Eradicated

I was on the hunt this week to seek out and remove graffiti sprayed by paintball players.

Visit #1208, Sunday 25 August 19, 7:00-9:15AM, 3.0miles, 8.0lbs. of trash.

Temps in the mid-60's, sunny and dry-don't forget puffy clouds, too!

Last week I discovered paintballers had delineated a field of play in Hubbard Park using day-glo orange spray paint. I would spend most of my time this week trying to cover up the graffiti.

I came loaded for bear, with SIX cans of spray paint.

In the end, I preferred gray over brown and will stick to gray after I use up my brown supply.

Enroute to the field of play, I found this small rock with unusual painting on both sides. Aliens?

No time to ponder that; I had A LOT of work to do.

Here's a couple sample Before and After shots.

There were way too many trees tagged to count as I stopped at twelve, but I did use up three cans of paint and it took me an hour, which should tell you something.

Done with that, I headed to the walkbridge over I-691 to remove a padlock on the fencing which I spotted last week.

This was a tough character, as I had to hold on to the fence with one hand, and operate my boltcutters with the other hand.

I thought I was successful...

...but my celebration didn't last long.

See, just after I cut that lock down, I spotted another one, and it was going to be incredibly clumsy and cumbersome to continue with my one-handed method. Fortunately, a couple hikers came along and I asked one to support my back while stood on the kneel wall and cut the second lock down.

And then the hiker found another, and another, and...

This was getting to be a replay of my experience in June.

There was one lock I could not reach, which will mean sleepless nights until next weekend.

Until then...

Steam Shovel

Oh, it was a sweaty one out on the trails Sunday. The air was thicker than a chunky fart.

Visit #1207, Sunday 18 August 19, 11:00AM-12:25PM, 2.8 miles, 3.0lbs. of trash.

Not only because of the heat and humidity; I forgot to pack drinking water for my trek today, so I decided I wouldn't travel far.

If you recall last week's post, I recovered a shovel which was discarded near one of the trails and likely used by mountain bikers to build trail stunts, and I planned to restore it. Well; here's my story.

Here's what the shovel looked like when I retrieved it.

The blade was rusty from living life outside, and the handle broke when I picked it up.

I tried a wire wheel on a drill to remove the rust, and you can see the difference on the bottom side, above. But I didn't think it would remove the rust properly for paint to adhere, so I slathered rust remover on it, and let the pink goo do its job.

Afterwards, I rinsed it off. In the photo below, you can see how worn the lip of the shovel was. Normally, the edge of the shovel would extend to the end of those "fangs" on either end.

I suppose I should have trashed the shovel when I saw this, but I'm too stubborn. How do I create a nice edge?

I didn't quite follow a logical order to this restoration, but I'm not a logical guy so I had to work with what's between my ears.

I used the existing broken handle as a placeholder, and spray painted the shovel a glossy black.

Only then did I consider squaring the edge of the blade. I used painter's tape as a guideline, then a hacksaw to create the new edge. It would only shorten the shovel a smidgen.

It took almost an hour to cut off that material!

Then I spray painted some more.

Lastly, I replaced the handle, which has to be oriented in such a way that the grain of the wood is the strongest while using the shovel. The handle comes with a pin which holds it all together.

 

Now that it's been rehabbed,  I've been thinking of taking the shovel back to where I found it, and setting it free...

On my shortened hike on Sunday, I walked up the Soap Box Derby track and discovered the No Parking signs posted for the Meriden Puerto Rican Festival were not removed. Just like Tag Sale Signs; people remember to post them, but not to take them down.

I must have collected half a dozen, and only now realized they could have been reused, assuming they were to be retrieved by the police department. I'm betting lunch they were orphaned.

Instead, I put them all in my trash bag and left it at the water treatment plant.

I hiked the trails below Castle Craig, and crossed over I-691 and headed back to the park. Enroute, I discovered some new graffiti.

I'm guessing this was done by the people playing paintball, because I discovered discarded paintballs in this area back in July. Next week's plan is to cover over the graffiti, and look for more in the area.

