You Think THAT Was Early?!

A placid Merimere Reservoir; the way I like my holiday weekends.

Visit #1194, Memorial Day Weekend, 25 May 19, 6:05-8:45AM, 4.9 miles, 4.2lbs. of trash.
Temps in the low 60's, sunny and dry.

If you thought last week was an early trip into Hubbard Park, check out this week!

I wanted to hit the park early so as not to disturb too many hikers or draw attention to myself, so I started out near the crack of dawn with my chainsaw to remove a hemlock I'd discovered last week, fallen across a trail at the far reaches of Merimere Reservoir.

Soon after I started, I picked up a large piece of cardboard and stuck it in my bag. Knowing I had a lot more time to go and might fill the bag, I dropped the first bag at the water treatment plant.

 Reaching the north end of Merimere Reservoir, I picked up the Blue Trail and shortly turned right onto the Red Dot Trail, and pointed toward the fallen tree.

No drama; the tree removal was quick and easy.

 This trail parallels the road up to East/West Peak. I reached the top, the joined the Blue Trail heading downhill. At the bottom I reached the Main Trail, looked to my right, and got a surprise!

This fallen oak tree took down a tree branch on the opposite side of the trail. I was thrilled to conveniently have my chainsaw with me to conduct business, and not have to concern myself with a return trip.

Oak was slower to cut than the hemlock, and heavier to move too, but I managed without much fuss.

Turning around from here, I headed to the Halfway House to perform other planned work.

Previously I'd noticed that left untouched, weeds and brush quickly overwhelm the Halfway House every year. This is the second year I brought weed killer with me to treat the perimeter.

I learned my lesson last year, when the top unscrewed while in my backpack, spilling weed killer. That's why you see electrical tape around the screw cap.

A simple but interesting observation: Since the south side of the Halfway House receives more sun than the north side, the brush grows more lush and quicker on the south side.

South Side

North Side

It's weeds and vines like these that I'm trying to control.

Returning to the parking lot to deposit my second bag of trash, I noticed the "Tobacco Free Parks" sign was stolen. Considering how many people I see violating the law, I'm not surprised. I once pointed out to a smoker within eyesight of the sign that they shouldn't be smoking (expecting to get an earful, but I wanted to poke the hornet's nest anyway!). Well, that went over like a lead fart, and I  got my earful.

Make like these Canadian Geese and just cruise through your holiday. And don't forget to remember those who served and died, and be grateful.

Early Rising

Early morning at Hubbard Park. Was I the only one awake at this hour?

Visit #1193, Saturday 18 May 19, 6:25-8:35AM, 4.6miles, 3.9lbs. of trash.
Temps in the low 60's, sunny.

I wanted to get an early start this week because I was going to use some spray paint and I wanted it to dry before anyone could step on it. Also, I had a personal To Do List and by getting my weekly fix at Hubbard Park done early I could free up the day for other duties.

I left the parking lot and shortly picked up the trails, leading me to the Halfway House.

How that slender tree wound up where you see it is a mystery to me, but I did toss it back into the woods.

I hiked up toward Castle Craig, and to the rock which I spray painted a couple weeks ago, to cover some graffiti. I wasn't satisfied with the gray paint I used then, so I brought some brown paint with me this week.

Not a good match, but it got the job done.

The brown paint will look more discrete once it dries and loses its sheen.

Reaching Castle Craig, I made a somewhat pleasant discovery. A park bench has been installed at the base of Castle Craig.

I think this was a great idea. SOME thought was put into it, because the concrete pad elevates the bench just enough to take in the view over the surrounding wall.

Here's the view.

However, I question HOW MUCH thought was actually put into the project. To improve the bench's appearance, I could see the concrete pad embedded with the same traprock used on Castle Craig and the surrounding wall. The rock was free as it could have been harvested from the talus slope on the trail below.

But that's a minor, subjective complaint. Where I really think the project went off-the-rails was here:

Man, that looks cheap.  If some local person received permission to install the bench and the concrete pad, and it was presumably a gift to the City of Meriden and Hubbard Park, they could at least identify themselves in a professional fashion. The mysterious initials, and date haphazardly engraved into the concrete are nothing more than graffiti in its present form. Quite frankly it looks like a turd, and an unpolished turd at that.

Adjacent to the bench is an electrical outlet, most likely convenient for Christmas lights on Castle Craig.

However; I'm sure people will be disappointed there's no USB socket in the outlet so they can keep their smartphones topped off 😏. Expect the masses to be charging to the mayor's office with their tiki torches lit, demanding free USB ports on those outlets!

I left Castle Craig and returned to the trails. The scene through the woods was peaceful early on a Saturday morning.

Near the bottom of the trail, I discovered another hemlock has fallen across the trail.

This means next week will be a Power Tool Weekend®, when I remove the tree. Woohoo!

I returned to the parking lot while it was still early, and dropped off my bag of trash for the week.

Surprises

The daffodils look a little worn out after working overtime for the Daffodil Festival. No surprise there. Time to call it quits and pack it in 'til next year.

