down to the Right is Bennett’s Pond.]
Do NOT continue E on the Ives Trail.
[For the curious:
This portion of the Ives Trail down toward Bennett's Pond is not for someone with bad knees.
In about 450 downhill paces this trail crosses a wooden bridge just before reaching a White “Bennett’s Pond Trail System” square marker. Following the White trail toward the WNW you can reach the multiple junction referred to earlier.]
Instead, continue on the Yellow blazed trail to reach a roadbed which runs almost E-W.
Remember this junction.
Look up and toward 34 deg to find your destination, the tallest point in immediate surroundings.
Follow this roadbed toward 70 deg, gently uphill, for 47 paces.
Walk to the top of the outcropping by following scattered gravel roadbed to the N for 29 paces.
Then find the easiest scramble available to the top of the outcropping.
Stand in the middle of 3 concrete blocks, each with 4 bolts and nuts protruding from the tops (Actually, 1 nut is missing). An airway tower was built here in 1938.
Look at bearing 335 degrees to find a rock 2 ½ ft high, 4 ft long about 10 steps away.
Find the SOMBRERO alongside.
After stamping in please repackage the contents of the letterbox, seal all plastic bags, secure the lid and replace the box exactly as found.
Walk about 29 + 47 paces from the SOMBRERO to return to the junction.
EITHER return via the route you came
OR from the junction, continue on the roadbed toward W for 9 paces.
Ignore a Yellow trail bearing 290 deg; follow a Yellow trail toward 240 deg.
The Yellow blazes are more freshly painted, but you can still see old Orange blazes.
Retrace your steps to the "fire ring" on the great overlook, then back to the wooden “Bennett’s Pond/Lake Windwing” arrow, where the Ives Trail first joined your route.
In 38 paces leave the Yellow trail to follow the faded Orange-blazed trail toward the N.
In 42 paces the trail start uphill at a tree marked with 2 Orange blazes and a left-turn arrow.
In 161 paces find the first of 2 rotting tree stumps, each 4 ft tall. The first is 1 ft to the N of the trail. The second is 12 paces farther along and 1 step to the N of the trail.
Continue for 8 paces downhill on the trail to stand adjacent to medium large rock outcropping. (You have not quite reached an area of scattered mountain laurel.)
Look (don't walk) 4 paces uphill and S from this point and find a triple tree (2 + 1) with small dead tree fallen between the 2 and 1
Take 3 steps downhill toward 330 deg to a tree with diameter 12". You could drive toy cars under the roots of this tree.
Continue 9 steps toward 330 deg to a triple tree, each part of which is about 16” diameter.
Lastly, walk 6 steps toward 250 deg and look under a rock overhang.
the JUNIOR SOMBRERO awaits you.
Stamp in, repackage the contents of the letterbox, seal all plastic bags, secure the lid and replace the box exactly as found.
Back on the trail, after walking 40 paces the Orange trail meets the Yellow.
Follow the Yellow blazes to reach Pine Mountain Rd just downhill from your car.
All letterboxes contain stamp, logbook, stamp pad.
Allow 2 hours for a round trip to find the SOMBRERO, JUNIOR SOMBRERO, THE CLOWN and 1 BONUS microbox.
Clues for the BONUS can be found in one of the other 3 letterboxes.
All were alive and well on 5/4/11.
Hiking difficulty: a few very steep hills; strenuous
1 pace = 2 steps = 5 ft.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Pine Mountain Open Space is contiguous with both Hemlock Hills and Bennett’s Pond Open Spaces; they hold additional letterboxes in the HAT CITY SERIES.
A map of Hemlock Hills and vicinity is available at www.rosaopenspace.org/catalog/index.html.
The HAT CITY SERIES reflects nearby Danbury’s serving as the center of the hat industry from 1790 until the 1950s.
When you stamp in, be careful if there are hikers or other letterboxers about. You might need to move away from the letterbox site before stamping. Unfortunately, deer have eaten so much undergrowth in CT that there is little to block your visibility.
Repackage the contents of the letterbox, seal all plastic bags, secure the lid and replace the box exactly as found.
DIRECTIONS:
From the staggered intersection of Pine Mtn Rd, Miry Brook Rd, George Washington Hwy, and Briar Ridge on the Ridgefield/Danbury town line, drive 0.7 mile on Pine Mtn Rd to “Private Property Beyond …”. Parking area had room for about 6 cars.
Parking area coordinates: N 41 deg 21’ 13”, W 73 deg 30” 05”
CLUES:
From the parking area walk 50 paces downhill on Pine Mtn Rd. From the sign "Pine Mountain/Access to Ives Trail", follow the Yellow trail steeply uphill, generally SE.
After 56 paces an unmarked trail joins from the right. (In fact, the start of this trail was obvious just opposite the parking area.)
Continue uphill on the Yellow trail about 60 paces until an Orange trail leaves to the left.
(This Orange will be your return route.)
Reading material while you catch your breath:
Beneath the Pine Mountain Open Space and the northwestern portion of Hemlock Hills Open Space is very hard metamorphic rock, now called Fordham gneiss. (It’s also in the Bronx.) This gneiss is well over one billion years old and the oldest exposed rock in Connecticut.
When the leading edge of the European and African continents collided with the North American continent, 450-400 million years ago, the deeply buried rocks were folded. Since the North American continent was then near the equator, the warm climate led to the build up of extensive carbonate deposits on the continental shelf and on top of the Precambrian gneiss. Both the carbonate shelf deposits and the oceanic crust were metamorphosed under great heat and pressure and later exposed as overlying rock was eroded away. The carbonate deposits were metamorphosed to marble and can be found in Hemlock Hills in the ravine directly west of Pine Mountain Rd. The old oceanic crust (called Manhattan schist and which is exposed on Manhattan) underlies most of Hemlock Hills.
