Smart Move

 

Sometimes bad weather can work in your favor.

Visit #1539, Sunday 22 June 25, 6:15-8:10AM, 4.8 miles, 3.0 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 70s, light rain, tapering off. Very humid, in the midst of an early season heat wave.

I woke up planning to hike early to avoid the worst of this nasty heat wave we're in. Checking the weather, I saw rain forecast from 6-7AM, when I planned to be out there. I considered wimping out and waiting until the showers passed, but then thought the rain would cool things off, and keep the mosquitos in their hangars.

I reconsidered and pushed myself out the door.

Hitting the trail, the rain started ten minutes later and did exactly what I was hoping.

Reaching the road to Castle Craig, you can see the dry and wet spots on the pavement. The tree canopy as well as the light rain kept me mostly dry.

The light rain was a soothing Windham Hill soundtrack of white noise.

I didn't expect to find much on this trail. But good thing I chose to hike on it this morning.

This fallen tree will need to be removed and I'll do so next week.

This hiking pole was found as you see it, divorced from its better half. I can't believe the owner didn't notice!

Just as I exited the trail at the north end of the reservoir, the rain was slightly heavier and steadier. 

I picked up this hoodie, but it wasn't worth salvaging for Goodwill due to some staining and the ants crawling all over it.

I reached the gate to the park at the same time the police and fire department had arrived (8:05AM) to head up to Castle Craig. The fireman was very vague as to why they were going there, and the Interactive Police blotter didn't reveal anything.

The showers ended but the cool conditions continued until I returned to the parking lot. Thank goodness.

Next week- a Power Tool Weekend®!

Unplug, People!

 

Enjoy the hike and not your phone.

Visit #1538, Saturday 14 June 25, 6:35-10:00AM, 5.7 miles, 6.9 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 60s, persistent drizzle to start, tapering off to scattered showers.

Reading the Ask the Doctors column by Drs. Eve Glazier and Elizabeth Ko, this week, came the above wisdom. You'll actually be healthier for it. You can read it yourself HERE.

It's a no-brainer for me and I hope if it isn't for you now, it will be.

I started my hike in light precipitation which eventually tapered off.

Nearing the Halfway House I found this Fire Line-Do Not Cross tape which was at some point strung across the trail. I pass by here frequently and find it hard to believe it is left over from the Daffodil Festival fireworks in early May which were launched from the location, and I overlooked it all this time. I also didn't find any fire calls logged in the area recently. I removed it.

Reaching the bottom of the steep trail leading to Castle Craig, I see someone had left a feast for the squirrels. Or maybe it was a feast for humans.

I picked up the Blue Trail along the ridgeline, and found this bloody mess. Something had their own feast.

The remainder of the hike was bloody quiet-the less than ideal conditions tends to keep people away, and I had no phone to distract me.

The Blog That Almost Wasn't

Had I stepped on him, he would be "wasn't", too.

Visit #1537, Saturday 7 June 25, 6:35-9:15AM, 5.5 miles, 3.0 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 60s, very humid/cloudy/foggy with showers developing later in the day.

Last week it was camera problems; this week I lost electricity, telephone, AND internet. I can't get a break. Internet was just restored 9PM on Sunday evening.

Let's see if I can bring things back up to the present.

While in Hubbard Park last week I spotted this graffiti, which was too high on the tree for me to reach.

So I returned to Hubbard Park on my mountain bike during last week to rectify the situation using my secret Extendo-spray can.

I made my way up to West Peak. The graffiti I mentioned last week, which I couldn't photograph due to my funky camera not working, well, I suspected after finding the same style in multiple locations that I'd probably find it at West Peak as well. This ain't my first rodeo, ya' know.

I was right. And I was prepared.

I also removed the fallen tree I found last week. As promised, I used a bow saw instead of my chainsaw. I'm not so sure this was a great idea; It was a great twenty minute workout, however. Progress was slow and the mosquitos were brutal; they would have been worse had I not brought insect repellent.

Which begs the question-If you spray a mosquito with insect repellent, does it try to get away from itself?! That's probably a question Stephen Wright would ask. So let's take a little diversion and watch some Stephen Wright humor.

