Section II Hike
During our walk we talk about the many stonewalls seen through the woods and how hard it most have been to raise any crops in this rocky terrain. The trail descends and we stop to check a small brook that passes under the cart path. It cascades through a moss covered stonewall and into a small crude fire pond before passing under us on its way down to Poquiani Brook. Surrounded by hemlock and birch this scenic stream echoes through the woods. The trail climbs once more passing through rocky ledges on both sides. At the junction with the Pawcatuck River Trail we crest the summit of Shumunkanuc Hill. Descending, the North South Trail becomes a brook after a week of rain and snow the ground water races down the trail. At one point the hikers watch water bubble right out of a side slope and into the trail. Arriving at higher ground the group have lunch near the corner of another stonewall. The North South Trail leaves the Burlingame Wildlife Management Area and heads east along Burdickville Road. Shortly this country road terminates and we head north along Shumunkanuc Hill Road. Lost in time, this old New England road brings us back to simpler times. We pass a farm house with horses, another that raises pigs and still one more with cattle, its owners in a back pasture cutting trees. Leaving this cherry tree lined lane the trail continues along King Factory Road following the Narragansett Indian wetland property on our right. Crossing over the Pawcatuck River my fellow travelers stop on the bridge and watch the flooded river course through the trees on its route to the ocean. Reaching Route 91 the trail turns east to Meadow Brook Pond. In the parking area we watch a pair of diehard fisherman ice fishing. The first four or five feet of the pond was pretty much open water and the two fisherman claimed the ice was over a foot thick, they had gotten out there by stretching a ladder across the open area. We wish them well; I now know why I believe in the Darwin Theory.
Live the Experience!
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With a forecast of snow showers, a smaller
group heads out for the second leg of our journey along
the North South Trail. For the last time we leave the
Burlingame Parking Area along Buckeye Brook Road, this
time though the trail is bare of snow. The trail starts
on an old cart path entering a planted white pine forest.
Within minutes a deer crosses the trail and disappears
into a thicket of briers. Continuing up a rising grade
the group passes the Mill Trail to our left. As the
topography of the area levels off, the vegetation changes
from an evergreen forest to mostly hardwoods of oak,
beech, and maple. Here and there we see the dying remains
of cedar. Shortly a pair of hunters emerges from the
woods, hoping to get one more shot off on this the last
day of hunting season. To the delight of a couple in my
group they have seen on game today.