LIONS
HEAD
It
only took a few minutes to drive from Washington State Forest to Salisbury,
CT. We drove out of town on Bunker Hill
Road and parked on the shoulder near a small trailhead parking lot. We had lunch there before starting our hike
up to the Lions Head.
We
hiked through the woods and past a farm before crossing Bunker Hill Road again,
beyond where it is closed to the public.
We started climbing on the far side, heading up through a pretty forest
filled with ferns. We passed several old
rock walls, which seem to be everywhere in New England. After a hearty climb
we joined the Appalachian Trail. We
could have hiked to the Lions Head entirely on the AT, as it crossed Under
Mountain Road just north of Salisbury.
That would’ve been a longer hike with a bigger climb though, and our
time was limited. We had a long drive to
Clearfield, PA after our hike.
We
resumed the climb and reached the crest of the ridge. Just beyond, the trail split. The easy route goes around to the left and
then comes back to the summit on a gentle grade. We took the direct route – an easy scramble
up a rock outcrop to the top. That
brought us to the edge of a cliff with a great view to the east. We gazed out over woods and farmland towards
the Twin Lakes, with more mountains beyond.
We
took a long break there before following a trail north. Before long we rejoined the AT in a small
meadow. There was another view
here. It was more limited, but we could
see Bear Mountain, the tallest peak in Connecticut, along the ridge to the
north.
We
took another break there, and I started studying the topo map. I noticed another cliff off-trail less than a
mile to the north. I mentioned it to
Christy, and she was more than content to relax in the sunny meadow while I
went off bushwhacking.
I
hiked the AT north until I reached a likely departure point. At first the woods were semi-open, but the
bushwhacking got nasty as I descended towards the cliffs. I crossed over an unmapped trail heading down
to the east, which was a little surprising.
The vegetation really got thick after that. Fortunately, it wasn’t much farther to the
top of the cliffs. I had a tough time
finding a safe place with a clear view.
I did eventually get a better view of the Twin Lakes, but overall my exploration hadn’t really been worth the trouble.
I
backtracked to the AT and then hiked back to the meadow where Christy was
relaxing. There, I heard the distinct
sound of roaring water far below. I
checked the map again, and I identified Wachocastinook
Brook as the source of the sound. That
piqued my curiosity, so I Google Wachocastinook Brook
waterfall. Sure enough, I found a photo
of a small but pretty waterfall on Wachocastinook
Brook. There were no details on its
location, but the most likely spot was pretty obvious
on the map. Mount Riga Road runs closer
to the creek, so it wouldn’t take long to get to it. Originally, I thought we might check out Kent
Falls after our hike, but that would require driving 30 minutes in the wrong
direction. Maybe we could do this
instead?
We
made good time on the way back down. It
only took a few minutes to drive over to Mount Riga Road. We parked close to where I thought the
waterfall would be. Christy decided to
skip this one, so I headed out solo. I
followed a faint path at first, before a bit of bushwhacking brought me down to
the creek. I hiked upstream from there,
deep down in a steep walled valley. The
spot I targeted had a few small cascades, but nothing particularly remarkable. The area immediately upstream didn’t seem
promising, so I retreated.
Back
at the car, I studied the map again and found another possible spot. It was just a short distance up the road, and
Christy was willing to let me have another shot. This time I descended quickly through open
woods to the creek. I came out just
upstream from the spot I had targeted. I
worked my way down, and once again found only a minor cascade on the main
creek. However, there was a beautiful
pool there, and a pretty 10’ waterfall on a tributary drops
right into it. What a cool spot! This wasn’t the waterfall I’d found the photo
of, but I was more than content. It was
a great way to end my first hike in Connecticut – the 50th state
that I’ve now hiked in.
Side
note – I suspect that the mystery waterfall is a short distance downstream from
South Pond. That’s really the only other
possible place that it could be.
I
returned to the car quickly and we hit the road. We stopped in Poughkeepsie for authentic
Mexican food, to make up for the disappointment from the previous night. Then it was a long drive down to Scranton and
across I-80 to Clearfield, PA.
Back to Connecticut
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Please remember to Leave No Trace!