Sunrise

 

Sunrise hasn't quite reached the lower elevations of Hubbard Park.

Visit #1273, Sunday 18 October 20, 7:10-9:45AM, 4.7miles, 19.0 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 30's, quickly rising to the 50's, sunny.

Later sunrises and cooler morning temperatures result in a quieter Hubbard Park at that time of day.

During last week's venture up to Castle Craig I noticed graffiti inside the castle, on the stairway. 

This week I brought the tools to clean things up.

Enroute, as I gained elevation, I would catch glimpses of the sun as it rose in the east. It felt warm, and brought out the fall colors.

 

Reaching Castle Craig, I arrived at my work site.

 

I laid out my supplies for the work. First I used sandpaper, then Goof-Off, and last, lacquer thinner.

Together my method was working but taking longer than I cared for, so I pulled out the big guns and used black spray paint.

 

The paint actually blends in better than the photo would appear. Stop by and see if you agree. I climbed the stairs to the top and touched up other graffiti as I saw necessary.

Incidentally, the haze you see in the center of the photos is the result of scratches on my camera lens. Gotta figure out what I'm going to do about it...

I cleaned up the parking lot and surrounding area and left a bag of trash for later collection by the parks department.

Before leaving, I paused to take in the view south as the sun covered all of Meriden.

I hiked another trail down to Merimere Reservoir, while the morning sun penetrated the deeper woods.

 

Down at Merimere Reservoir,  I see the resident "alligator" is making its appearance due to the low water level.

 

Walking back to the park on the road, I spotted a rock climber (in red) near the top of the cliffs. See if you can spot the red dot. I sized the picture "original size" to give you some help!

I returned to the park and dropped off my second bag of litter and basked in the sun.