Another Weekend Trifecta

Chilly winds whipped up Merimere Reservoir on Easter Sunday. Good Friday and Saturday were not as chilly, but all three days were fine for hiking, or trail maintenance.

Visit #1361, Good Friday, 15 April 22, 7:15-10:45AM, 5.0 miles, 9.2lbs. of litter.

Temps in the mid-50's to 60's, sunny and pleasant.

Visit #1362, Saturday 16 April 22, 6:00-8:25AM, 4.6 miles, 4.5lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 50's, mostly cloudy with rain starting in the early evening.

Visit 1363, Easter Sunday, 17 April 22, 11:50AM-2:40PM, 4.4 miles, 4.6lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 50's with a brisk, chilly breeze.

On Good Friday I took advantage of the day off from work to continue trimming overhanging branches on the road up to East/West Peak. I made good progress again, reaching the north end of Merimere Reservoir before I stopped and switched to regular trail duties.

I took a peak over the spillway at the north end of Merimere Reservoir- how many turtles working on their tan do you count? (Click on the photo for a closer look.)

Walking along the road on Friday, I spotted a number of trees with Caution tape wrapped around them. The trees didn't look particularly dead, leaning, or whatever. When I saw the first tree, I thought the tape was mere foolery, so I removed it. Same with the second tree. When I saw the THIRD tree, I began to think this was something legit and maybe the trees are scheduled for removal for a reason I can't figure out. So I stopped removing the tape. Ooops!

A couple mountain bikers took advantage of the holiday and head up the road, no doubt to those illegally built mountain bike trails that have become enormously popular in Hubbard Park.

At Castle Craig, I policed the parking lot of litter, and noticed some new graffiti on the electrical transformer. I used the tools with me to remove it.

Goof Off removed most of it.

I finished it off with sandpaper.

The next piece was more problematic.

The Goof Off did a respectable, albeit incomplete job and I had nothing to properly wipe off the dissolved ink. What to do?

I returned on Saturday and wiped down the area with acetone which partially cleaned up the mess, and dries quickly, too. I completed the job with gray spray paint.

Speaking of spray paint, one thoughtful reader of this blog generously sent me some money to pay for trail work supplies. I used the funds to buy more spray paint.

The remainder of Good Friday I spent picking up litter.

On Saturday, I returned to the park to cover over some illegal trail markings. They were extemely poorly executed, too.

While the gray paint should fade well over time, I'm not completely satisfied with the results. I may have to revisit this trail and up my game.

While hiking the above unnamed trail on Saturday, I noticed a number of fallen trees and branches across the trail. So, on Easter Sunday I returned with my chainsaw to clear this trail and one other trail of fallen wood.

While I won't bore you with all the Before and After photos, I'll show you a couple Before/After and the rest will be Before photos to illustrate the sheer number of items I removed from the trails.

And while clearing all that dead, fallen wood from the trails, I snuck up on a mob of deer. How many are there? Hint: Same as the number of turtles, above!