Howdee all,
Still enjoying the amazing foliage.
Sunday we hiked Lantern Hill with my Sicksta Tammy and her hubby Joe. Lantern Hill is not to far from where we are parked in my parents driveway in Ledyard, Ct.
Nearby City:
North Stonington/Ledyard
Length:
2.6 total miles
Elevation Gain:
Minimal around 400ft
Trail Type:
Out-and-back
Skill Level:
Moderate, steep climbs and bare rock
Season:
Year-round, weather permitting
We started out hike via Wintechog Hill Road. Directions here. I found this online GPS map that is pretty cool. The author started his hike from Foxwoods Casinos Two Trees Inn.
Check out the graph then x out of the black box to see his route.
Lantern Hill
http://www.everytrail.com/swf/widget.swf
EveryTrail – Find trail maps for California and beyond
The hike started with a gradual uphill climb.
The trail splits….the trail to the left goes directly to the summit, we took the trail to the right that skirts around the summit and then took a trail to the summit.
First views of Lantern Hill pond.
Beautiful oranges, reds and yellows.
I always think of Trix cereal when I see these colors.
Below you see the remains of a Silica Mine.
Lantern Hill gets its name because its white cliffs are said to shine in the sun when seen from the sea (Caulkins p. 97; Crandall pp. 107-108; Detwiller). Some believe that Lantern Hill was also known as “Tar Barrel Hill.” In August 1814, during the War of 1812, barrels of tar were set ablaze atop a hill to warn residents of the British approach along the coast. It may be unlikely that Lantern Hill is Tar Barrel Hill, being so far (on the border with Ledyard) from the more populated coast. A more likely candidate for Tar Barrel Hill is Jeremy Hill, about 3.4 miles (5.5 kilometers) to the southeast, on the Stonington/North Stonington border (Haynes and Boylan, p. 51; Heermance, pp. 246-247). The barrels were put in place on May 15 and set on fire on August 9, 1814 (Haynes and Boylan, p. 51). The smoke from the burning tar, not the light from the fire, may have been the warning signal (Grotz p. 32; Haynes and Boylan, p. 51). via
The Story of the Yawgoog Trails 
The hill’s quartz was first mined by David D. Mallory in 1870 (“A Growing Industry”; Haynes and Boylan p. 74). With a purity as high as 96.84% silicon dioxide, the mineral had many uses, including glassmaking, filter sand and construction aggregate. Lantern Hill quartz was used as an aggregate in the concrete faces of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, Massachusetts (Altamura, Tectonics, Wall-Rock Alteration pp. E31, E15). Paul Slade and his Gang reused narrow-gauge rails from the quarry to build a short marine railway where Yawgoog’s sailing center is today. The railroad was used to move 28-foot (8.5-meter), surplus navy cutters into and out of Yawgoog Pond from the 1930s onward (Williams and Anthony vol. 2 p. 28). Lantern Hill is spiritually significant to the Pequots (Detwiller; “Bozrah’s Healing Waters”); the tribe protected the quarry site by acquiring it from the U.S. Silica Company in 1994. To the south, it can be seen that much of one of the hill’s lower summits was removed before mining ended.
via The Story of the Yawgoog Trails
See Foxwoods Casino in the distance?
The hill is composed mostly of high-purity milky quartz and it occupies the inactive Lantern Hill Fault, which runs south into the Atlantic Ocean. Analysis of the quartz reveals that it is 238 million years old—the
mid-Triassic Period of the
Mesozoic Era in geologic time. The formation of the fault and the quartz are associated with the early formation of the Atlantic Ocean (Altamura 1995; Altamura 2003).
[5] [6] 
We continued to the summit…east side
Happy Hiking!
We cleaned up the cars and the drive…
The roads are already clear
I placed some seeds on top of the snow for the birds..
That’s mom in the distance..We cleaned her car and Dad drove the car around to make sure it was safe before she left for Church.
Frosty pumpkins
An early winter wonderland..
Bella enjoyed the snow…
The flowers didn’t fare so well~
The leaves aren’t happy.
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