Cemetery

gravestones
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

This evening I finally got the opportunity to take a hike along the Woodtick Trail, in Wolcott. I have been trying for the past week or so, but I could never find enough time, or a good parking spot.

The Connecticut Walk Book lists the Woodtick Trail as a side trail to the Southington section of the Tunxis Trail. The map in the book indicates that there is parking at the trailhead off Woodtick Rd, and the description says "Very limited roadside parking". "Very limited" is putting it lightly - in fact there is practically no parking at all. I actually did not park north of the powerlines as suggested in the book, but just south of them, to the west of Woodtick Rd. There is a very small dirt pull-off there. The unpaved ground beyond the road has eroded, so if you're not careful, you can get stuck by parking here. I pulled out in reverse to avoid that situation.

You can access the Woodtick Trail via the powerline trail, or walk a little further north along the road to get to the trailhead. This is not a spectacular trail; it seems to be used by dirt bikes quite a lot. I only saw tracks of dirt bikes on the trail, no sign of boot prints at all. The trail is loose and gravelly for as far as I took it, which is not far.

Following the trail, you very quickly come to this ruined cemetery. I was filled with sadness as I walked through this graveyard tonight. I think it was the sign of all these ruined headstones, perhaps vandalized or maybe only aged. The dates on the graves are as old as the early 1800's. It was somehow painful to think about those people long dead.

Despite the ruination, the graveyard is not abandoned. I saw a few little flags planted around some headstones, and one very new, large tombstone - but still with dates from the 1800's.