Ask And You Shall Receive

 Summer is here, escorted by the heat and humidity.

Visit #1312, Saturday 19 June 21, 7:30-10:40AM, 5.8 miles, 9.6lbs. of litter.

Temps in the mid-60's-low 70's, reaching the mid-80's, sunny with moderate humidity.

I tried to start early enough to avoid the mid-day weather. In the parking lot, I met parks department employee Rob, and told him I would be leaving a bag of litter at Castle Craig, and would he be so kind to pick it up today before critters get to it. He happily obliged, saying if he didn't do the deed, he'd pass along the task to the afternoon shift.

During last week's foray, I noticed the Halfway House was in need of a mowing, and the bollard at the gate at Hubbard Park Drive was in the process of being stolen. I notified the Meriden Parks Department of both, and this week wanted to see if either issue was addressed.

So I hiked a route which took me to the Halfway House, and found the parks department did a spectacular job of giving the area a mid-season refresh. Hikers should be impressed this trail landmark is not forgotten. All along today I was giving the trails some trimming myself, with my loppers.

I reached Castle Craig, cleaned up the parking lot and surrounding area, and left a bag of trash for the parks department to pick up later.

Picking up the Blue Trail along the ridgeline, it was mostly a downhill hike to the north end of Merimere Reservoir, where I walked the road back to the park.

I returned to Hubbard Park early Sunday morning, on my bike. On Saturday's hike I noticed some graffiti which would need spray paint to cover and I wasn't carrying any. The location was out of the way from next week's agenda, so I decided to tackle it Sunday morning, again before the weather cranked up.

I arrived at Castle Craig at 7:25AM by bike.

This paint will dry to a satin finish and match the surrounding rock nicely. And it was good to see parks employee Rob did in fact have my trash bag removed sometime Saturday. Thanks!

I rode down to the gate and took a photo of the missing bollard, which was wisely removed before it went M.I.A, and will soon be reinstalled.

Next week: Power Tool Weekend®!