Visit #1192, Saturday 11 May 19, 6:40-8:40AM, 2.3 miles, 31.1lbs. of litter.
Temps in the 50's, sunny.

As pal Jeff and I suited up for last week's escapades, he suggested that instead of my weekly trail maintenance,  we clean up West Main Street, west of Hubbard Park, where he noticed a lot of trash. Being a "stick to the plan" sorta guy, and because West Main Street was out of my scope of duties, I declined.

In retrospect it would have been a good idea, because last week was the Mayor's Community Cleanup Day  and we would have fit right in.

So this week I decided I'd honor Jeff's suggestion, picking up roadside litter from the west-most entrance to Hubbard Park up to the small parking area across from Belmont Avenue. Besides; I was on-call and didn't want to stray from my van should I get a service call.

I started early because there was a children's fishing derby scheduled in Hubbard Park on Saturday; I wanted to ensure I would find parking, and by starting early I would avoid the surprise of getting hooked by some back-casting youth a treble hooked lure!

As I made my way up the roadside picking up litter, I was surprised to come upon this landmark tucked in to the brush, but I have no idea WHAT it marks.

I reached the end of the property and turned around to head back to my van. As I walked, a white sedan slowed as it passed by. From the sound I could tell it had stopped. What was going to be my next surprise?

Surprise; turns out it was Mayor Kevin Scarpati! We'd never had a one-on-one meet, so it was basically each person meeting "The Man, The Myth, The Legend". Until then, I'd only seen photos of him in the paper; he might as well have been Elvis or Salman Rushdie in hiding. As for me, he only knew me from my blog; for all he knew I could have been an invention of someone's imagination. In fact, I sometimes think that of myself!

Here, the mayor violates a city parking ordinance for the sake of a photo op! As you can see, he's struggling to lift my trash bag, which is why you should leave the heavy lifting to professionals like me!

We had a great chat, which was cut short when a state trooper drove by, stopped, and asked if we needed help. At least the mayor didn't get a parking ticket.

I returned to the park but hadn't filled out my self-imposed two-hour minimum work session, so I headed to the parking area at the northwest corner of Mirror Lake to pick up more litter.

Enroute, I took a glance up at Castle Craig. I know the picture is poor, but can you see what I see?

 Here; let's zoom in:

Surprise; that's not one but TWO meatheads standing on top of the crenellations of Castle Craig.

I got my last surprise of the day when my work phone rang, beckoning me to a service call in West Haven. Time to leave as the sun was beginning to provide a great day for fishing at Mirror Lake.

This week I brought the bags of trash home with me for disposal.

Mayor's Annual Cleanup Day

 Grey skies and frequent rain are filling up Merimere Reservoir. Fortunately, we were able to avoid any precip' while out and about in Hubbard Park on Saturday. The rain would come Saturday night.

Visit #1191, Saturday 4 May 19, 8:40-11:10AM, 4.2 miles, 23lbs. of litter.

Temps in the mid-60's, cloudy.

I was joined this week by pal Jeff, who met with me to return my copy of The Traprock Landscapes of New England, and contribute some labor. The book was written and photographed by a couple local individuals, and includes photos and some history of Hubbard Park. If nothing else, buy it for the photos, which are extraordinary.

The City of Meriden holds an annual Mayor's Community Cleanup Day, with Saturday being the date. Jeff and I, while doing our own thing, contributed to the effort.

We traveled clockwise, toward the I-691 walkbridge. Some distance away from the walkbridge entrance, I spied what I presume is a survey marker of some sort, but I don't know why it would be located there, on the trailside, not really near any landmark. Big mystery.

Jeff and I hiked up to the road splitting East and West Peaks, where I set him to work sanding away some graffiti from our infamous Bible Verse Graffiti Vandal, example #13.

Jeff fancies himself an amateur bible scholar, so I tested his mettle and asked him to recall the Bible verse mentioned on the pole. I got some drool and glazed over eyes, but that's about it. He did a better job with the sandpaper.

 It was while Jeff was at work that a long procession of cars drove by enroute to Castle Craig. This was surprising, and disappointing, because it was only 9:20AM and the gate at the park doesn't open for traffic until 10AM. We were hoping for some peace and quiet.

I later learned from someone in the parking lot at Castle Craig that the event was a memorial service for someone. How touching that the location meant enough that the site was chosen for the service.

While Jeff and I were quietly cleaning up the parking lot during the memorial service, I came across the 8th Wonder of the World, the mystery of the man who forgets to put his underwear back on. The next step is Alzheimer's.

We hiked the trail down from Castle Craig and encountered some more graffiti.

 First, I tried the sandpaper left over from the Jeff's Bible Verse erasure.

Then I realized I had an ace up my sleeve, a can of spray paint in my backpack. I would have preferred a better matching-brown, but that can was at home. I may return for a color change.

 Jeff and I returned to the park, having avoided the rain, and dropped off our haul of trash for the week.