Winter Turns The Corner

 

Yeah; it was slightly gloomy in Hubbard Park on Sunday but at least it wasn't snowing or raining.

Visit #1294, Sunday 28 February 21, 8:10-10:25AM, 3.6 miles, 25.8lbs. of litter.

Temps in the low 40's, cloudy with a possible sprinkle.

As I was heading to the trail today, I met a hiker who told me of his woes walking on the ice-covered trails. The freeze/thaw cycles of the past week resulted in slick walking on lumpy, frozen paths.

But I came equipped for traction.

It is here where I'll give my annual pitch for the best traction devices I've found when walking on ice.

Above are my Stabilicers. I have an older version of the Stabil Maxx 2. Get an extra bag of studs as you'll either wear down the ones on the soles, or occasionally lose one.

I also have a pair of Kahtoola Microspikes. No studs to replace, but they do tend to shift around a little around the toe area.

Either choice is lightweight, go on/off in seconds, and can be clipped to your belt with a cheap carabiner. Whether you're walking the dog in your neighborhood or hiking the trails in Hubbard Park, these will certainly help prevent falls and subsequent injury.

This is probably the best time of year to buy a pair as the outdoor stores are likely clearing out their inventory of winter gear and you might find a deal.

Finished with the trails on the south side of I-691, and with plenty of time left over, I removed my spikes and walked around the park picking up litter. I'm not sure whether the considerable amount of litter I collected was due to it being exposed from the melting snow or just an increase of activity, but I was surprised.

I had to ball's ego otherwise it was going to take up too much space in my bag.

Remember last week's wedding at the Grecian Temple? Well, Elizabeth left the receipt for the alterations to her wedding dress- $200. David's of Orange CT did the work. Aren't you glad you know that?

It was Season of the Missing Glove 2020/21, entries 11, 12, and 13. I'll wash the pair and bring them to Goodwill.

Season of the Missing Socks, anyone?

Or perhaps Season of the Missing Jacket? I'll wash the jacket and take it to Goodwill along with the gloves.

Mirror Lake's stint with ice skating is over. Hope you enjoyed it while it lasted. I was given information first hand that someone broke their leg last week while stepping onto the ice last week. Ouch!

The geese knew better than to step out onto the ice. Either that, or they left their skates in Canada.

I covered almost all the roads in the park picking up litter. But as I returned to the parking lot with but one road left to police-around the playscape, my bag was ridiculously heavy and I didn't care to open another so I called it a day; a day closer to spring.

Break Out The Shoes

 

Conditions for snowshoeing on the trails or ice skating on Mirror Lake were just right on Saturday morning.

Visit #1293, Saturday 20 February 21, 8:10-10:55AM, 6.3miles, 0.5lbs. of litter.

Temps in the low 30's, sunny and breezy.

A lengthy, light snow fell over Meriden in the course of 36 hours from Thursday through Friday. With an early start and some snowshoes, I could enjoy the trails, so I set off early.

Hiking west toward the walkbridge over I-691, I found new meaning for, "nailing yourself to a cross".

I hiked up the Blue Trail toward West Peak, through the "Valley of the Shadow of Death". Yes; it's as steep as it looks.

At West Peak I took in the view east toward Berlin and Cromwell. From the icing on the branches you can tell there were high winds here.

The parking area was plowed to provide access to the radio towers. With my snowshoes, I avoided the parking lot and bushwhacked through the woods.

I snowshoed off-trail, all the way down to the bottom of the road climb to East/West Peak. It was 9:30AM and you can see many people had already hiked up to the peaks. I switched from snowshoes to crampons for the walk back on the mostly unplowed road.

Someone braved the ice on Merimere Reservoir and built a snowman, who will continue to wave at passersby until spring.

I returned to the parking lot, dropped off my gear, and walked the roads around Hubbard Park picking up litter. Stopping at the Grecian Temple, I found these discarded wedding decorations-or so I thought...

I was going to drag them to the dumpster at the parks maintenance building but while they were lightweight they were clumsy, and I'd likely shed the decorations as I went. So I left them and headed to the garage empty-handed to see if I could get some assistance from a parks employee, who I saw on duty earlier.

