This month, we headed across Connecticut to backpack in Sleeping Giant State Park in Hamden. Arriving late on Friday night, we camped that first night at Wah Wah Taysee, a very small Scout camp (about 16 acres) operated by the Connecticut Yankee Council. The ranger and his wife provided about the warmest reception we have received at any camp, even inviting us into their kitchen to fill our flexible water container (which turned out to have two leaks). Yet again, we were visiting a Scout camp for our first time.
The trail shelter we used at the camp was the fanciest we have seen. It was more like a log cabin minus one wall. It included a stone fireplace, a built-in wood box and a nice, wood table. We were the only troop in the camp for that weekend.
We had five Boy Scouts and two leaders participating.
Following breakfast on Saturday, we did a brief service and conservation project, removing garlic mustard, an invasive species. Then, we hit the trail to and through Sleeping Giant. The high point was literally the high point, a stone tower at the peak of Mount Carmel. We followed a serpentine path to target a five mile hike.
Although it got down near freezing overnight, most of the weekend was pretty comfortable and it was warm enough for the Scouts to use the troop's Pocket Rocket lightweight stoves.
The Scouts re-worked the trail plan for the last day to avoid the steep hike over the peak and to be shorter. As a result, we hiked six miles on Saturday and four miles on Sunday. See our actual trail (GPS data recorded by ASM Keith MacNeal):
GPX file
GPX file displayed in MappingSupport
This was the troop's fifty-second consecutive month with at least one overnight camping trip.
Page updated 3/5/17
J. Froimson.
