A Dent In My Plans (and elsewhere)

 Visit #1352, Sunday 27 February 22, 6:55-9:15AM, 2.4 miles, 3.0lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 20's, clear skies with a light breeze.

I had other plans for Hubbard Park this weekend, but they required clear ground. Friday's snow/sleet/ freezing rain put a dent in those plans. I waited until Sunday hoping for a lot of snow melt, but that was wishful thinking. On to Plan B.

In speaking to a passerby this morning, they said yesterday the road around the reservoir was too icy for practical walking or hiking, which showed my choice of Sunday to be a wise one.

This week I switched to a roadside trimming session instead. As I head north around Merimere Reservoir along this stretch of road, I'm encountering the lowest hanging branches, and making the slowest progress, distance-wise.

This is roughly where I finished for this week's outing. The low hanging branches in the background are a good example of what needs to be trimmed, and will be trimmed in the coming weeks. Despite the overall magnitude of my project, I was pleased with the progress I made today.

What I was NOT pleased with today was, I let a branch land on my pole saw as it was lying on the ground. The branch put a minor dent in one extension; as a result, I couldn't collapse the saw nor extend it. I took it home and after some barbarian surgery, restored it to operational condition.

In fact, if you look closely at the above photo, you can see the slight bend in the top section of the pole compared to the lower section.

Despite the snow cover, I was able to collect a small amount of litter as I policed the playscape parking lot and the the access road behind the bandshell.

If the weather cooperates throughout the week and into next weekend, I might be able to remove the dent in my plans.

Winter Backpedals

 It was reasonably warm on Thursday and Friday. What happened?

Visit #1351, Sunday 20 February 22, 7:20-9:40AM, 5.6 miles, 9.4lbs. of litter.

Temps in the teens, sunny and cloudless, but still chilly enough to keep your ears covered!

It was a good day to take a longer hike. The road around Merimere Reservoir was now ice-free, and the rising sun would warm the paved path, keeping conditions comfortable despite the low temps.

I was on the road barely five minutes when I had collected FOUR dog poop bags! I actually collected two more after picking up these. Gotta wonder about the individual that gathers the poop in a bag then leaves the bag. I think the dogs deserve more conscientious owners.

Besides dog poop bags, I found two hats today. Here's one of them. Once they thaw out, I'll wash them and bring them to Goodwill.

But today's most interesting find was Season of the Missing Glove 2021/22, Entries 9, 10, and 11, Bruce Willen Edition.

So who is Bruce Willen? Seems he has an attraction to lost gloves, too.

   The difference between us is he's a REAL artist, while I can barely draw bath water.

After listening to the NPR article, you can check out video of his installation HERE.

I returned to the park and dropped off my litter today. Do three orphaned gloves in a trash bag

constitute art? How about if I hang bags of dog poop on the fence?

Table for One, Please

I had Restaurant Hubbard Park all to myself Sunday morning.

Visit #1350, Sunday 13 February 22, 7:45-10:20AM, 3.5 miles, 0.0 lbs. of litter.

Temps hovering around 30, snow falling.

Saturday was a tease of spring; there was no snow on the ground and it was a freaky 50 degrees and sunny. I took a bike ride past a couple popular hiking spots and it was wall-to-wall backpacks and granola bars.

But this morning...?

While everybody else was at home sipping their frappadunkachinocafemacchiatogrande and getting their disinformation from social media, I took advantage of weather which was just as wonderful as Saturday's.

A blanket of snow put the kibosh on any effort at finding litter, so I didn't focus on that today. Instead I would begin trimming the right hand side of the road leading from the park up to Castle Craig. (For those not aware, I've already trimmed the left hand side.)

While walking up the road toward Merimere Reservoir, I spotted a little piece of patriotism by the retention ponds.

I was informed the iron I left at the water treatment plant TWO MONTHS AGO was FINALLY removed last week by the water department!

I spent my first hour trimming low hanging branches, and was pleased with my progress.

With that done, I turned around and picked up the trails at the south end of the reservoir. Good thing too, as I found this fallen tree, which I removed from the trail.

Snow had lowered various other tree branches along the trails and I took advantage of the pole saw to prune them.

The walkbridge over I-691 was a snow-crusted tunnel.

It was also a graffiti magnet.

I removed the graffiti and left the snow.

Back at the park, I finished my meal. Check, please! Scattered snow showers would be on the menu for the remainder of the day.

Into the Brrrr! Redux

 

It was cold enough to wipe the smile off an Eskimo's face.

Visit #1349, Saturday 5 February 22, 8:00-11:15AM, 6.9 miles, 30.9lbs. of litter.

Temps in the teens to low 20's, sunny with a nasty cold, west wind.

Friday's rain was forecast to freeze overnight and this time it appears the weatherman would keep his job.

I knew the trails and the road around Merimere Reservoir would be too treacherous for most hikers and walkers unless they were prepared, so I expected to have the park to myself and for the most part I was right.

I came prepared for the slippery conditions, with crampons and trekking poles and they were indeed needed.

I hiked up an obscure trail which terminated near West Peak. At the high elevation, I finally began to see ice coating the trees.

The trails back to the park were even more of an obstacle to the unprepared.

I found some fallen branches which I'll attend to next week.

Since there was no litter to be found on the trails, once I returned to the park I decided to walk all the roads in Hubbard Park and pick up litter.

Along the way, I collected Season of the Missing Glove 2021/22, the Abundance of Missing Gloves Editions. We're up to nine for the season, for those who haven't been counting!

Actually, the cold wasn't that bad as long as you avoided the wind, covered any exposed skin, and stayed home drinking hot chocolate. I did the first two. As a result, Saturday's adventure was quite enjoyable.