Informants

Early morning sun rises over a depleted Merimere Reservoir. Merimere has been called to duty because the Broad Brook Reservoir is undergoing repairs. This is the lowest most people will likely see the reservoir in their lifetime.

Visit #980, Saturday 31 October 15, 7:30-9:15AM, 5.1 miles.
Temps in the low 30's, sunny.

Visit #981, Sunday 1 November 15, 6:00-7:15AM, 1.2 miles.
Temps in the mid-40's, cloudy with light rain forecast.

Visit #982, Sunday 1 November 15, 3:45-4:15PM, 1.2 miles.
Temps in the mid-50's, mostly cloudy.

During the week I received a report of landscaping lumber which was discarded on the road to West Peak. I was going to locate it and mark it for pickup. To do so, I would walk the road from the park all the way to West Peak.

Good thing I got an early start and chose to walk the road. It just so happened there was a running event being held later Saturday morning and by picking up trash the road would look better for the runners.

As I walked the road early that morning, I found a wristwatch. It reminded me of my own lost wristwatch in Hubbard Park.

I never did find the landscaping lumber. My informant and I guess it was picked up by parks department personnel earlier in the week.

As I walked onward toward West Peak, I did however find that one of the telephone poles I asked to be placed at a trailhead was rolled away from the trailhead and is by itself on the roadside.

I'll see if I can get it returned to its rightful home. I have a plan on how to make these poles less tempting to touch. I'll report back if I'm successful implementing it.

Reaching West Peak, I cleaned around the parking lot and noticed both gates, one of which I secured with tyraps, had been breached again.

As I returned to the parking lot I met another informant who told me of some camping garbage left on another trail near Merimere Reservoir. I dropped off my bag of trash for the day and considering returning sometime over the weekend to collect the other stuff.

I promised him I'd try to clean it up this weekend. But first...

I returned to the park at the crack of dawn Sunday morning to work on a yet-to-be-revealed project. I figured with the switch to Daylight Savings Time as well as it being the day after Halloween, there would be fewer chances of disturbing other park goers with my chainsaw. While I didn't finish the project I made good progress. I also picked up more trash.

I did have a brief window of time Sunday afternoon to collect the camping debris mentioned. I found discarded clothing along with a lot of empty food containers and personal hygiene products.

I collected all the debris and disposed of it properly.

I leave you with a view south from West Peak toward Sleeping Giant State Park in Hamden. You can clearly see the sleeping giant outline.