A Bad Haircut

 A nice view, but at what price?

Visit #1255, Saturday 27 June 20, 8:20AM-12:00PM, 5.0miles, 14.0lbs. of litter.
Temps in the low 70's, sunny and humid. Clouding up with rain forecast for the afternoon.

Last week I discovered a tree fallen across the Blue Trail, up near Castle Craig. This week my main chore would be to remove it.

Earlier in the week I took a mountain bike ride through the park. I found Painted Rock #20.

I also checked on the progress of the Green Trail. Last week I sprayed the right side with weed killer, and trimmed the left side with loppers. Honestly, even though the weed killer is easier (and lazier!) to apply, I think manual trimming does a better job here.

Up at the Halfway House, I also checked on the progress of my recently applied weed killer. Here, weed killer is better suited for the job.

On Saturday as I hiked up the road toward Merimere Reservoir, I found a pile of broken glass which I gathered up and put into my trash bag. Too heavy to carry and expecting to find more litter, I left this first bag at the water treatment plant and opened a new bag.

As I walked the road, I saw that some very ugly trimming had been performed along the shoreline of Merimere Reservoir.

I'm not sure what the goal was, but to anyone sightseeing around Merimere Reservoir, it's a bad haircut. I'd ask for my money back, and my hair. Fortunately, in a few years this will recover and be just a memory. But will it happen again?

I found some new graffiti at a gate used by the Meriden Water Department.

Using a combination of sandpaper and Goof Off, I removed it.

I hiked up the road toward Castle Craig, and just when I reached the fallen tree which was my goal for the day, I coincidentally met my former, occasional company and assistant, Paul. He offered to help me remove the tree.

I chose to use my comealong today because I didn't want the weight of my chainsaw, particularly for a simple, single location job. Whether it was due to age or laziness, it was a bad decision on my part. The comealong worked, but it took too long to complete the removal. Next time, just bring the chainsaw. Lesson learned.

Returning to the park via the trails, I found Painted Rock #21.

I also found this, taped to a rock.

I don't know what "manny" refers to, but the saying to me is obviously a riff on Gil Scott-Heron's classic song, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. Worth a listen.

I returned to the park and dropped off my bag of litter for the week.

I leave you with my Covid mask collection of this week. A Sign o' the Times.

Summer STILL Isn't Here?!

The shade from this cozy section of trail was welcome relief from the heat and humidity.

Visit #1254, Saturday 20 June 20, 6:15-9:00AM, 4.1 miles, 13.4lbs. of litter.
Temps in the 60's and rapidly rising to near 90, with high humidity. Sunny.

Even though Summer didn't officially start until 5:44PM on Saturday, the weather wasted no time in bringing the goods. Heat and humidity, that is.

I started extra early hoping to avoid it all. I would have had better luck avoiding my taxes.

It turned into a sweatfest, or my hat was pissing on my head.

I hiked over I-691 on the walkbridge and followed trails up to Castle Craig. I did find one fallen tree which will have to wait until next week for removal.

Reaching the Castle area, I picked up litter and while inspecting around the flagpole I found some graffiti.

I was about to let Kicks 'n' Heelz go until I remembered my sandpaper.

The road to West Peak and Castle Craig was opened this week, in conjunction with the relaxing of social distancing standards and other safety precautions. The road normally opens the 1st of May.

After witnessing the substantial increase in pedestrians enjoying walking the road while it was  closed, I wonder if there will be any backlash with the reintroduction of cars.

I followed the trails down and at the Halfway House I cleaned up all the trash then addressed the increase of graffiti which coincided with the Covid-19 lockdown.

There was much more but I don't need to illustrate all of it. I used brown spray paint to mitigate  all the damage best as I could.

I also addressed all the weeds growing around the Halfway House by spraying the perimeter with weed killer. Give it a few weeks to work.

Shortly after leaving the Halfway House, I encountered Colorado'd Tree #20.

I had the tools with me to trim it back, off the trail.

Returning to the park on the road,  I encountered someone who wished the road was still closed to vehicles.

I dropped off my bag of litter hoping my hat was done pissing on my head.

Summertime, An' The Livin' Is Easy

Gershwin couldn't have been more right. (Cut me some slack-I know it's not officially summer yet!)

Visit #1253, Saturday 13 June 20, 6:40-9:15AM, 5.0 miles, 7.2lbs. of litter.

Temps in the low 60's, sunny and dry.

I took a mountain bike ride through Hubbard Park early this week on another summertime-like day, which set my route for Saturday's hike.

Our park's rock painting elf continues their work, as I found this week and on Saturday.

Last week I reported on a banner strung on the I-691 walkbridge. From my bike ride earlier this week, I discovered the remnants of Banner 2.0 which must have been installed sometime during the past week.

 I removed all the string.

What I didn't tell you last week is, I sprayed weed killer on the vines growing on the walkbridge fencing. This week I took the opportunity to trim the dead vines.

I hiked up to West Peak, cleaned up the area and the parking lot, then walked the road down and back toward the park. Yeah, the livin' was easy this Saturday morning.

Geese staged a line-up for me in Merimere Reservoir. I never did identify which one pooped on the road.

 The Covid Mask haul for the week tallied four.

Versus last week,  I didn't forget to take my gloves!

And the rest of the weekend would be more livin' easy.

Cut!

Saturday dawned with a soupy fog and warm, sticky air.

Visit #1251, Saturday 6 June 20, 6:00-7:50AM, 2.2 miles, 5.5 lbs. of litter.
Temps in the 70's, very humid and warm.

Visit #1252, Sunday 7 June 20, 5:40-6:45AM, 1.2 miles, 4.3 lbs. of litter.
Temps in the 50's, sunny, dry, and pleasant.

I was on-call. There's a reason why, when I tell you I'm on-call, that I stick close to my vehicle. Keep reading.

Last week I was informed by someone driving by Hubbard Park on I-691 that a banner was hung from the walkbridge over the highway which said, "Black Lives Matter". No doubt this was done in conjunction with the current protests happening.

Same person told me they drove by the walkbridge a day or two later and the banner was gone. I decided to see if I might find the removed banner or some other remnants. On Friday I took a mountain bike ride to the walkbridge to see what, if anything I would need to clean up the area.

Saturday arrived and I started early because I had a haircut scheduled at 8:15AM, my first in months due to the Covid-19 lockdown.

Walking directly to the walkbridge, I never found a banner, but I did find remnants.

From the positions of the hose clamps, I estimate the length of the banner at 20 feet.

Because I did my homework on Friday, I knew what tools to bring on Saturday.

I turned around and returned to the park, picking up litter and trimming the trails as I hiked.

I continue to find Hubbard Park's rock painting artist's work. This I found around Mirror Lake.

 Just as I reached the parking lot, I received a call for emergency service. Good thing I wasn't far away on the trails. I had to cut my session short.

So this week's work was cut into two sessions, as I returned very early Sunday morning. Last week
I tried removing some graffiti from asphalt with various fluids. I wasn't completely satisfied, so I woke very early Sunday morning and drove to the north end of Merimere Reservoir to perform a more satisfactory (to me, at least) fix.

I was done well before 6AM; I wasn't exactly going to go home and back to bed. I returned to Hubbard Park and picked up litter around the playscape. Good thing I did-seems I left my work gloves there on Saturday, and surprise-they were still there!

CUT!