A True Mystery
Mystery Pits, Somers
September 2023
I have my rules. As the sole writer and traveler for this website, I have my rules.
My rules on what makes the cut to get a page on the site and what doesn’t. The Mystery Pits of Somers make the cut. Even though the Mystery Pits of Somers are… non-existent? Barely noticeable? Pointlessly silly?
Yeah. This is they.
I have my rules.
The Mystery Pits are located along Northern Connecticut Land Trust’s Skyline Scenic Area trail, all the way at the far end of the loop at the top of the hill. To the best of my knowledge, they are only mentioned in the Land Trust’s trail description:
THE MYSTERY PITS
There are two groups of mystery pits near the scenic lookout. One group lies across the tote road from the boulder mentioned above. The yellow trail goes through the other group as it winds through the Hemlock grove northeast of the lookout. Thus far no one has satisfactorily explained their origin. Can you?
If a tree falls in the woods and creates a pit but no one knows where the pit came from, is it still a mystery?
If you read my page about this hike, you’ll know that I traversed both Mystery Pit areas twice. And the second time I was scouring the ground for them. I went off-trail all over the place up there trying to find a pit worthy of being called a pit. I failed.
The only mystery surrounding the Mystery Pits of Somers refers to their very existence. I found a few little depressions in the dying hemlock forest northeast of the lookout (which has no non-winter views) but… they were not mysterious, and didn’t rise to the level of a “pit” in my estimation.
This was a small nearby pit created when I kicked a rock. It is not a mystery to me… BUT IT MIGHT BE TO YOU IN 3 MONTHS TIME!
So why does this rise to the lofty level of CTMQ-publication? Simple: Because it’s mentioned in a trail guide (and repeated on Somers’ town website, by the way) and people might come up here all jazzed up to see some Mystery Pits – just like I was. So now when they go there and don’t see anything, they’ll find this page and feel better about their Mystery Pittability.
I have my rules.
CTMQ’s Northern Connecticut Land Trust page
CTMQ hikes the Skyline Scenic Area Trail
CTMQ’s Cool Geology
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