I Got A Lock On This

Visit #1199, Friday 28 June 19, 6:25PM, mileage n/a.

Visit #1200, Sunday 30 June 19, 7:10-9:35AM, 2.8 miles, 1.4lbs. of litter.
Temps in the low 70's, sunny and pleasant.

I rode my mountain bike through the trails of Hubbard Park on Friday for some fun, and to give myself an idea of what I wanted to accomplish on Sunday. Good thing I did so.

Back in February, I removed this fallen tree from the trail with the help of a hiker named Chris. Well, Hubbard Park's resident vandal put it back in the trail.

I removed it.

Further on up the trail, I found more of his vandalism.

While I didn't mention it in last week's post (because I thought it would be hard to photograph the before/after), I had trimmed this section of trail as the summer foliage growth was encroaching on the trail. Of course, I tossed my trimmings aside, only to find them back in the trail on Friday. Someone has to be pretty sick to do something like this.

Anyway, now I had a reason and an agenda made for me this weekend, because I wasn't going to take the time to clean this up on Friday. I got a lock on this.

So I returned early Sunday morning to pick up litter and otherwise conduct business.

I promised last week I'd show you the progress of the weed killer I sprayed on the Green Trail as an alternative to trimming. Here you can see it's kept the trail open just fine.

I hiked up past the Halfway House. Further on up the trail, I found a letterbox which for some reason, was not closed and consequently the contents were wet.

Fortunately, the creator of this letterbox left instructions on how to contact them if they found the letterbox in need of maintenance. I have duly contacted them.

When I reached the walkbridge over I-691, I discovered both flags which are normally tied to the fencing, are gone. Knowing the habits of the mysterious person who has placed and maintained these flags for a few years, I expect new flags to appear for the July 4th holiday.

Further on, I found this padlock hitched to the fencing. This is new, and I'll remove it next week.

I returned to the park and dropped off my litter for the week, while Mirror Lake was just waking up with activity.

That padlock above got me to thinking. I ride my bike down Paddock Avenue frequently, and across the overpass above the Wilbur Cross Parkway. But this week I noticed a lot of padlocks cinched to the fencing, just like that walkbridge in Hubbard Park. This is something new.

So I get the bright idea to take a bike ride with my boltcutters, still warm from use in Hubbard Park, and clean this up. I imagine Maloney High School must be missing a few...

As I'm cutting these down with my boltcutters, I wonder if anyone will call the police, thinking I'm cutting the fencing so I could jump off the bridge, or some other nefarious activity.

Well, that didn't take long.

I wasn't at it for more than a couple minutes when a Meriden Police cruiser pulled up and pulled over right in front of me but never stopped to question me. They merely rolled by, must have figured out I wasn't jumping, and merely left. I didn't even make the Meriden Police Department's on-line police blotter! 😢

Finished with my civic duty for the day, I gathered up the locks, brought them home and tossed them in the trash.

Happy July 4th. Hope you've got a lock on your holiday plans!

Seasonal Snake Alert

The trails in Hubbard Park are inviting, as long as you watch where you're stepping.

Visit #1198, Sunday 23 June 19, 7:35-9:50AM, 3.2 miles, 2.6lbs. of litter.

Temps in the low 70's, sunny and dry.

I received not one but TWO snake related stories this week so a word to the wise; you're safe on the trails but always keep an eye out for snakes.

The first story comes from a couple who passed by while I was trimming the trail. They had just seen a copperhead, on a section of trail I had been on minutes earlier. I was disappointed to not have seen it myself.

The second story was from a park regular who I ran into just prior to finishing my weekly duties. George told me he heard someone's dog was bitten by a copperhead earlier this week and unfortunately, the dog died. Yet another reason to keep your dog on a leash, especially while on the trails.

I brought more weed killer with me this week to open up the Green Trail. If next week's travels take me there, I'll show you the results.

When I was done with the Green Trail, I hiked up to the last section of the Yellow Trail, which I don't hike often. It was getting a smidge overgrown so I spent some quality time with hedge clippers and lopping shears trimming things back.

