Fall Scenery

Sunday morning started lookin' good, and only got better.

Visit #1271, Sunday 4 October 20, 7:25-10:15AM, 5.2 miles, 17.4lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 40's, quickly rising throught the 50's, sunny and dry.

The morning started off chilly, but within minutes I warmed up enough to take off my fleece. I was shocked to start dripping sweat off my hat with temps still in the 40-50 degree range, but I knew that meant enjoyable hiking weather.

Talking to a regular reader of my blog recently, he remarked that I hadn't posted any photos of condoms I find, in quite some time. That's because I hadn't found any. Well, this week ended the drought.

Here ya' go, Mike! Aren't you glad he asked?

During last week's hike, I found a polyester filled blanket abandoned near one of the fireplaces around Mirror Lake. At the time, I spied the Meriden Parks crew cleaning up the grounds and assumed they would pick it up. They did not, and when I saw it still in place this morning, I decided to walk it over to the nearest trash can.

I continued on, up and over I-691.

You may recall from reading this blog that I kept an eye on the flags which adorned the walkbridge over I-691. I would remove them when they became unserviceable. I had been finding these flags since May 2012 (the article mentions he had been installing the flags for the past 5-6 years. My records show much longer.), yet never knew or saw the person who installed them. 

I'm excited to report the mystery has been solved, courtesy of the Meriden Record Journal. I couldn't link to the article; I hope you can still read it despite the small print.

I hiked up to West Peak, where I was paid handsomely for my effort.

I was also rewarded with the view.

I cleaned up the West Peak area and the parking lot, and left a bag of litter for the Meriden Parks Department to collect later.

I picked up another trail, heading down toward Merimere Reservoir. The trail was peaceful and autumn-looking.

At the trail's end, I followed the road around Merimere Reservoir. One reason I chose this route this week was because I wanted to address some previously discovered graffiti on a gate at the north end of the reservoir. I totally forgot about it until I walked past it. I did an about-face.

I used sandpaper to start the removal process, then finished the job with Goof-Off and toothbrush muscle.

This is the third nip bottle flower arrangement I've found since September.

Walking south along the road, I noticed some Christmas ornaments on the tree at Echo Point that had not been removed from previous years. Expect to see the tree redecorated for 2020, sometime in December.

I returned to the park in gloriously warm sunshine to drop off my last bag of litter.

A dry summer usually indicates poor fall foliage. From what I saw on my hike today, I have to disagree. Now's the time to get out there on the trails!