When I couldn't find anyone, I decided I'd suck it up and remove them myself. Good thing I didn't do that first time for when I returned, someone was apparently setting up for a wedding ceremony and these were part of the soon-to-occur event!

I finished my loops of the park and deposited my trash for the week, but not before enjoying a winter view of Castle Craig.

Mine Island-Is Mine!

 

This is what Mine Island looks like from the Blue Trail high above Merimere Reservoir. Today I got a view from ON Mine Island!

Visit #1292, Saturday 13 February 21, 1:20-3:35PM, 4.8miles, 0.7lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 20's, cloudy with a cold wind.

In all the decades of my relationship with Hubbard Park, I always wanted to venture out to Mine Island but obviously being surrounded by water was an issue. Today it WAS'NT an issue, and my quest ended.

In last week's Meriden Record Journal, it was reported the cold snap Meriden was experiencing rendered the ice at Mirror Lake acceptable for ice skating, a rare occurrence. Well now, if it's cold enough for ice skating, it should be cold enough to cross Merimere Reservoir and get on to Mine Island, no?

I was about to find out.

I hiked from the parking lot, up behind the water tank, and onto the reservoir without missing a beat. Either I was going to get across safely or make the obituaries. Crampons and ski poles were the order of the day.

From the photo at the top of my post, I traversed the island right to left. A history of Hubbard Park has it people thought there were precious metals to be mined from the island (hence the island's name), but nothing of real value was ever discovered. I discovered mountain laurel and hemlocks with many of the latter dead and fallen.

But it was a cool trip of a lifetime nonetheless.

At the north end, what to do but keep going! I walked on a frozen reservoir all the way to the north end.

Looking south toward Mine Island from on Merimere Reservoir.

I walked all the way to the north end, where I climbed a steep bank to the Blue Trail. Here you can see my tracks, and Mine Island in the distance.

Once on the Blue Trail, I followed it all the way to Castle Craig. I wasn't the only one on the snowy trails. The hiker you see wasn't well equipped, with only a walking stick and nothing for traction. I soon passed him.

I reached Castle Craig, then hiked the trails down and back to the parking lot, where I ditched my gear and fulfilled my weekly policing duties, walking the various roads and paths in the park, collecting litter.

I leave you this week with a snow covered view east over Meriden, and south toward Wallingford.

Calm Before the Storm v2.0

 This is the second week in a row where a snowstorm had the potential to interrupt my weekly fun in Hubbard Park. Fortunately, I paid attention to the weather.

Visit #1291, Saturday 6 February 21, 11:40AM-1:35PM, 4.2 miles, 0.7lbs. of litter.

Temps in the low 40's, sunny and breezy. Quite pleasant for a winter day in advance of the storm.

I wasn't the only one who had ideas of enjoying the day, before Sunday's storm crept in. The parking lot was an indicator of the number of people enjoying Hubbard Park on a mid-winter's day. The clouds and the blue sky on this day made it particularly picturesque.

The less intrepid chose to walk the road up to Castle Craig and West Peak, which is fine by me.

Some chose to bushwhack through the knee-deep snow. I chose to follow them to see where they went.

The tracks eventually joined the main trail (incidentally, it was called Cliff Drive way back when horse and buggy brought people to the Halfway House).

At the base of the Orange Trail, leading to Castle Craig, was this new sign. Someone put some real effort into it. Big mystery, what it all means. "Stay Wild"?

Nearing Castle Craig, I found this tree bent over the trail by someone.

I didn't expect to find much litter today, and just going for a hike without accomplishing anything constructive isn't my cup o' tea. Tending to this bent over tree made the hike worthwhile. Of course, I was fortunate to be carrying the tools to remove it.

I followed the Blue Trail until it eventually came close enough to the road to pick up the pavement and walk the road down to Merimere Reservoir.

Nearing the bottom of the climb, I came upon another reason this hike was worthwhile.

I couldn't find much on-line explaining what it meant, but the words currently seem to be trending.

Regarding this sticker, I'm the opposite of apathetic. Once again, I was fortunate to be carrying the right tools. No, that's not blood on the knife blade!

I followed the road back to the park. At the recently installed kiosk, I found someone in their own way, tried to add to the information available.

Didn't I say the clouds and blue sky were something to behold?