End of 2019 Tally

Merimere Reservoir tucks in for the winter under a blanket of ice, albeit a thin one.

Visit #1227, Sunday 29 December 19, 10:45AM-1:20PM, 4.8 miles, 15.4lbs. of litter.

Free from two consecutive weeks of on-call duty, I was able to wander farther on the trails of Hubbard Park.

That upside-down trail map I reported on last week-thanks to Chris Bourdon and the Meriden Parks Department, it was corrected. Almost.

While it's now right-side up, that "u r here" at the now, top of the map (gotta love that texting-speak!), denotes the location of Castle Craig and not the location of the map kiosk! I'll see if I can't add some correct labeling next week.

 Here's the plaque crediting the Boy Scout who created the project.

I headed up the trails, over I-691, and up the Blue Trail to West Peak. Warm weather in the last week cleared the trails of any ice or snow that might hamper progress. This coming week forecasts warmer temps and a couple days of rain. I expect any traces of snow or ice, including on Merimere Reservoir, will be gone by next weekend.

These buzzards were doing a little sunbathing.

I walked the road down from West Peak, and enroute discovered one of the telephone poles I had asked be placed in 2014 at a particular trail head to deter vehicles, had been rolled away. I found it a good distance down the road. I am formulating a plan to return it to its original location, but it's going to take some successful physics and muscle.

I've got to roll it UPHILL about a hundred feet. That ought to be fun...

The road down from West Peak was quiet.

I had almost forgot but due to my schedule in December I wasn't able to report on this earlier: Yearly, some people decorate this tree at Echo Point. As you can see, they planted a wreath as well. But they seem to have a different timetable than I do for removing the decorations, whether they plan to remove them at all. I give them until the end of January to retrieve their decorations or I go all Grinch on them.

Nearing the gate across the road, I came upon Season of the Missing Glove 2019, Entry #13.

I returned to the park with my litter for the week.

And now for the tally: I don't usually do this but since I bought a scale early in 2019 to weigh my trash collection, I was curious to see how much I gathered in 2019.

Well, I hiked a total of 205.4 miles in Hubbard Park for the year. That's not much considering I know some people have met goals of hiking 1000 miles in a year.

What I was surprised of was how much trash I collected in 2019-600.5lbs.!

Update: I also counted the number of times I needed the use of a chainsaw to clear fallen trees or branches from the trails: 23. I used a bow saw a few times, but most trail trimming was done with my loppers or  hedge clippers.

Since this is the last post of the year, I'll put out may annual offer; if you don't want to receive advanced notices of my blog entries, please let me know and I'll remove you from my distribution list. Otherwise you'll have to suffer for 2020, or you'll take great pleasure in sending me to your spam folder!

An Icy Stare

The trails were treacherously icy, which explained the dearth of hikers I saw on Saturday.

Visit #1226, Saturday 21 December 19, 11:45AM-1:45PM, 2.2miles, 5.8lbs. of litter.
Temps in the low 30's, sunny.

I expected ice on the trails and had the foresight to wear my Kahtoola Microspikes. I pretty much laughed at what the trails threw at me.


I was on-call for the second consecutive week which limited my range, so I stuck to the same route as last week.

Last week I found a small tree leaning over the trail near the I-691 walkbridge. For just a single, small diameter tree, I didn't think my chainsaw was called for, so I brought a simple limbing saw instead.

Dumb move.

It took me an hour to cut that tree down by hand. Then I had to get it unstuck from the branches above, and swing it off the trail.

I'll lean closer to my screen so you can give me a dope slap.

At least all that effort kept me warm.

Done with that nonsense, I returned to the park with an hour left to spend. As I suggested last week,
I decided to scour areas of the park I missed last week, in search of litter.

It amazes me the ducks don't get frozen butt cheeks paddling in that water.

The squirrels are missing out on this smorgasbord.

The ice glaze limited what I would find, but I fulfilled my promise and dropped off my bag of trash at the playscape.

Just after I dropped off my bag of trash, I looked left...

... and found THE THIRD HAT in as many weeks, as well as the gloves, as you see them. The hats I found the two prior weeks I dropped off at Goodwill yesterday. This hat will join it's siblings soon.  Should I start a Season of the Missing Hat?

As for the gloves, I can't add them to the Season of the Missing Glove 2019 because they were a complete pair and not an orphan glove. Not in good enough condition to send to Goodwill, I will see if I can find a use for them at home.

I also noticed the trail map board adjacent to the playscape has received a full-color refresh. Problem is, THE MAP IS UPSIDE DOWN! Somebody's been drinking at the trough of Holiday Cheer.

Extra Duty

Saturday's rain made the water flow and the trails soggy. The rain washed away all of last week's snowfall.

Visit #1225, Sunday 15 December 19, 8:25-10:05AM, 3.5 miles, 17.3lbs. of litter.
Temps in the low 40's, cloudy and breezy as a high pressure system pushes out Saturday's rain.

I was on-call and couldn't stray far, so I cleaned up the closer trails as I stuck to the south side of I-691.

I made my way to the parking area across from Belmont Avenue, then turned around and returned to the park.

A couple Finds of the Week:

The murder weapon.

Season of the Missing Glove 2019 entry #12.

