Some New Year’s Inspiration…and a Challenge

By Beth Sullivan

Winter is firmly in place. Days are short, cold and often gray. The tendency would be to hibernate: curl up, get warm, slow down, eat.

Get out and move!

There is another option: Bundle up, get out, move, and explore. The preserves you may have visited in the green season look so different now. Their browns and grays are subtle; cloaked in the white of new snow they are stunning. Their beauty is unique; details are revealed.

Hooded Mergansers don't mind the snow

Knox Preserve beckons all year long

Avalonia Land Conservancy spans eight towns in Southeast Connecticut: over 3,500 acres. I am not sure if any one knows how many miles of trails there are. So, why don’t you go find out and tell us!

Make it a New Year’s Resolution to hike as many trails on as many Avalonia Preserves as possible, and log some miles. Record some observations, take some photos. Let us know what you find, what you think. Let us know your mileage too.

Mice claim a Catbird's net for the winter

We will create a photo gallery in a future post of your experiences, so send one of your photos to avaloniaetrails@gmail.com.

We wish you a Happy, Healthy New Year, and a great way to start is getting out the door and onto the trails!

Photographs by Beth Sullivan and Rick Newton.