This Week's Foaming Rant

According to the sign, the road around Merimere Reservoir and to East/West Peak SHOULD have been closed for the season. So why was the road opened to traffic on Friday, Saturday, AND Sunday?!

Visit #1219, Sunday 3 November 19, 8:15-10:45AM, 5.5 miles, 15.2 lbs. of trash.

I started Sunday's hike planning on making a clockwise loop, returning via the road around Merimere Reservoir around the 10AM hour. But shortly after starting, I ran into someone who walks on that road daily and was expecting to enjoy some seasonal peace and quiet. Instead, they were met with car traffic when there shouldn't have been any. Needless to say, they weren't happy. And they weren't the only one to express their displeasure.

I truly think the city, and the parks department, does not understand how popular this road is for walkers, dog walkers, runners, hikers, etc., and to have an expected seasonal reprieve is valuable to many park visitors. The road should have been closed, beginning 1 November. Rant over.

When I learned this from the walker, around 8:30AM, I decided to change my route to avoid running into cars on the return leg. So I walked the road toward the north end of Merimere Reservoir.

Along the way, I discovered a piece of graffiti I overlooked last week in my painting duties. I will have to return in a few weeks to complete the job.

Had the road been closed like it was supposed to have been, this car would not have been here, left overnight at the north end of Merimere Reservoir.

I'll guess they discovered they were stuck behind the gate after closing time on Saturday and didn't want to call the police and risk a ticket. So they parked the car at the north end, and probably returned sometime on Sunday after the gate opened to retrieve it.

I picked up the Blue Trail along the eastern edge of East Peak. I wanted to inspect for wind damage as we had more high winds during last week and I expected to find more fallen trees across the trails.
I wasn't disappointed.

 

I will have to return with my chainsaw on another Power Tool Weekend® to clean up the trails.

I reached Castle Craig, cleaned up the parking lot, and connected to the trails to return to the parking lot. About this time, 9:50AM, cars were ALREADY TRAVELING UP THE ROAD TO CASTLE CRAIG. I Thought the gate opened at 10AM...

Along the way I found a discarded battery, likely from and ATV. It fit in my backpack and although it was heavy, I managed to carry it. I will recycle the battery.

I returned to the park and dropped off my trash for the week. Hopefully, next week's hike will include a car-free road.