And the second knit hat I've found in two weeks. Like the other hat, I'll wash this one and drop it off at Goodwill.

In the roughly one hour I'd been at it, I collected one bag of trash weighing 7.2lbs. .

Since it had only taken me an hour, I figured I would engage in a little extra duty and do something I don't normally do; pick up trash WITHIN the park proper. I was curious to see if I could beat the 7.2lbs. I already collected, and how long that would take.

I stopped after the second bag was full, which took about 30 minutes. I barely covered half the park's remaining land, and collected another 10.1lbs. of litter.

Since I'm on-call this coming week as well, I may try the same experiment in areas of the park not canvassed this week, and see how I fare.

Get it-"fare"/train? I kill myself!

Escort Service

You potty-brained blog reader! No, I'm not that kinda guy.

It was a different kind of escort.

Visit #1224, Sunday 8 December 19, 11:30AM-1:50PM, 2.6 miles, 2.0lbs. of litter.
Temps in the 30's, sunny.

I didn't really have an agenda this week but fortunately my goal for the day was handed to me by another hiker.

Shortly after I started my hike, I ran into Albert. Albert drove all the way up from New York City to play the part of "secret photographer" as his brother was driving from New York as well with his fiance.

Unknown to her, Albert's brother was planning to propose marriage to her at Castle Craig. Albert's job was to arrive at Castle Craig before his brother and make a surprise appearance to take photos of the special moment.

But Albert didn't know the trails, let alone how to get to Castle Craig. I gave him a map, but decided leading him there would guarantee his success, so I dropped my non-agenda, normal duties and showed him the way. Heaven forbid Albert get lost and freeze to death on the trails; that would go over like a lead balloon on a special day, AND he'd never get the photos! 😊 Thus, I was obligated to assist.

When the time was right, I left Albert to his task. He sent me photos of the happy couple. Congratulations!

In light of the recent snowfall, I had enough foresight to pack my crampons, and the trails had enough ice that crampons were just the ticket for surefooted hiking. If you plan on hiking this winter, carry a pair. You can bet I'll leave mine attached to my backpack for the rest of the winter.

Having left Albert and assuming more humdrum duties, I hiked the Yellow Trail down toward Merimere Reservoir and found a small tree bent over the trail, which I removed with my loppers.

With snow-covered trails, I didn't find much litter, so when I returned to the park I picked litter up from the roadside as I returned to the parking lot.

I mentioned recently that Dunkin' Donuts is phasing out their plastic cups. I wondered how long it would be before I would start finding the new, paper cups while picking up litter in Hubbard Park, since DD is a frequent find.

The answer is, one week.

That was REALLY confirmed when I went to toss my bag of trash into the trash can at the playscape.

Jeezus, it's worse than opioid addiction!

I dropped off my trash for the week.

Near my car, I found a winter cap. I'm taking it home to wash, then if it looks acceptable, I'll drop it off at Goodwill.

Turkey Burner

It was all about enjoying the peace and quiet of the woods this holiday weekend. I didn't have to fight for parking, or elbow other shoppers out of the way.

Visit #1223, Saturday 30 November 19, 10:05AM-12:55PM, 4.0 miles, 2.9lbs. of litter.

I took a mountain bike ride in Hubbard Park on Thanksgiving to stave off any holiday gluttonistic calorie consumption. I inspected some trails for recent wind damage and found some. It was sunny and reasonably warm for November (in the low 40's) but very windy.

I also found at the beginning of the trail that I had inexplicably lost braking power in the rear. Close inspection revealed a first for me; I lost a brake pad!

The rest of the ride I relied on only the front brake, and survived unscathed.

I stopped at the Halfway House and cleaned up the remnants of a campfire.

Saturday was a Power Tool Weekend®, following the trails I rode on Thursday, in the hunt to remove the fallen trees. I chose Saturday because winter weather was forecast for Sunday which would have put a hold on productive trail maintenance.

All the photos show the difference between Thursday's ride and Saturday's trail clearing.

I reached the first tree, and with the aid of another hiker offering to assist, removed the tree without pinching my chainsaw blade.

Dunkin' Donuts, a frequent find in Hubbard Park, is phasing out their styrofoam cups in favor of paper. Little did I know, there's this New England "thang" of putting Dunkin' cold drinks, in their plastic cups, into a styrofoam cup to keep fingers from getting cold. With the bye-bye of styrofoam, this "double cupping" will fade away, too.

This tree was not blocking the trail but is did fall close enough so I decided to cut it and move it aside.

Uphill I went until I was near Castle Craig, and began my hike down to Merimere Reservoir.

Proof that I rode this trail on Thanksgiving Day.

The trail saved the largest tree for last.

I followed the road around Merimere Reservoir back toward the park, and along the way picked up Season of the Missing Glove 2019 orphans #10 and 11.

I also met a hiker on the road who saw me picking up litter and remarked he had done the same thing a couple months ago. It's good to hear there are more like-minded people out there.

Nearing the water treatment plant, I encountered this large branch on the side of the road and, since it was a Power Tool Weekend® I decided to engage in one last bit of lumberjacking and remove it from the road.

I beat the incoming bad weather and burned some turkey calories this weekend. Not bad.