I found a container of snake wannabe's down by Merimere Reservoir.

So what's the difference between American nightcrawlers and Canadian nightcrawlers? I mean, can the Canadian nightcrawlers play hockey?

I also found this Blue Trail marker, which was removed from a tree. Previously, trail blazes were painted on the trees. It seems these markers are not that smart of an idea, if you can remove them.

I returned to the parking lot, not having seen or been bitten by a snake, or having been slammed into the boards by a hockey playing Canadian nightcrawler, and dropped off my trash for the week.

A Day Late, A Day Early

The hillside on the western side of Merimere Reservoir is shrouded in an early morning fog.

Visit #1197, Sunday 16 June 19, 6:25-9:00AM, 5.2 miles, 15.6lbs. of litter.

Temps in the low 60's, cloudy with showers predicted.

The Record Journal reported this week of the problem of people failing to leave East/West Peak in a timely fashion. This is a long time problem, as I've seen myself, as evidenced from this 2010 photo.

I doubt more signs would be a solution, as it's obvious people aren't paying attention to the existing signage.

I didn't have such a problem on Friday; I rode my mountain bike past the closed gate to take care of some graffiti I spied last week.

When I arrived at the Halfway House, I was surprised to see the Meriden Parks Department gave the area a mid-season haircut. What a surprise! The area looks great.

Now, to work.

Taking care of this now would free me up to travel another route during the weekend and complete some other tasks.

I returned on Sunday in much gloomier weather, but I packed rain gear just in case.

I had planned to clean the road from the park, around Merimere Reservoir, in advance of a pancreatic cancer fund-raising walk, but my timing was off. The walk was Saturday. I figured that out when I started finding evidence the walkers were already here and gone.

 My penance was to walk the road anyway, and pick up litter.

I reached these porta-johns, which I just now conclude were placed there for the event, and found an empty large, cardboard box. Too big to fit into my trash bag, I left my first trash bag, with the box and hope they'll collect everything when they pick the porta-johns.

Reaching the north end of Merimere Reservoir, I spied this snapping turtle right under the guardrail, probably just returning from laying eggs. Momma didn't raise no dummy; I didn't dare try to get a closeup photo. I leave that stuff to daredevils.

Walking up the road, I came upon this sign tacked to a tree.

 This is not the first time I've found this tree used for "religious" purposes. Whoever is doing this has a peculiar fixation with this spot. Oddly enough, there was something written on the backside of the sign.

Well, I reached Castle Craig and hiked the trail down. I came upon more wildlife when I ran into this deer, a mere 20 feet away, which didn't seem to be bothered by me and just munched on some grass.

Descending to level ground, I picked up the Yellow Trail, where my next objective of the day waited.

These three trees were hanging low over the trail, so I removed them with a tree trimming saw.

About this time it started to rain lightly, but the tree canopy kept me dry. I reached Merimere Reservoir, noticing how calm it was, in contrast to Saturday's blustery wind.

I returned to the parking lot and dropped of my bag of litter for the week.

Tools

Both Saturday and Sunday were perfect weather days for hiking in Hubbard Park. I chose Saturday.

Visit #1196, Saturday 8 June 19, 7:50-10:30AM, 3.4 miles. Less than 1lb. of litter, 36lbs. of dirt/glass.
Temps in the low 70's, sunny and dry.

Earlier this week, the Record-Journal published an editorial from the Concord Monitor (New Hampshire) about unprepared hikers and the trouble they get into while hiking in the Granite State.
New Hampshire or Connecticut, makes no difference; even a short hike can quickly turn into a horror show if you're not at least marginally prepared.

Hikesafe.com offers comprehensive information of what you need to make your hikes safe and enjoyable.

Here's what I call my "basic load" when I hike in Hubbard Park.

