Use 'em If You Got 'em

West Peak as viewed from the Blue Trail, below.

Visit #1117, Sunday 7 January 17, 12:30-2:50PM, 6.5 miles.
Temps in the low teens, sunny.

All week Meriden saw near-record setting low temps and the wind chill factor didn't help. Sunday was supposed to be the warmest day this week, and I waited until the warmest part of the day to enjoy it.

Meriden was also hit with 9" of snow on Thursday; a good base for snowshoeing. Use 'em if you got 'em!

I hiked west, and over the I-691 walkbridge. With the snow on the ground, it was hardly necessary to stick to the trails, and a good time to check out alternative views (not to be confused with "alternative facts"!) of Hubbard Park. So I pointed my feet off-trail and up.

I entirely avoided the walkbridge you see over the stream, and hiked straight up-slope. At the top, I picked up the Blue Trail to West Peak, where today's opening photo was taken.

Good thing I took this trail as, when I reached the top, I found a large tree fallen across the trail. I also found some previously unnoticed graffiti.

While the graffiti will have to wait for more paint-friendly weather, the tree I might tackle next week. So far, the coming week's forecast is for temps through Friday rising to the 40's, which would be nice for tree cutting. We'll see.

I continued to avoid the trails and bushwhacked through the woods to the road.

But only for a brief stretch. I left the road and followed a draw/stream bed all the way to the bottom near the north end of Merimere Reservoir.

While the temps were well below freezing, snowshoeing worked up a head of steam. This icicle formed on the left side of my hat visor, proving I'm a left brained person due to the lopsided heat generation. That there's scientific proof, folks!

Back on the road, I hiked back toward the parking lot. Enroute, I stopped to notice our holiday tree decorators haven't taken their decorations down yet.

As I walked south, I could feel the sun's radiant energy doing a nice job of reminding me warmer days, and springtime, are inevitable.

Tip of the Week: I participate on a bicycle forum on the internet, where the recent discussion was how to keep your waterbottle from freezing in weather such as Meriden experienced last week. My suggestion was to slip a wool sock over the waterbottle, which might prevent the water from freezing for a couple hours; long enough for virtually all bike rides this time of year.

To verify my theory, I filled a waterbottle with tap water and slipped a doubled-over thin wool sock on the bottle. The bottle was in my backpack in an outside pocket. Usually, in below-freezing temps the bottle will ice over in an hour or so, and turn to slush if not frozen solid.

I'm here to report my unscientific, one time experiment WORKED! The water wasn't even brain-freeze cold after 2 1/2 hours. Thank me now or thank me later; just don't tell me it didn't work for you. ☺

Kinda looks like a turtleneck sweater for a waterbottle...