3.5-miles on the Metacomet Trail from Phelps Road north.  

Very muddy, pretty icy, and still some snow.

Later on...

     ..... early evening

          ..... I watched a webinar presented by CFPA on Ceremonial Stonework:

Ceremonial Stonework: The Enduring Native American Presence on the Land 

This slideshow takes the audience on an extended virtual walk through the woods to see the ceremonial stonework left behind by the indigenous population that occupied New England for over 12,000 years.

Native Americans built nearly two dozen distinct types of structures in our area, ranging from cairns to stone serpent effigies, and these spiritual offerings remain standing in now long abandoned woods. While Native American stonework is widely recognized out west and to the south, New England’s stonework remains obscure, having blended back into the woods far from the trails most hikers travel. 

Although the exact meaning behind them remains unknown in most cases, there can be little doubt of the overall importance of this stonework to its creators or their descendants. These images, from the book by the same name, come from photographs of over 8000 objects and ceremonial sites in southeastern Connecticut and western Rhode Island. Slideshow and talk by Markham Starr.