Spring Teaser

Spring pushes north along Merimere Reservoir, melting the ice cover as it travels.

Visit #1234, Saturday 22 February 20, 1:20-4:35PM, 6.5 miles, 9.4 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the low 40's, sunny and seasonably pleasant.

I had heard rumors of a renegade mountain bike trail being built in Hubbard Park and from the information I had, this week I would try to find it, and eventually close it.

The unusually sunny, warm weather brought out walkers, too many to count.

I wish the powers that be in Meriden would recognize the popularity of the road around Merimere Reservoir and to East/West Peak and consider closing it periodically during the season for recreational enjoyment. It rivals the Gorge Trail in popularity.

 As the warm wind blew from the south, waves lapped against the border between the ice and open water, making an unusual noise. It was pretty neat.

I found the trail after a long hike, and at its trailhead I found this unusual note. Sounds slightly creepy.

At some later date I'll try to cover this trail. If not done, eventually the park will be criss-crossed with eroded trails.

I have to admit however, it was very quiet on the trail and the woodsy views were new to me.

This trail lead me back such that I retraced my steps around Merimere Reservoir.

I came upon some new graffiti I have found before elsewhere in the park.

But the well-prepared hiker always carries sandpaper with them. 😀

I knew I was doing the right thing when I was thanked by a passerby. Only 60 seconds of elbow grease required.

Nearing the park, I noticed the cap which was welded onto the top of this gate post, was pried loose.

In 2013 I filled the post with Great Stuff foam, to keep people from throwing their coffee cups, etc.  inside the post.

In October 2014, the Meriden Parks Department took my work and went a step further, welding the cap on top.

So the spot welding wasn't the most permanent fix, but it lasted 6 years.

I left the loosened cap by the gate and will notify the Meriden Parks Department of the needed repairs.

Returning to the parking lot, I dropped off my litter for the week.

I was surprised to see the metal I carried down from near Castle Craig last week, was not picked up by the Meriden Parks Department.

And my last surprise was, the 4 books I put in the Little Free Library last week, adjacent to the playscape, were gone. Someone else must have the same exquisite literary taste I do. I expect that Chevy Silverado repair manual will be there for a while as it's not exactly a thriller novel!

Until next week, maintain.

Little Free Libraries and More

Visit #1233, Sunday 16 February 20, 8:50-10:45AM, 3.2 miles, 3.2lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 30's, reaching 40 today, sunny.

Last week's work left me with two new tasks to put on this week's chalkboard.

I wanted to remove the fallen tree I found last week.

So, this week I hiked to the spot, and brought a bow saw to remove the tree.

It took me 15 minutes.

The other task was on the slopes I crawled along last week. I've been on those steep pitches once a year for many years, and there are, left from long ago, pieces of iron no doubt tossed over the Castle Craig wall at some point. I thought if I retrieve one piece a year, eventually I will have removed everything.

This year begins with the piece which sticks out in my mind the most and was easiest to locate. I failed to photograph it until I dropped off my bag of trash, so my pics are out of order this week to show you what I carried back to the park from below Castle Craig.

I wish I knew how old it was, and what part it played in Castle Craig's history. That will remain a mystery, I guess. It was clumsy to carry back to the parking lot but I managed. I weighed it at 23lbs. .

Prior to starting this week's fun, I had a few books, three of which I read while in Chicago for two weeks in January. I wanted to donate the books to the Free Little Library which was added this past summer to Hubbard Park adjacent to the playscape.

"Casual Suppers": Mostly one-pan meal recipes. The Pork Chops with Apples and Sauerkraut was tasty, and good ammo for fart contests.

"Calypso" by David Sedaris: More snark and sarcasm by the author of "Santaland Diaries", among other popular works. "Calypso" is his latest book.

"The Fifth Risk" by Michael Lewis. Spoiler Alert: the Fifth Risk is "Project Management". The book lays out what happens "if the people given control over our government have no idea how it works.", which is what Michael discovers is what happened when Donald Trump won the Presidency. Lewis has a knack for explaining complex issues in terms that knuckle-draggers like myself can understand.
I've also read "Liar's Poker", "Flash Boys", and "The Big Short" and can recommend them, too!

I saved the best for last: "Processed Cheese" by Stephen Wright. As I mentioned earlier, I was in Chicago in January. I was in the middle of nowhere, where no sidewalk ought to be, when I chanced upon a Little Free Library. Inside was "Processed Cheese". When I saw the author was Stephen Wright, I thought it was the dry comedian:

Boy; was I wrong.

The book goes like this: Graveyard (all characters in the book have no last name, and their first names' are weird, like Ambiance, and MissusMenu) walks by a tall building when Missus Menu, in a fit of anger, tosses a dufflebag full of money from the penthouse apartment of obscenely rich MisterMenu. Unemployed scumbag Graveyard picks up the bag, and the rest of the book is Graveyard and his trailerpark girlfriend Ambiance spending their newfound wealth with reckless abandon while MisterMenu tries to find the "thief" and get his money back. Much weird sex, weird drugs, weired booze, more weird names and other assorted weirdness ensue.

When I picked this book out of the Little Free Library in early January 2020, it wasn't even officially published! Click on THIS link, scroll down, and read the first chapter, then run over to Hubbard Park's Little Free Library and grab the book!

