Fallen/Fallin'

 

While the leaves are fallin' off the trees, there are plenty remaining to provide color commentary.

Visit #1335, Sunday 31 October 21, 7:10-10:35AM, 5.5 miles, 5.1lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 50's rising to the 60's, mostly sunny and quite comfortable.

I expected the high winds and rain Meriden had last week would result in fallen trees and branches. While I did receive reports of fallen trees on some trails, I would inspect other trails on my own to check their condition.

With the sun rising later each day, when I arrived at the park this morning I had to wait ten minutes or so until it was light enough to see litter.

I hiked up to the south end of Merimere Reservoir and found the first evidence of the high wind event.

This was easy to clean up.

But alas, there was more, and much of it requiring a chainsaw. Besides, I only planned to inventory the damage this week as I had other work on my agenda, so I'll merely show you some of what I will tackle soon.

I have been waiting 20 years for this tree to fall and I knew when it finally dropped, it would drop across the trail. Well, "finally" came this week. I'll have my work literally cut out for me next week with another Power Tool Weekend ®! This is actually a trail intersection, with another trail crossing left-to-right. The trail leads to the Halfway House.

The pre-planned goal of today was more trimming of the roadside from Castle Craig downward, which is why you see my pole saw in the photos. Once I reached where I left off last time, I resumed work for an hour.

The Maloney Canal was flowing vigorously into Merimere Reservoir after the rains of the previous week.

On the return trip to the park along the road, there was a surprising number of walkers. Since it was around 10AM when the gate opens, I fully expected cars to be approaching up the road. they never did.

That's because the gate was still closed. Hmmm...

The road to the peaks is usually closed to cars beginning 1 November, allowing walkers to enjoy the foliage and serenity. But reports I received tell me that closure date is often extended, much to the consternation of the multitudes looking forward to walking without worrying about cars. Here's hoping the parks department sticks to the published date, allowing pedestrians some enjoyment in seasonable weather.

Not really a Find of the Week and not an uncommon find in Hubbard Park, but I did pick this up.

Coincidentally, I just finished reading Beth Macy's book, "Dopesick". It documents the introduction of and eventual crisis concerning opioid use. Dopesick refers to the withdrawl symptoms of opioid addiction, whether legal or illicit. Some addicts would extract the Suboxone from mulitple packages and inject it; not a good idea. A very good book if you want an understanding of the opioid problem in America.

I dropped off my trash for the week, then went home to prepare for the Trick or Treaters.

...this year in addition to the candy, I have a scary surprise-