Television, the Drug of the Nation

Visit #818, Sunday 8 September 13, 1:30-3:35PM, 5.2 miles.

Temps in the low 80's, perfectly sunny and dry.

Little known fact; I don't own a TV. My disdain for it was stimulated today.

The Blue Trail cuts across West Peak and the radio towers. I wanted to clean up the Blue Trail on the far side of the radio towers for about 100 yards.

I took the walkbridge over I-691 and hiked directly up to West Peak. On a silly gorgeous day like today, it still had fewer visitors than over at the Castle, which made the area peaceful as well.

On the way up the steep Blue Trail, I found the remains of a snake burlesque show.

Once at the peak, I cleaned up the area around the rocks, the nearby trails, and the western perimeter of the parking lot. I was pressed for time and all the cars were parked along the parking lot's eastern edge so I left that alone.

At the entrance of the parking lot I deposited my first garbage bag even though it wasn't quite full. I expected to find enough trash on the Blue Trail beyond the radio towers to fill a second bag. My plans were soon scuttled.

At the trail head I found someone had dumped 2 CRT televisions and a computer monitor. The largest, a 32" TV, was too heavy to carry so I had to drag it about 200 yards to join my first bag of garbage. This consumed precious time.

Obviously, the people that dumped the TVs have watched too much of the drug of the nation, which can lead to this behavior.

I left the pile for the Meriden Parks Department to pick up after I notify them.

I walked the road to the trail down otherwise known as The Virgin Mary. Once down below, I took the  main trail to the Halfway House, headed down to the reservoir, then back to the park via the Soap Box Derby track.

Back at the park, I deposited my 2nd bag of trash.

You can now return to your normal program, already in progress...