Steamy weather sticks with us through the week.  If you'll be hiking, don't forget to bring water, like I forgot.

Rescue Mission

Geese roam the grounds adjacent to the Hubbard Park playscape.

Visit #1206, Sunday 11 August 19, 7:10-9:20AM, 4.4 miles, 11.1lbs. of litter.
Temps in the 60's, sunny and dry.

Reading Mike Roberts' "Woods 'N' Water column last week about the overpopulation of canada geese in the area,  I decided to perform a little census myself in Hubbard Park. I counted 39 geese on the patch of land above. That's a lot of fertilizer.

During last week's foray onto the trails in Hubbard Park, I found a shovel but my hands were full so I could not bring it back to the park. This week I would be on a mission to rescue the wayward shovel.

I walked around the road to Merimere Reservoir and enjoyed the weather as well the peace and quiet of an early morning.

I reached the trailhead and upon locating the shovel, and reaching to pick it up by the handle, it promptly broke.

 Sheesh; my grand plan to restore the shovel was dashed. Or was it?

This time I had a lighter load and freer hands to carry it back.

Up over the hill, down and over I-691, and I was back at the park to deposit my litter for the week.

Upon arriving home, I began my shovel restoration. My process is evolving as I progress. Stay tuned to see if I succeed or give up. I could leave it at Hubbard Park to shovel up goose poop...

Forgetfulness

 It was HUMID out there on Saturday. The shroud over East Peak did burn off about an hour later, when I reached the peak views.

Visit #1205, Saturday 3 August 19, 7:20-10:40AM, 5.4 miles, 7.6 lbs. of litter.
Temps in the 70's, sunny and very humid.

I returned to Hubbard Park this weekend to remove a few fallen trees on the trails.

After I parked the car and began to get my gear together, I realized I forgot my camera and my waterbottle. Well; that wasn't going to do me any good. So I drove home, and as soon as I entered the house and began to look around for it, I realized THE CAMERA WAS IN MY POCKET!

I still forgot the waterbottle.

So what I'm going to do is lean real close to your computer or whatever device you're reading this blog on, so you can dope slap me. Just whack the side of your PC or phone good and hard; I deserve it!

I proceeded a couple hundred feet, behind the bank of daffodils, to tackle my first objective.

These cut up real quick.

 I turned around and headed up the road around Merimere Reservoir. With the Puerto Rican Festival scheduled for Sunday, special parking rules in Hubbard Park are in effect.

It also appears the "No Parking" signs are a desirable item.

As I reached the north end of Merimere Reservoir, I noticed someone forgot their summer reading list.

I wondered why someone would toss their books away like this. Well, not really-I could understand why ANYONE would toss a Nora Roberts novel! As for the "Why Me? - Totally True Embarrassing Stories"; that sounds like my biography so I kept that book for later reading.

Crossing the north end of the reservoir, I picked up the trail and hiked toward the fallen tree I discovered a couple weeks ago.

As I hiked up the trail, I spied something I hadn't before, after many trips up this trail.

Not an antique, it was likely forgotten by mountain bikers who several years ago were building a trail berm adjacent to where I found the shovel. I had dismantled the berm and they likely gave up any idea of rebuilding it. My hands and backpack were full enough today so I will return next week to take the shovel home and possibly restore it, just for fun.

Shortly beyond the shovel was my third tree.

Removing this tree took a little more time as I was constantly wiping sweat out of my eyes and swatting mosquitoes.

 Done here, I chose to retrace my steps and hike the Blue Trail up the ridgeline to Castle Craig. I use this trail infrequently so I might as well inspect it while I have the chainsaw with me. I trimmed the trail with my loppers but the chainsaw was not needed.

I returned to the park and dropped off my trash for the week.

As I did so, I discovered where those discarded books came from.

Meriden now has a Little Free Library kiosk in Hubbard Park, adjacent to the playscape. With someone's creativity, they built it to look like Castle Craig. What a great idea; grab a book while your kids are playing. Books beat Hubbard Park's free Wi-fi any day.

Inside, it was packed with more Nora Roberts novels...

The summer weather continues through Sunday, and much of next week. Enjoy it!