This article summarizes a hiking group led by Len Berton that meets through a continuing education program. The group consists of 15-20 intermediate to advanced hikers, ranging from ages 40s to 70s. They complete rigorous 5-mile hikes in the fall that involve steep climbs and scrambles over rocks. The article describes the benefits of the social aspect of the group and being immersed in the natural scenery. It also provides background on the extensive network of trails in Connecticut.

1. SPIRIT
Take a Hike! By J a m e s T. C a i n
Photographs by J o h n G ro o
T
he brown leaves have begun to crackle The hikes Berton organizes are for intermediate to
underfoot, but the still pliant yellow ellipses advanced hikers, capable of some steep climbs and
of sweet birch bend like fine carpet on the even some climbing on rocks, using hand-holds. It’s
moist earth. The chattering hikers, in a long no walk in the park, and injuries can happen. But
snaking line of staffs and backpacks, climb quickly for these hikers, the group effort, the commune with
through the kaleidoscopic forest, with its reds, yellows, nature, the air in
and oranges. The trick is to keep up with Len Berton. their lungs, and
Berton is 68 years young, a strong hiker and the the payoff at the
leader of this group. On a crisp Thursday morning pinnacle are worth
in October, almost 20 hikers are tackling a circular the day-after
5-mile route along the Tunxis trail in Burlington, to the sore muscles
top of Taine Mountain to Perry’s Lookout, and back and scrapes.
again to the parking area. It’s an arduous climb, but “You get up on
you wouldn’t know it from the spritely conversation a high place with
among the trekkers. an overlook and
Berton leads several hiking groups, but this one is you just see a sea
assembled through Farmington’s continuing education of color out there.
program. What exactly is taught? It’s gorgeous,” Berton says. “That’s when I say, ‘We’re
“Hiking!” Berton says. “Not falling off steep places.” lucky to live here.’ ”
He’s joking – mostly. The continuing education class is held in two
It’s autumn. Time for a drive past nature’s seasons: fall and spring, but the core group and Berton
colorful change of uniform, stopping for cider, hike year-round, with the Appalachian Mountain
admiring the soaring steeples of Connecticut’s many Club, the Sierra Club and the Sleeping Giant Park
Congregational churches, and pricing antiques before Association, or as the spirit moves them. Berton
you buy pumpkins. But off the beaten path, Robert maintains a website, www.cthikes.com, that lists all
Frost’s “road not taken,” an autumn hike through the these and “unofficial” journeys in and around the
quiet, changing woods is as exhilarating as your lungs Litchfield Hills.
(and legs) can bear. Continued on next page
Left: Len Berton, at the head of the line, leads a group on a vigorous 5-mile hike along the Tunxis trail in Burlington.
Above: Berton’s treks are not a walk in the park. Hikers should be prepared for steep hills, rocky terrain, and the occasional creek.
24 S e a s o n s of T h e L it c hf i el d Hil l s AU T U M N 2008 S e a s o n s of T h e L it c hf i el d Hil l s AU T U M N 2008 25

