Attention To Detail

A steamy, humid Sunday at Castle Craig, with thunderstorms forecast in the afternoon.

Visit #1142, Sunday 27 June 18, 8:15-11:10AM, 4.6 miles.

I received a phone call last week from a frequent Hubbard Park hiker telling me of a fallen tree across the Blue Trail near the north end of Merimere Reservoir. In order to better plan my weekend route around removing this tree, I took a bike ride through Hubbard Park on Tuesday to check the one other remaining trail for storm damage.

Finding none, my itinerary for this week was firmed up and I was ready to go.

I hiked up the road from the park and found some new graffiti on the brick building below the water treatment plant.

Readers of this blog were previously informed of Trumps eating habits, but the writer apparently felt we needed a reminder. Too small to bother with paint, I'll try ink remover on it this week or next weekend and see how effective it is.

Crossing the north end of Merimere Reservoir, I picked up the Blue Trail and reached the fallen tree shortly.

 

This should be a piece of cake. Except it wasn't.

Since I reasoned it "was only one measly tree" and wouldn't take long to dispense, I didn't install my more aggressive chain. That one measly tree was oak and I could only make dust instead of chips.

But that wasn't my biggest problem.

I wasn't paying attention and failed to survey the tree properly and determine where the weight and tension was on the tree. Consequently, my bar got stuck.

It wasn't going anywhere, and my only choice was to disconnect the bar from the powerhead and walk away. I'll have to return with another bar or another chainsaw to finish the job and get my bar back.

I performed an about-face and hiked up another trail to see if I could redeem myself and accomplish the other task on my list for the day.

While mountain biking on this particular trail recently, I noticed other mountain bikers had built a small ramp at a strategic location on the trail. The placement of this small ramp would enable them to get airborne if their speed was right. But this detail would only be noticed by the trained eye of an experienced cyclist, like myself for instance.

Tough to photograph the profile; it's the light colored patch of earth you see.

Lest they think they can turn the trails into their own little Six Flags, I disassembled the ramp.

So I was 1 for 2 on the trail today.

Moving on, the trails pointed me to the Halfway House, where I found this weird little shrine set up.

Included were shards of broken glass (is that redundant?) a marble, and a small snakeskin.

Onward down to the south end of Merimere Reservoir, I found this sign was removed from the guardrail and no longer serviceable. I'll let the parks department know in case they want to replace it.

I put it into my bag along with the rest of the litter I collected this week and deposited everything into the trash can at the playscape.

Trimmin'

Visit #1141, Saturday 16 June 18, 9:10-10:45AM, 2.7 miles.
Temps in the low 70's, sunny and dry.

I was on-call so I didn't venture far and wide.

Except to take a specific photo, I stuck to the trails on the south side of I-691.

What goes mostly unseen in my blog posts is the frequent trimming and brush cutting I perform to keep the foliage from crowding the trails. A snip here, a chop there; it all adds up. Storms with high winds or snow will cause tree branches to bend down and get in the way. That's nature. And that's what I focused on this weekend. It's hard to document in photos, but I maintain an eye toward creating a canopy over the trails, and it takes years before it becomes evident.

So I trimmed all the trails on the south side of the highway and only crossed the walkbridge to take that photo.

Last week I reported spray painting over brown paint on a large rock, matching the existing gray color from previous work of mine. When I do this, I sometimes mention the paint went on glossy but will blend in better when it dries. Here's a perfect example:

Last week, just after I applied the spray paint:

This week, after drying:

So don't worry that my paint jobs will look garish and out of place. I think they blend in nicely.

After cleaning the trails, I walked around the Soap Box Derby track and the retention ponds to pick up more trash, while there was a charity run/walk to end Pancreatic Cancer.

I wanted to tie this event in to my blog by saying one of my favorite musicians, Frank Zappa, died of
pancreatic cancer but that idea fell flat because Frank died of prostate cancer, not pancreatic cancer.

But since I don't have much in the way of photos this week, I'm going to throw in a Frank Zappa video for your entertainment anyway.

Until next week, maintain.

Peace and Quiet

Whether it was walking on the road, on the trail, or just pausing by Merimere Reservoir, it was so soothing to be out in Hubbard Park on Sunday. The overcast skies enhanced the calm.

