Originally we were going to go to the Catskills, but when Bruce checked the weather online at 5:30 AM on the morning of 9/20/09, they had reduced the temperature forecast from a high of 69 degrees, predicted the night before, to a high of 61 degrees.  Connecticut seemed to have more pleasant weather for hiking, with a forecasted high of 72 degrees.  Therefore, we decided to go there instead.
     The trail to Chauncey Peak and Lamentation Mountain starts at Guiffreda Park.  They have a nice map available on their website.  Even though the guidebook and the website did not say anything on the subject, when we got there we saw prominent signs telling people that all dogs have to be on a leash.  Therefore I, Dickens, had to have a leash on for this trail.
     Despite their names, Chauncy Peak and Lamentation Mountain are traprock ridges, like many mountains in Connecticut as well as the Holyoke Range in Massachusetts.  For those of you have never hiked one, a traprock ridge is a great place to hike because of all the cool geometrical rocks, steep cliffs, and great views.
     The parking area is at the south end of Crescent Lake.  We started at 11:30 AM,  hiked off to the east and ascended  a very steep trail in the woods.   At the top we met a rock climbing instructor, his spouse and two young kids.  They were going to do some rock climbing on cliffs off to the east.    They explained to us that we had missed the obscure turnoff for the main trail which is a left off the trail along this cliff line.  We backtracked and found our way.
       The blue blazed trail we wanted goes north along the east side of Crescent Lake.  There are many ledges and views along the way looking south towards New Haven and out to the west as well.  To the west is a stone tower on a ridge called "Castle Crag".
      Finally we came down off Chauncey Peak to a dried up stream with a Pickerel frog in it, and a wooden bridge.  We turned right and followed the blue blazes.  Big mistake.
     After hiking the wrong way for two miles, we came back to the bridge and figured out that we really needed to take an obscure red blazed trail that looked like an eroded dry stream at the beginning of it.  This red blazed trail goes uphill and then miraculously turns back into a blue blazed trail which ascends to the top of Lamentation Mountain. 
     One thing that had fooled us was that the "wrong" trail was very wide and well used.  Probably this is because it is used by ATVs.  It really just meanders around in a huge circle and has nothing of interest to justify hiking on it, so far as we could see.
      Lamentation Mountain is well worth the trip.  There are many pretty views including a long range view north to Hartford. 
     Because we had taken a long wrong turn, we decided to go back the easy way along the shore of Crescent Lake, without reascending Chauncey Peak.  This turned out to be an excellent move because there were some scenic views along the lake and we saw a family of mallards (see photo gallery).  We were back at the car at 3:57 PM.  Because of the wrong turn we probably hiked about 7.5 miles.  Definitely a good place to visit again.

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