2. Take a hike!
Continued from previous page I intend to continue doing it indefinitely,” Chamberlain says.
“We do snowshoeing in the winter. We sweat a lot in
the summer,” Berton says. “Some of the hikes are pretty
“There are certainly some forest preserve areas in Illinois, but
nothing like out East here.”
The hikes get progressively cooler so the hikers experience
PLATINUM-STRENGTH PROTECTION . . .
strenuous and challenging. I don’t want to take along people the full growth of the season and nature’s gradual progress
who think we’re going to take a little stroll along the river.”
These are folks who are serious about getting into the woods
into hibernation. In the spring, of course, the group watches
the woods wake up again.
FOR ALL YOUR TREASURED ASSETS
and walking. “And maybe weigh about three pounds less “What still amazes me is that you’ll be hiking in dense
when they get home,” Berton says. forest, and you’ll come across a stone fence,” Chamberlain
The number of hikers in the Farmington class has stayed says. “The first time, I had to ask Len, ‘What is that? What The most discerning clients choose
pretty steady over the years at 25 people, though not everyone is a stone fence doing out here in the forest?’ I don’t know
can show up every week. It meets every Thursday morning in whether Len answered me or someone else, but the answer is Founders Insurance Group / Platinum Accounts
season, with hikes running from about 9 a.m. to noon. “The that it wasn’t always forest, it used to be farmland.”
average number of actual hikers is 15 to 18, sometimes as Cheryl Janer, 54, of Canton, works as an office assistant for to safeguard their homes, vehicles, and
many as 20. Toward the end of the season, people get busy an antiques and fine arts appraiser in Unionville. “I joined the
with their kids, and I think it’s been as low as eight,” Berton says. AMC in the early ’90s, and I hike with them maybe twice a personal property.
The hikes are usually in the approximate vicinity of year, but their hikes are pretty far away. When the continuing
Farmington and Burlington and usually not more than an ed group came up, I jumped at that because it’s local,” she says.
hour’s drive away. That’s hard to do and stay in Connecticut, “When I first started with the group, I found the hikes a
anyway. The group has taken a little difficult, but I’m used to it now,” Janer says.
less rigorous tour around Burr When Daniel Boone blazed a trail through the Cumberland
Pond in Torrington, and walked Gap, he notched trees with his hand ax. Today, blazes, which
a long trail or two in People’s point a trail’s path, are painted on tree trunks. The widest Platinum Accounts
Forest in Barkhamsted. network of trails in the state is marked by a light blue color.
“The group ranges in age 12 Millerton Road / P.O. Box 508
Connecticut’s Blue-Blazed Hiking Trail system consists of
from people in their 40s up more than 800 miles of trails; if you add state parks, Berton
Lakeville, CT 06039
into their 70s. Since we meet estimates there are 900 to 1,000 miles of marked trails in this 860-435-2507 / 800-351-0873
on Thursdays, it does limit it to little state. “I’ve read that the only New England state that has www.foundersgrp.com
people who aren’t working full- more trails than Connecticut is New Hampshire, more than
time,” Berton says.
After retiring from a long Continued on Page 35
career in computers and
There are 900 to telecommunications, Berton
began leading the class three
1,000 miles of years ago, taking the reins from
Marie Coons, who did it for ten Buying a home
marked trails in years. She’s still hiking.
“When I first joined Marie’s is a great way to Now is the time to think about
group, I was the only man,”
this little state. Berton says. “That took a little build wealth! your landscape design.
getting used to, so I felt a little
uncomfortable at first and some of these women became
Maura
good friends. My wife called them my ‘harem,’ ‘But go get
some exercise,’ she said.”
Recently though, the group has become divided evenly
in gender, with more men signing up. One of them is Gene
Chamberlain. MAURA HAMMICK
Chamberlain, 64, recently moved to Farmington from the SERVICE & INTEGRITY
Chicago area and has been a member for the last two seasons.
“I was looking for an activity and was paging through the CONSIDER THESE FACTS:
continuing ed book when I saw this,” he says.
Chamberlain is retirement age, but has two younger
children in high school. Both he and his wife, Karen, have
worked in the insurance business and the family moved to
Connecticut for her job. Chamberlain works with charitable
organizations now, but a principal duty these days is taking
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care of his high-school age son and daughter. So he has
Thursday mornings off generally. Putting Greens | Patios | Firepits | Poolscapes
“It’s wonderful. For me, it was a marvelous opportunity
to learn about this area, because I had relocated from Illinois. Let’s work together to evaluate your situation
On top of that, the group’s a lot of fun. Most of the hiking and your options! D.W. Burr Landscape & Design, Inc.
experience relates around the people in the group. When
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and see some pretty scenery, and Len does a great job. There’s
a number of physical benefits and there are social benefits.
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26 S e a s o n s of T h e L it c hf i el d Hil l s AU T U M N 2008 S e a s o n s of T h e L it c hf i el d Hil l s AU T U M N 2008 27

3. Take a Hike!
Located in scenic downtown Collinsville, Connecticut,
Continued from Page 26
Gallery 101 Main offers a unique collection of fine art
Maine, more than Massachusetts, more than Vermont. We’re
lucky to be here.” ORIGINAL OIL PAINTINGS
All the Blue-Blazed trails are in The Connecticut Walk Book, COLOR/BLACK & WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY
put out by the Connecticut Forest and Park Association.
Volunteers do all the work maintaining the trails. HANDCRAFTED ART JEWELRY,
In spring, Janer likes that hikers encounter waterfalls and ART QUILTS AND MORE
roaring creeks, which have to be negotiated. In the Sessions
Woods wildlife area in Burlington, Chamberlain says, there are
active beaver dams, and a fire tower that has a plywood cutout
of all the peaks visible in the distance. “You can see what ridge
you’re looking at or what town,” he says. “It’s impressive.”
“We have a couple members of the group who know a lot
about plants and point them out to those of us who don’t know
as much. I find that very enjoyable,” Janer says. “We have a lot
of fun. We talk – a lot.”
Chamberlain says sometimes the talking distracts from the
business at hand. “Unfortunately, some of us are so busy talking
we’re not really looking at the painted signs on trees. Fortunately,
Len is there to do that,” Chamberlain says. He laughs, “Or we’d
probably get lost. But the trails are all very well marked.”
Has Berton ever gotten lost?
“Often,” he smiles. “If I get off the trail, what I usually do is
have the group fan out and look for the blazes. But I do have a
GPS, and I always set that to where the cars are, so if all else fails
I’m not going to get so lost I can’t find my way out.” GALLERY 101 MAIN, LLC
101 Main Street, Collinsville, CT 06019
James T. Cain is a Connecticut-based journalist and freelance 860-693-1785 | www.gallery101main.com
writer. His book One-on-One Baseball with Dom Scala will be
published in January.
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