It was a warm and muggy Saturday morning.
Visit #1098, Saturday 16 September 17, 7:40-10:35AM, 5.9 miles.
Temps in the 70's; foggy, humid and warm.
Is today's title redundant?!
Every hike in Hubbard Park offers up something unexpected, and is a good reason to keep coming back.
I hiked up to Merimere Reservoir and up to the Halfway House, to check on my defoliation work. No surprise there; I only sprayed the area a few weeks ago when the litmus test will come next year.
It was a sweaty slog up to Castle Craig. On the trail up I came upon some graffiti. Although minor, it was an eyesore. I was prepared with spray paint.
At Castle Craig I did something I rarely do; climb the stairs to the top. With the chowder-like fog there wasn't much of a view beyond the flagpole.
So, I didn't stick around and left to clean up the road down to Merimere Reservoir. I immediately noticed the foliage is starting to encroach on the road again.
I took 10 minutes, and my loppers, and trimmed up the strip.
The road down was fog shrouded but cooler because I wasn't working hard, and I was walking downhill. In light of the conditions, I planned it that way.
And there were more unexpected surprises.
While picking up trash along the banks of Merimere Reservoir, I was surprised by your garden variety empty bag of dope.
That bollard was recently installed to inhibit motorcycles and maybe mopeds from traversing the park after hours. I've seen this happen quite a bit, most recently in April. I've seen GROUPS of riders pass through after hours to hang out at the peaks.
The gap was easily wide enough to pass the state budget.
At that time in April I had suggested to Chris Bourdon at the Meriden Parks Department to close the gap. While the design doesn't seem quite moped-proof, it should do well to deter motorcycles. We'll keep an eye on it. Hats off to the Chris and the Meriden Parks Department for their effort!
I walked the road back to the parking lot, picking up trash as I went, and that was no surprise.
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