Visit 1140, Sunday 10 June 18, 7:40-9:55AM, 3.6 miles.

Returning to our regularly scheduled labors after being interrupted by last week's graffiti, I engaged in a clockwise loop to reach the fallen tree I found across the trail two weeks ago.

Once across the I-691 walkbridge, I reached the large rock with graffiti which I covered with the brown paint I had on hand last week. While I knew the brown clashed with the gray I'd previously used to paint over other graffiti, it was only when I was disciplined by a reader of this blog for my poor taste in colors that I knew I had to correct things.

Here's my sin.

I hopefully redeemed myself by covering the brown with spray paint. It will dry to a satin finish.

The relatively cool temps combined with a slight breeze kept the mosquitos and no-see-ums at bay, making the hike very pleasant.

I shortly reached the fallen tree across the trail.

This was quick work. I tossed the pieces down the slope.

While cutting up this tree I came upon my Find of the Week. Full, and still sealed.

I moved on to another trail, and hiked down to Merimere Reservoir and the road back to the park. Quiet as it looks.

Back at the parking lot, I dropped off my trash bag.

When I arrived at Hubbard Park, the lot was practically empty, but upon returning to my vehicle, the lot was full with people participating in a walk to raise funds for Myasthenia Gravis. It looks like the event had a good turnout.

And now for a rare product endorsement!

I'm not much of a water drinker; too bland. Of course on the trails in Hubbard Park I carry water out of necessity. At home, I've found if I put a splash of lemon juice in a 32oz. container of cold water, I might empty the pitcher in one sitting, it tastes so good!

Well, while at the Big Y supermarket last week I stumbled upon this product in the powdered drink mix aisle:

 

Each individual packet has a mere 0.8 grams of product in it; probably what a no-see-um weighs.

Yet whether you put it in a 20oz. or 32oz. container, it turns water into a pure pleasure with just a subtle hint of fruit. 

If you don't care for plain water or just want to add some palatability to your trail water, THIS is the ticket. Incidentally, the bottle shown was found by me in Hubbard Park in January of this year and became a handy test-vessel today for True Orange.

Change of Plans x2

The mushrooms in Hubbard Park are obviously loving this weather. This week is full of rainy days, too.

Visit #1139, Sunday 3 June 18, 7:40-9:30AM, 2.3 miles.

Temps in the low 60's, partly sunny with low humidity.

Last week I reported finding a fallen tree across the Blue Trail, and promised to return this week with my chainsaw to remove it.

Those plans changed when I took a mountain bike ride through the trails in Hubbard Park on Friday and noticed someone had defiled the Halfway House with a lot of graffiti. This graffiti was not there last week, when I met the trail running group there. I felt the graffiti was more in need of immediate attention, so I would take care of it today.

Once I reached Merimere Reservoir, I hiked up the Green Trail, where I encountered a deer, or perhaps they encountered me.

We had a staredown for a few minutes, then went our separate ways.

Shortly, I reached the Halfway House and all the graffiti.

Out came the tools and I painted over all of it.

I started early this morning to minimize the number of people passing through who might touch the wet paint.

Finished, I packed up and followed the White Trail toward I-691. Enroute, I came upon our repeat, Christian, Bible quoting graffiti vandal. This is the sixth time since September 2017 that I've encountered their scribbling.

Normally I'd return with gray paint, but since the brown paint was handy, I used it.

I hiked back to the park and dropped off my bag of litter.

It was at this time I reasoned that since this morning's session was short, I would return in the afternoon, drive up to Castle Craig, and cut up that tree on the Blue Trail. I noticed the sign at the gate advertised the road to East/West Peak would be open to 7PM, which would give me plenty of time. However, when I arrived at the gate at 4:15PM, I noticed there was NO SIGN.

The fact is, the sign listing the late hours on summer weekends, is only printed on ONE SIDE; the side facing Merimere Reservoir. I felt it was too risky of a gamble to get stuck behind a locked gate, so I changed my plans for the second time this weekend and left the park, leaving the chainsaw work for next week.

If I think of it, I'll take photos of the sign next week to show you what I mean.

Till then.