The Daffodil Festival Via The Back Door

The real fun wasn't happening at the Daffodil Festival in Hubbard Park; it was happening a short walk north of the park, along Merimere Reservoir.

Visit #950, Saturday 25 April 15, 7:50-11:15AM, 6.0 miles.
Temps in the mid-50's, sunny.

With the Daffodil Festival in its second week and a parade in Hubbard Park Saturday morning, I sure wasn't going to be able to park there for my weekly expedition. So I returned to the Berlin side of the park and hiked in.

Since last week Paul and I cleaned from the north end of the road up to East and West Peaks, I thought this week I'd walk south from the same start point, all the way to Hubbard Park and turn around. This would result in a reasonably clean road from bottom to top, a good start since the road will open to vehicle traffic next week.

I also thought I'd use the festival time to continue with my Five Year Plan, because with the park occupied by the Daffodil Festival, there would likely be nobody to spook as I ran my chainsaw.

As I walked south toward the park, I found a fallen hemlock lying roadside, which I cleared by tossing it over the guardrail on the other side of the road.

I reached the gate to the park, turned around, and pointed myself north. By the time I reached the water treatment plant, I'd filled my first bag of trash so I hung it on the fence hoping a Meriden Water Department employee would take it away.

When I reached the south end of Merimere Reservoir, I discovered Chris Bourdon of the Meriden Parks Department replaced the cut lock on the gate, which I reported to him privately. Thanks, Chris!

Then it was on to the meat of my operations for the week.

I picked up where I left off, at the jersey barriers, and trimmed the western side of the roadway heading north along Merimere Reservoir. I made one mistake in my preparations today-I forgot to bring my loppers. So I used my chainsaw and performed all the heavy work instead. As a result, evidence of my effort on Saturday isn't readily apparent. I expect to begin the fine trimming during the Memorial Day weekend.

I reached the north end of Hubbard Park and returned to my truck with the second bag of trash.