Flashlight
2pr. work gloves
Pedometer
Camera, spare battery, tripod, and case
Toe and Hand Warmers
Bicycle Multi-Tool
Leatherman Tool
Eyeglass Cleaning Cloth
Bug Repellent
Graffiti Kit (Sandpaper, Graffiti Remover, scrub brush, rag)
Hubbard Park Maps (to hand out)
Energy Bar
2 pieces of rope
Portable Scale (for weighing litter)
First Aid Kit (with compass and emergency whistle)
30 gallon trash bags
13 gallon trash bags
Notepad, pens, and magic markers
Latex gloves
Facial Tissues (Toilet Paper)
Waterbottle
Dog Biscuits
Brain (not shown)

Today, I added the following:

Loppers and hedge clippers (usually included in my basic load, above)
Bow Saw
Shovel
Rake
Trash Bags
Weed Killer
Spray Bottle

There's a short, steep trail near the water tank where, sometime long ago, there was a house situated. I'm told they used to throw their bottles down the bank of this trail, and the trail, while only 50ft. long, is littered with broken glass.

I'm trying to  make a habit of once a year cleaning up some of this broken glass. The only way to do so is to rake the soil downhill and shovel it into bags. Every year, the soil releases more glass shards. Eventually, I expect to wind up with a glass-free trail.

This year, I collected 3 bags weighing 36lbs. total, which I left at the water treatment plant.

I hiked up to Merimere Reservoir and filled my spray bottle with water and weed killer to maintain the Green Trail. While filling up my bottle, some hikers told me they found some fishing line and hooks strewn about the shore, which they hung in a tree. I found the fishing tackle and put it in my trash bag.

Also on the Green Trail was a fallen tree I discovered last week.

As you can see, the bow saw was the tool of choice here. This trail can get overgrown quickly, hence the weed killer, along with some trimming.

I traveled on to the Halfway House where I found some new graffiti, which I'll take care of next week, because I DIDN'T HAVE THE RIGHT TOOL THIS WEEK! Just goes to show what happens when you're unprepared...

Heading back to the park, I found this perfectly fine sweatshirt on the trail. I packed it in my backpack and will throw it in the wash, then donate it to Goodwill.

I returned to the park with surprisingly little trash this week.

At the walkbridge over I-691 I found some new graffiti which I promptly removed because I HAD THE RIGHT TOOLS!

Does anyone see the irony in the halo over the graffiti?

I returned to the parking lot with surprisingly little trash for the week.

2019 National Trails Day

Saturday was National Trails Day. Did you partake? I did!

Visit #1195, Saturday 1 June 19, 9:00-11:30AM, 4.6 miles, 9.2 lbs. of litter.
Temps in the high 60's, sunny.

I decided to participate in National Trails Day by conducting my weekly Hubbard Park entertainment on the same day.

The trail foliage definitely saw a seasonal growth spurt as I found myself often cutting and trimming back the plants as I hiked.

I reached the spot where last week, I removed an oak tree which had fallen across the trail, only to find SOMEONE had moved a couple of the cut logs back into the trail. Of course I moved them a second time. Let's see if this turns into a game.

I hiked up the Blue Trail toward West Peak. Along the way I ran into some of that foliage growth.

Armed to the teeth, I took care of it. I was also carrying some more potent weed killer than last week's formula so I sprayed the area and will return to check its progress.

Up at West Peak, I picked up litter and took in the view.

I then turned my attention to the West Peak parking lot, where I found someone had stuffed some litter in a grocery bag and hung it from a tree.

I combined it with my bag and left everything to be collected by the Parks Department, hopefully on Monday.

It was while cleaning up the parking lot that I found this note:

It was nice to see they took the time and effort to leave the note. I hope the Good Samaritan found it. Crisis averted!

I followed the road and trail from West Peak to Castle Craig, and down to the Halfway House, where I checked on the progress of my defoliation which I began last week.

Give it another couple weeks and the work should be fully evident.

Onward to the Green Trail, which was the main reason I brought industrial strength Agent Orange. I sprayed only one side of the trail because I was running low on fluid (spoiler alert: I will return next week!). Almost to the thick of things there, I discovered a tree fallen across the trail. I'll return for that next week, too.

I returned to the park via the Soap Box Derby track and dropped off my second bag of trash for the day.

If you missed participation in this weekend's National Trails Day, you could always make up for it with a hike next week. I promise; it will still count!