Section I Hike
Heading south west along the road the trail returns to the woods after about 0.2 miles. Wandering along the edge of a wooded wetland that keeps Ninigret Pond just out of sight we cross the frozen wetland along nicely made boardwalks several times. During our trek we met up with another hiking group that was following the Gormley Trail. With both groups dressed in blaze orange we were a colorful sight. One of our hikers jokingly complained that they were wearing our group colors. After about 2.5 miles the trail briefly comes into view of Klondike Road with the smell of wood smoke rising from the chimney of a house. Hiking along a ridge we cross a roaring brook along a old stone culvert. Conferring with Matt about the location of the small covered bridge he thinks we’ll leave the Vin Gormley before we come to it so I call for lunch at an area with several blow downs. After lunch we hike about 20 minutes and come to the covered bridge over a small brook. Matt calls out, "Don, the covered bridge is on this side of the trail." While taking pictures around the bridge a young teen pushes his acquisitive nature to the edge and breaks through a suspended ice ledge over the brook. One of his legs goes into the cold water over his boot. After changing his socks and putting a plastic bag on the foot with the water logged boot we move on. The trail opens up to a raised cart path for a while till we leave the double marked trail and head south along the North South Trail. The snow is deeper here and our group is the first to break trail. Crossing more foot bridges through another wetland area we climb a small rise and walk into a cleared pine woods with several camp sites. After taking a break at one of the sights we continue on into the pines that darken the sky. Emerging from the woods onto another cart path, we find signs of cross country skiers passing this way in the deeper snow. The forest slowly closes in on the cart path and I slow the pace down during the climb up a steep slope near an old quarry. Running parallel to Klondike Road the group stop at a sign in box and leave our mark in its journal. The trail leaves the woods and turns south along the park road and continues on Klondike Road. At the intersection with Old Post Road a SUV pulls up to me and says it looks like I’m leading a chain gang with all the orange vests. Crossing Route 1 onto East Beach Road the chain gang goes. At trails end the sky is blue, the water is dark and Block Island stands out on the horizon. Live the Experience!
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With a beautiful day forecast for our hike,
we decided to start from the Buckeye Brook Road parking
lot and trek south to the ocean. Crossing the road we
enter the woods following the blue blazes of the North
South Trail. After a short hike the trail merges with the
Vin Gormley Trail. Now following the duel blazed trail,
the group winds its way through a hardwood forest and
down the base of a large, moss covered rock-out-crop.
During this leg of the journey we go over some
orienteering tips and tree identification. Passing
through stonewall bar ways, their use long forgotten with
time and skirting a wooded wetland we emerge from the
woods and onto Buckeye Brook Road.