An Overload of Perfect

Add today as one of the many idyllic mornings I've experienced this year in Hubbard Park.

Visit #1090, Sunday 30 July 17, 8:00-11:00AM, 6.3 miles.
Temps in the low 70's, sunny, dry, with a mild breeze. Just enough to keep the mosquitos away.

I hadn't walked the road from the park to Castle Craig in some time. Today was a perfect day to revisit the road and the quietude the park provides before the road opens to cars.

A new power pole support pole was added near the water treatment plant. Nothing gets by me...

Further up the road I found an abandoned cardboard box.

I was tearing it into pieces to fit into a large trash bag, when along came Ken. I don't know Ken all that well but I have mentioned him before: He walks the road and turns around at some point. On his return trip, he'll pick up trash and stash it in a plastic grocery bag. He's stealing my job, dammit!

Seriously, when he saw me tearing up the box, he offered to take the cardboard, without me bagging it, and would drop it off at the water treatment plant. I know when to not say "no", so I let him have the cardboard. The bag under his right arm is his trash bag. There are some unsung heroes in Hubbard Park; Ken is one of them.

I soldiered on up the road, cleaning up both sides all the way up to Castle Craig. Unfortunately, my schedule did not permit cleaning the parking lot, so I made my way on the trails down to the Halfway House.

There, I found the remnants of a private fireworks display.

I picked up everything then attended to all the new graffiti I found, which I'm inclined to think was generated by the fireworks party. I wisely packed my spray paint, and expended the entire can, covering much more than you see in the photos. Might as well, since  I had the can out.

When I was done, I took a look around to enjoy the scenery.

Turning around to look toward Castle Craig, I discovered 2 more American Chestnut plantings, adding to the two I found last week. 

Incidentally, I learned the person planting the chestnut trees is Jim Chapman. Unfortunately, we played phone tag last week so I didn't get the chance to hear his story. Hopefully I'll have more info in the next week or two.

I also noticed the grass around the Halfway House is really tall and some small trees are beginning to grow around its perimeter, some of it higher than the stone wall. I'll ask the parks department if perhaps they could give the area a haircut.

I hiked back toward the park, walking on the Green Trail, where I discovered a fallen hemlock.  That means next week's post will involve power tools. Woo Hoo!

As I passed the water treatment plant enroute back to the park, I spotted where Ken left the cardboard. My only concern was whether the breeze would scatter the cardboard before it was picked up.

x

Once I reached the Soap Box Derby track, I discovered yet more new graffiti. Graffiti has been the biggest problem this season, and it's growing. While some of the graffiti was chalk, I wasn't able to remove it completely (maybe I should start carrying a chalkboard eraser...). I'll try and clean this off next week when I remove the fallen hemlock.

I returned to the park and dropped off my bag of litter for the week.