I also found a couple new stickers which I removed.

But the real reason I re-traced my steps from last week, when my crapped out camera thwarted my effort to create real subject matter, were these:

I was having a discussion with a reporter a couple weeks ago and he remembered writing an editorial about these abandoned cars, sometime around our country's bicentennial (1976), and catching some flack for doing so and putting Hubbard Park in a bad light. I told him those two relics of the '70s were STILL there, up near West Peak. I decided to photograph these two trips back to the Carter administration. I dream that someday they would be removed. If they got in there, they can get out of there.

Well, my camera issue has been resolved, as have my electricity/telephone/internet (for now). Here's hoping for more stability this summer.

E18

 

Lingering rain meant the road to East/West Peak was closed to cars. This was great for me as even with my late start I would enjoy the road all to myself. And yes; I didn't see another soul.

Visit #1536, Saturday 31 May 25, 12:35-3:00PM, 5.2 miles, 8.4 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the low 60s with lingering showers after a night of rain.

I had specific plans for today and well,...they all went to hell.

I got such a late start because I was waiting for Frontier to arrive between 8AM-1200PM to repair a hum on my phone line.

As I walked past the south end of Merimere Reservoir I spied some geese with a new generation of turd factories.

Like I said, I enjoyed having a car-free hike on the road in the middle of the day.

I picked up my intended trail, and on the way up found a newly fallen tree. So next week will be a

Power Tool Weekend® or I may actually go handsaw on this as it's reasonably small.

And then, when I reached what was going to be the main reason for today's hike (which will remain a secret until next week), it happened.

My camera died.

No, it wasn't a dead battery.

The display would only show the code which is the title of this week's entry.

So you'll be in suspense until then.

And I can't show you all the graffiti I found and removed.

Or the handmade ceramic something or other about the size of a coffee can.

And the other graffiti I couldn't address this week but will perhaps next week.

So instead I'll share with you another story.

I was contacted by a reporter for the Record Journal recently. Jeff Kurz began by asking me questions about litter/nip bottles and my experience with them in Hubbard Park. He was particularly flummoxed by empty nip bottles with the cap back on. How did they do it while driving? Why?

I was reminded of being told of a local  liquor store where a lot of empty nip bottles would be found.

So early on Memorial Day morning I drove to that liquor store just to see how many I could pick up.

Thirty minutes later...

You're looking at SEVEN HUNDRED nip bottles when I stopped. I wasn't going to crawl deep into the weeds for the next 100-200. This was an extension of my conversations with Jeff.

'Til next week, with a replacement camera...

Mellow

 

Visit #1534, Saturday 24 May 25, 6:50-8:50AM, 3.8 miles, 3.7 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 50s, cloudy with showers possible.

I like three-day weekends such as this Memorial Day weekend; there's that extra day to decompress-no rush to prepare for the week ahead.

It also makes it easier to rationalize getting up and hitting the trails so early. I was already up at Castle Craig at 7:45AM. Where were YOU?

Seeing the painted heart on the tree last week and doing something about it reminded me I better check on the other trails this vandal uses to see if I might find other signs. Yep.

I came prepared, found three more hearts (one addressed to ME!), and covered over them.

In addition, here's what else I found and removed. Weird stuff.

Done with that entertainment, I made my way to Castle Craig where I found a number of graffiti tags.

On the park bench I was able to cover it with spray paint; on the others I respected the rocks and instead used a wire brush to remove them.

I did take a break from my work to enjoy the view.

Hiking down from the castle, I found Lionel Messi's missing soccer ball.

It was while hiking toward the Halfway House that I came upon #16 in the series, since November 2016, of the cat's butt graffiti. The trail marker was too high for this height disadvantaged person to reach.

What to do?

Well, what I did was return even earlier to Hubbard Park on Sunday morning-on location at 6:33AM to be exact-on my  mountain bike.

Using my patented Short Person's Extend-o Stick® and Sin Remover Fluid, I made ahem, short work of the graffiti.

Now to spend the rest of the Memorial Day Weekend continuing to decompress. Enjoy your decompression, too.