In The Grip of Summer

Canadian geese form an early morning conga line, enroute to who knows where?

Visit #1202, Sunday 14 July 19, 6:50-10:00AM, 5.8 miles, 18.0lbs. of litter.
Temps in the high 70's, climbing to near 90 today, moderate humidity.

There was no avoiding the summer heat, and Lord knows I tried by starting early today.

I hiked my way around Mirror Lake, watching the Canadian geese, before I picked up the trail enroute to the fallen tree I found last week.

Someone had elevated the tree to make it easy to pass by. I used a pruning saw to remove it.

I continued on this trail which I walked last week and soon came upon these little balls.

At first I thought some robins on Thalidomide were laying malformed eggs.  I was soon given a clue to the  truth.

Goggles? Funny eggs? The final clue was nearby.

Whoever was playing paintball left in haste, leaving extra ammo and other supplies. I guess their spot was overrun and they retreated. I later learned that paintballs are biodegradeable, which is a good thing because I found a lot of robin's eggs in the area.

Hiking up the trails was a sweatfest, but eventually I made it to West Peak to enjoy the views.

I turned toward the West Peak parking lot. I hadn't been there in a while and it showed; I picked up enough litter to leave a large bag there.

It was all downhill from here as I walked the road back. Along the way, I spied this two-box combo tossed into the woods. If I had to guess, someone took their pet for "a ride".

Carol should have removed the shipping label.

 

I strolled around the north end of Merimere Reservoir, back toward the park.

When I reached the gate, I was pleased to see the parks department had replaced the missing bollard. The original bollard was cemented into the ground and likely due to a chemical reaction or moisture between the concrete and the iron in the bollard, had rusted away.

Notice that the replacement was not mounted directly into the concrete like the original, but bolted down. I hate to be pessimistic, but I expect someone to either unbolt it and sell it for scrap, or for ATV'ers to remove it for easier access to the road. I considered applying some unbreakable Loctite threadlocker to the bolt threads (I've got just the stuff to do the job) but decided against it as it would make maintenance or repair a miserable task. Let's sit back and see how long this lasts. I'll keep tabs on it.

I returned to the parking lot with plenty of time for the day's temperatures to reach 90, and dropped off my second bag of litter.