Community Clean-Up Day

Visit #1102, Saturday 14 October 17, 9:45AM-12:00PM, 4.8 miles.
Temps in the 60's, overcast skies.

Seeing that Meriden was hosting it's annual Mayor's Community Clean-Up Day, I decided to host my own little clean-up in Hubbard Park, sans the neon t-shirt.

Thanks to Paul Bernier who joined me today.

We left the parking lot and hiked to Merimere Reservoir. Further up the trail, Paul spotted this painted rock.

The blue looks similar to that found on another rock painting I found in August.

As Paul and I made our way up the Blue Trail, we switched modes from cleaning up litter to cleaning up the trail from a fallen hemlock.

Paul did most of the heavy lifting. I manned the camera and the loppers, for the smaller branches.

At the top of the trail we found another fallen branch.

Wash, rinse, and repeat. A passing hiker had the privilege of being the first person to enjoy the result of our labors.

Onward to West Peak. Last week I encountered some graffiti down near I-691 which made me suspect I'd find more of the same on West Peak, which is why I wanted to head there today. Fortunately, there was nothing new to be found.

Paul and I cleaned up the West Peak parking lot and surrounding area. We left one trash bag there for later pick up.

Paul was under some time constraints so he left me at this point. I carried on to West Peak where I stopped to view the fog drifting over the area.

Hiking down and over I-691 via the walkbridge, I encountered a large number of broken eggshells. I'm guessing it was the result of an egg fight.

At the other end of the walkbridge I found the smoking gun. Clearly these weren't ordinary delinquents just having an egg fight but well-educated delinquents; they were smart enough to use the eggs before their expiration date.

At the south end of the walkbridge I found yet more biblical graffiti.

Whether it's new or overlooked from a previous visit, I'm not sure. That piece of sandpaper was itching to get to work.

The sandpaper reminded me there was graffiti on the bollards a few feet away, graffiti which had been there for years.

Amazed at how fast it eradicated "Romans", I was positively giddy at how quickly it worked here. It even removed the rust!

I ended my Community Clean-Up Day activities at the parking lot, where I dropped off my bag of litter for the week.

A friendly reminder to get your Halloween candy NOW. I've got mine! Stop by my place on Halloween, mention my blog when you say "Trick or Treat!" and receive a SECOND Hershey Bar!