Checking Up

 

Saturday's rain along with a drop in temperatures made the start of Sunday's hike a cold affair. By hike's end however, the sun felt good on the skin.

Visit #1281, Sunday 6 December 20, 9:30-11:45AM, 4.9 miles, 2.7lbs. of litter.

Temps in the low 30's to start, sunny with a chilly wind. Warming up nicely to the low 40's.

Saturday's rain was forecasted to turn to snow with little to no accumulation. Just enough snow covered the ground that I didn't expect to find much litter; also, the low temps usually dissuade the littering demographic from hiking.

So while I would continue to pick up trash as I found it, today I would check up on the trails for damage as a result of the moderate winds which accompanied Saturday's weather.

The trails were definitely icy. I'll have to start carrying my crampons.

Up near the Blue Trail, I stopped by a tree on which I found graffiti last week. I wasn't satisfied with my effort to clean off the graffiti, and brought more supplies to finish the job. Turns out the rain did the work for me and the tree was clear, likely because the graffiti was chalk.

It's the tree with the blue trail marker on it. It was so clean, I couldn't tell which tree in the photo was the tree in question, so I photographed all three of them.

Still no trail damage, however.

I made tracks up to West Peak, where I found this new trail sign.

I picked up a trail heading down toward Merimere Reservoir. It was here I started to find fallen branches and trees which would require a chainsaw.

This was just a few of the fallen trees and branches, and just one trail. Next week will be a Power Tool Weekend®!

I exited the trail and walked the road around Merimere Reservoir. One reason was, I wanted to check up on the Echo Point Christmas Tree. Every year, a group of people have decorated this tree for the holidays. Was it decorated for 2020?

Yes!

Getting close to the park and having collected little trash I was beginning to feel I lacked usefulness, until I discovered this graffiti hidden on the backside of a fire hydrant and adjacent post.

My feelings changed after removing the graffiti. Ahhhh!

Returning to the parking lot, I noticed the trail map, which was initially installed in 2004, has been removed and replaced with a kiosk. I watched many a new hiker peruse the map. I wonder what the plans are for the new kiosk and whether it will meet the needs of hikers and other visitors. The old map, an Eagle Scout project, had that nice handmade look to it and definitely helped countless visitors to Hubbard Park find their way.

The new kiosk isn't populated with materials yet. Also, it looks like a tasty target for graffiti and vandalism. The old map above was respected and left alone for 16 years. We'll keep an eye on it.

I dropped off my trash for the week under warmer, relatively nicer conditions than when I began.