A LITTLE FORCED TIME OFF

  I know I said I'd post some pics of the living room project, but tiny bits of viral material in my system said otherwise. Just off my back for the first time in a week, I needed to take a drive to get out a bit. Not to worry; I'm not dead yet (sorry to those of you who didn't worry anyway; us Yellowbeards are never more dangerous than when we're dead). But I needed a divertissement.

So I took a slow road across the hills to examine what has been done at my job in Glastonbury during my absence. The hell with the job; I stopped at The Salmon River Canyon west of Colchester because it looked wild and deep on the DeLorme atlas. It was, though the ice on the trails made hiking impossible. It also closed the road I'd chosen to leave the place. I got out anyway. It has been cold up here, with only one or two days above freezing since Christmas. And even then it rained like a bitch then froze immediately. Winter is still my favorite season. Why? No Bugs. Gonna get colder and snowier starting tonight, so the living room project will get underway this weekend whether I like it or not.

There is also a historic covered bridge at the site (west of Colchester on Route 16), but it is about as historic as yesterday's underwear. The thing has been totally rebuilt in the past few decades using modern timbers and steel corner braces. A nice bridge in a fantastic location, but only a few of the original timbers were reused, so I didn't take any pix of it. Well, one.

 The Salmon River in winter, looking upstream from the covered bridge. They stock it with salmon and trout. Catch and release, dontcha know. Best way to torture fish. I like the wall at the left; I imagine there have been problems with erosion there, as it is on the outside bend of a very wild river. This thing floods rather magnificently, if the pictures I've seen are to be believed. If you decide to take a look at the river, you'll know you're in the right place when you top the ridge and drop like a screaming eagle into the deep wooded canyon in front of you.

 

 

 Despite the swiftness of the current and steep fall of the water, it freezes over occasionally. Then it thaws and huge slabs of ice travel swiftly downstream, sometimes forming ice dams that cause VERY cold local floods. These in this pile are about ten feet across and more than a foot thick; I don't think I'd like to be canoeing with them clunking the sides of the boat.

 

 

 Looks like alls you need is a large icepick the size of a pickaxe, a bunch of empty tumblers, and a case of good scotch. Macallan 12-year old will do. Call me when you've got it. I'll go to work on the ice.

 

 

 Looking downstream to the new bridge. Looks cold, doesn't it?

 

 

 One of the reasons I wanted to see this area is that it's known for some pretty good mineral collecting, mostly garnet (the Connecticut State Gem), beryl, and tourmaline. This is schist country, and schist means gem minerals. The sand in this river is made of very fine, very clear garnet, likely almandine or pyrope. Prolly the former. It's the red stuff, like duh. I intend to return at some time to see if anything larger shows itself, likely when I can actually pull pebbles from the river. They're quite frozen in place right now. Winter. Sheesh.

 

 

Apparently a popular girl with someone. I don't believe much graffiti I read. Someone doesn't like her, though. Hope it's not true. Christina, if you're out there, now is the time to go to the bridge with some sandpaper.