Not quite as strange as the book was this note I found:

It says, "Bob is dying bad kidney no more (Mike? Nine? Nike?)"

Further on, I found this letterbox, which I'd previously found, had been compromised, likely because someone put a snack in the Tupperware container, and critters found it. All that was left was the wrapper.

Finally, on today's hike I found Season of the Missing Glove 2019/20, entries 14 and 15.

Cheers!

A Hard Day On The Slopes

Castle Craig is up there SOMEHWERE. I was there, too.

Visit #1232, Saturday 8 February 20, 11:35AM-2:35PM, 3.2 miles, 18.5lbs. of litter.
Temps in the 30's, sunny with a brisk breeze.

This week was my quasi-annual, semi-obligatory task of picking up litter from the slope below Castle Craig. People toss their bottles and cans (among other things) off from Castle Craig and you eventually can see it as you hike up the trail toward Castle Craig. A real eyesore. I choose a cold time of year to do this to avoid running into snakes...

The photo above doesn't do justice to how difficult it is to traverse all that loose trap rock on such a steep slope. After much groveling and head banging I came up with a reasonable solution.

A hiking pole gives me a measure of stability even if it does tie up one hand from holding a trash bag or picking things up.

Enroute to that trail, I hiked past the Halfway House and came across this newly fallen tree, which wasn't budging. I hope to return next week to cut it away. A hand saw should be all I need.

Once I finished crawling around on that slope collecting litter, I hiked over I-691 and back to the park to deposit my bags.

I did notice the rocks on the slope were holding on to and reflecting the sun's energy, generating a measure of late winter warmth. It was nice.

Almost back to the parking lot, directly across from Mirror Lake, I came upon my Find of the Week.

Not sure what it is? It's a spent shell casing from a .45 caliber handgun. Was there a shooting in Hubbard Park? A recent report of shots fired? Thinking I would do my civic duty, when I arrived home I visited the Meriden Police Department web page to see if they had a means of contacting them via e-mail about my find.

They did. When I submitted my information, up popped an error message stating my e-mail was stored but delivery to the right people was uncertain, and recommended calling the police department. I promise to hold on to the shell and stop by the police department on Monday.

In case you're interested, you can actually match up what weapon this shell was fired from by comparing the dent on the primer (seen in the photo) to the firing pin on the handgun as both are almost as unique as fingerprints.

Checklist

Visit #1231, Saturday 1 February 20, 7:35-10:20AM, 5.5 miles, 7.0lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 30's, cloudy, foggy, raw, and black ice present on the road.

Sometimes I make a list throughout the week, to keep track of what I can do in Hubbard Park the following weekend. I had three tasks to accomplish this time around.

I thought I would start early so as to avoid scrutiny; I wanted to cut off two padlocks I saw attached to the railing around Mirror Lake. A pair of boltcutters in someone's hands in Hubbard Park might raise eyebrows.

Well, it wasn't early enough. While cutting off the two padlocks, I was getting suspicious looks, so apparently I didn't start early enough.

 I returned to my car and put the boltcutters away.

Last week, I corrected a labeling faux pas at the map board adjacent to the playscape. Later that day, I decided to add labels for the Halfway House and Castle Craig. Today I made the labels at home. I attached them with rubber cement, which isn't the strongest adhesive, cleans off easily, and won't remove the paint.

 The labels didn't seem to be sticking so well. I'll be curious to see if they last. I may have to devise a more secure solution.

Two tasks could be checked off the list, one to go.

I walked the road around Merimere Reservoir, and up toward West Peak.

Shortly after starting my hike, I found this scribbled note:

Either the result of the 2019nCoV Coronavirus which has been making headlines lately, or they've been watching too much of Senate Impeachment hearings.

 Throwing rocks on the ice is not a good way to test if it's safe enough to walk on. Local outdoor columnist Mike Roberts explained the pitfalls of this technique in a recent column.

I found a fleece headband, which I'll wash and deliver to Goodwill. I've been finding so much clothing in Hubbard Park which I've brought to Goodwill (3 hats in the last 8 weeks), that I'm now on a first name basis with the staff!

Walking around Merimere Reservoir, I checked on the Christmas Tree at Echo Point to see if the ornaments were removed. They were. Stay tuned for Christmas 2020.

I was telling someone recently about the religious tracts I find occasionally on my hikes up the road, and the typical location where I find them. Although I didn't find one at the usual tree, I did find one on a gate.

I appears the Church of St. Matthews is a scam church. It didn't take a Wikipedia search for me to conclude this. It also appears whoever wrote the note on the backside of what you see above, isn't happy with the Church of St. Matthews either.

This dog poop bag says it all.

I walked the road up toward West Peak. I'd previously reported one of the telephone poles placed at a nearby trailhead to deter vehicles, had been rolled away a good distance from the trailhead. My final task today was to attempt to drag that telephone pole back, uphill where it belonged.

This was going involve some REAL work, but I figured it would be a good arm workout, progressing me toward my goal of developing some serious biceps.

Instead, I arrived at the location to find the telephone pole had already been repatriated with the others at the trail head by Chris Bourdon and his "too efficient" parks crew. Thanks Chris!

Well, I guess that means no massive biceps for me. I'll just remain a skinny bicycle rider with NO biceps.

Checklist complete, I hiked my scrawny, bicep-less self  back to the park, struggling under the weight of my seven pound bag of litter.