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.