Although (at least) 4 continental glaciers advanced across southern Connecticut, they did not dramatically reduce the average elevation of the bedrock, but they did form U-shaped valleys and asymmetric hills with gentle north but steep south slopes.
You can see many glacial erratics, large boulders that were transported within the ice and deposited during the melt period. Look especially along the southwest ridgeline between Pine Mountain Road and the old Ives cabin.
Now follow the Yellow trail 235-240 paces until the Orange and Yellow rejoin.
Walk 43 paces to find a wooden arrow “Bennett’s Pond/Lake Windwing” sign. Here the Ives Trail joins your route.
[For the curious:
This trail heads very downhill to the S and is marked by an unlabeled Orange plastic square and new Red blazes. It is not recommended after a heavy rain or when trails are icy.
In 280 downhill paces this side trail reaches the junction 2 other “Bennett’s Pond Trail System” trails: one indicated by a White square on a wooden arrow pointing ESE and another by a Blue square.]
Continue generally East on the yellow/Ives trail.
After walking 120 paces you reach the remains of a fire ring (think cinder) and a really good overlook toward the S and W. With binoculars Ridgefielders can find the St. Stephen’s and Jesse Lee church steeples at 195 deg. On a clear day (supposedly) sailboats can be seen on Long Island Sound.
Near here the composer Charles Ives had a weekend cabin where he wrote “From the Steeples and Mountains” in 1901.
THE CLOWN watched you walk by her home just seconds ago.
From the "fire ring" overlook, retrace your last 21 paces on the yellow/Ives trail.
Stop with one double and single tree combo next to the trail to the SW and another adjacent to the NE. The BEANIE is 2 steps behind the smaller combo.
After stamping in please repackage the contents of the letterbox, seal all plastic bags, secure the lid and replace the box as found.
Return to the "fire ring" and follow the yellow/Ives trail until a sign reassures that Pine Mtn Rd is behind you. The yellow trail splits here. Walk 55 paces toward the SSE, quite uphill on the Ives Trail to reach an old stone chimney.
[Until about 1760 many settlers who bought tillable land nearby also received title to a number of acres on Pine Mountain that could be used as woodlots. As time passed these woodlots were divided and redivided so that by the mid-1800s many were only 2-5 acres in size. Some were cleared and used for pasture, but others continued as woodlots or were abandoned. There are stories of Revolutionary War soldiers who built small cabins on Pine Mountain, but no supporting evidence remains. Primitive root cellars and charcoal mounds have been found nearby, but not within the Open Spaces.]
Follow the Yellow/Ives trail due E for 9 minutes (or about 400 paces for counting fanatics). [The lake sometimes visible ahead and down to the Right is Bennett’s Pond.]
Do NOT continue E on the Ives Trail.
[For the curious:
This portion of the Ives Trail down toward Bennett's Pond is not for someone with bad knees.
In about 450 downhill paces this trail crosses a wooden bridge just before reaching a White “Bennett’s Pond Trail System” square marker. Following the White trail toward the WNW you can reach the multiple junction referred to earlier.]
Instead, continue on the Yellow blazed trail to reach a roadbed which runs almost E-W.
Remember this junction.
Look up and toward 34 deg to find your destination, the tallest point in immediate surroundings.
Follow this roadbed toward 70 deg, gently uphill, for 47 paces.
Walk to the top of the outcropping by following scattered gravel roadbed to the N for 29 paces.
Then find the easiest scramble available to the top of the outcropping.
Stand in the middle of 3 concrete blocks, each with 4 bolts and nuts protruding from the tops (Actually, 1 nut is missing). An airway tower was built here in 1938.
Look at bearing 335 degrees to find a rock 2 ½ ft high, 4 ft long about 10 steps away.
Find the SOMBRERO alongside.
After stamping in please repackage the contents of the letterbox, seal all plastic bags, secure the lid and replace the box exactly as found.
Walk about 29 + 47 paces from the SOMBRERO to return to the junction.
EITHER return via the route you came
OR from the junction, continue on the roadbed toward W for 9 paces.
Ignore a Yellow trail bearing 290 deg; follow a Yellow trail toward 240 deg.
The Yellow blazes are more freshly painted, but you can still see old Orange blazes.
Retrace your steps to the "fire ring" on the great overlook, then back to the wooden “Bennett’s Pond/Lake Windwing” arrow, where the Ives Trail first joined your route.
In 38 paces leave the Yellow trail to follow the faded Orange-blazed trail toward the N.
In 42 paces the trail start uphill at a tree marked with 2 Orange blazes and a left-turn arrow.
In 161 paces find the first of 2 rotting tree stumps, each 4 ft tall. The first is 1 ft to the N of the trail. The second is 12 paces farther along and 1 step to the N of the trail.
Continue for 8 paces downhill on the trail to stand adjacent to medium large rock outcropping. (You have not quite reached an area of scattered mountain laurel.)
Look (don't walk) 4 paces uphill and S from this point and find a triple tree (2 + 1) with small dead tree fallen between the 2 and 1
Take 3 steps downhill toward 330 deg to a tree with diameter 12". You could drive toy cars under the roots of this tree.
Continue 9 steps toward 330 deg to a triple tree, each part of which is about 16” diameter.
Lastly, walk 6 steps toward 250 deg and look under a rock overhang.
the JUNIOR SOMBRERO awaits you.
Stamp in, repackage the contents of the letterbox, seal all plastic bags, secure the lid and replace the box exactly as found.
Back on the trail, after walking 40 paces the Orange trail meets the Yellow.
Follow the Yellow blazes to reach Pine Mountain Rd just downhill from your car.