The Nip Bottle Report, Final Edition

 

We're just past peak foliage in the Meriden area. As the sun rose over the city, it warmed up nicely and would turn out to be a comfortable fall day.

Visit #1392, Sunday 30 October 22, 7:05-10:10AM, 4.25 miles, 27.2 lbs. of litter.*(see note, below)

Just another day trimming the road side up to East/West Peak. Now that I've reached the fork in the road to East/West Peak, I've pointed my pole saw toward Castle Craig.

When I approached this week's starting point for my trimming, I found a traffic cone and some signage.

I was unaware there was a Halloween-themed running event being held in Hubbard Park today, and I read the newspaper religiously!

While I didn't see a black dog, I did see a German Shepard, a brown lab, a Shih Tzu, and a pair of white full-size poodle-like things. They could have been Black Dogs in Halloween costumes, but I wasn't gonna ask.

Best I could do for my part was pick up litter on the portion of the road I was working on, and around the Castle Craig parking lot and surrounding area before the runners arrived at the turnaround.

I hiked the trails back, and reached the parking lot as runners were returning through the timing chute.

The real news this week is about nip bottles.

I first reported on nip bottles in Hubbard Park back in September 2013.

And again in February 2019.

But one year ago, I got the bright idea to see just how many nip bottles I could collect in Hubbard Park in one year.

Mind you, most of my work is away from the developed portion of Hubbard Park but when the occasion arose I would pick up litter there as well and save the nip bottles.

There is clearly a greater concentration of people using the developed portion of Hubbard Park, and by my casual observation, many more nip bottles to be found there as well. I'm sure I missed the opportunity to collect more.

So how many did I collect from October 2021 to October 2022?

The answer- 307. *They weighed 14.2 lbs., which I added to this week's litter collection tally.

I wouldn't be surprised if I could have doubled my annual haul by concentrating on the developed portion of the park.

You can revisit the original Record-Journal article HERE.

And a Record Journal Opinion column HERE.

Had the State of Connecticut imposed a five cent deposit on nip bottles, I might have been fifteen bucks richer.

But a deposit makes no sense for when you're getting poopy-faced on a nip, you aren't thinking straight enough to care about the environment. For that matter, you probably don't care enough about the environment even when you're sober.

The five cent surcharge the state eventually settled on makes more sense. Obviously the legislators were not pounding down nips when they made their wise decision.

Happy Halloween!

It Was Supposed To Be Something Big; Instead It Was A Bust!

 Visit #1391, Saturday 22 October 22, 6:40-10:05AM, 5.0 miles, 17.7 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the high 40s, rising quickly to the 60s, sunny.

Last week, while collecting trash along the roadside up to East/West Peak, I told you about the valve for the Maloney Canal.

What I didn't tell you is, while collecting trash in that area, I found embedded in the dirt, a glass bottle which looked very old.

Based on the imprint on the bottom of the glass, it's appears to be from the Owens-Illinois Glass Company, from their Huntington, West Virginia plant, in the 1920's-1935.

The bottle is in immaculate condition; I wonder what the contents were? From the neck's diameter, it doesn't seem to be a drink bottle.

A few things were supposed to make this week a big one:

1. Last week, while driving through town to Hubbard Park, I could see a bright light NEAR Castle Craig, but it appeared BELOW the castle. It did not look like the klieg lights illuminating the flag pole in fact, it didn't look like the flag pole was illuminated at all. I wanted to find the source of this light.

2. A regular hiker in Hubbard Park told me last week he had found what appeared to be furniture dumped near the radio towers at West Peak. After describing the location, I thought I'd locate the pile this week and relocate it so it would be easier for the city parks crew to find and pick up.

3. I received a report of a tree fallen across a trail near Castle Craig. I would bring my chainsaw to remove it.

So obviously, to find the light from #1, I would have to arrive before sunrise. To make things easier for me, I used a key graciously given to me by the Director of Parks and Recreation, Chris Bourdon, to drive up the road to Castle Craig before sunrise. I don't like to abuse this privilege so I use it sparingly.

Up at Castle Craig, I concluded the mystery light was in fact a klieg light and nothing more. I expected to find something interesting. Instead, it was a bust.

Well, not a total bust. I took some early morning photos from the top of Castle Craig, of the sun rising east of Meriden.

It quickly grew lighter; light enough that I could see and photograph the fallen tree which needed removal from the trail.

This was an easy one.

Then it was over to West Peak to find the dumped furniture. I drove my car over there, parked, and scoured the area from the description I was given, but couldn't find anything. It was a bust, too. Next time I see the hiker who informed me of this, I'll see if I can get clarification of the location or verification it's been picked up.

The trip over to West Peak was not wasted; I picked up litter all around the area trails and the parking lot, and enjoyed more views as the sun blanketed the area.

I left my car at West Peak and hiked back over to Castle Craig, picking up litter along the way.

I noticed some graffiti on the castle walls which I removed best effort using Goof Off, which is water soluble so it should not stain the rock permanently. There's plenty more I did not photograph. I plan on returning in a couple weeks better equipped to remove more, and clean off any discoloration from the Goof Off.

I walked back to West Peak and picked up my car.

On the drive down, I stopped to check the status of the Merimere Reservoir Alligator. Last week I predicted if the drought continued, there would be a land bridge from the tail to the shore. My prediction came true.

When I arrived at the gate back to the park, I discovered now I was REALLY busted!

Waiting for me were not one, but TWO Meriden police officers! 

Apparently someone called the police and told them of my unoccupied car at West Peak.

I don't blame them for calling as perhaps they looked in my car and saw the book I had on the passenger seat, which I was returning to the Wallingford library later in the morning. It's enough to cause anyone to become concerned!

I will say my encounter with the two officers was most pleasant, and they presented themselves well. Kudos to both of them.

Of the two, one was camera-shy and will remain anonymous. But Officer Joe Colella was not, and graciously posed for a photo.

Sorry for the glare; it was Officer Colella's personality shining through!

Both policemen agreed because of my cooperation they would forgo the cavity search. Thank you, Jesus! 😀

After that fun I still had time to kill before a 10AM appointment so I walked around part of Hubbard Park and collected more litter.

Pole Saw 2.0

 

Let's try this again.

Visit #1390, Sunday 16 October 22, 7:00-10:55AM, 5.7 miles, 15.3 lbs. of litter.

Starting temps in the high 40s, rising nicely into the low 60s by hike's end.

Two weeks ago I reported breaking my pole saw for the second time, rendering it impossible to extend.

As you can see, I bought Pole Saw 2.0, relegating version 1.0 to the spare parts bin and promising to use more care with version 2.0. However, I was so thrilled with my attempt to sharpen 1.0's saw blade that I moved the old saw blade on to the new saw. This week I would be back in business.

But first I had to get to the location where I left off two weeks past. Hiking along the road around Merimere Reservoir I got to enjoy the changing foliage.

Reports say fall colors will be at their peak until 24 October, which gives you one more week to peep at leaves.

While traipsing my way north around the reservoir, I came upon my Find of the Week.

That ranks right up there with the family-sized package of chicken thighs I found earlier this summer.

And rank it was; the smell of room temperature raw meat was well, rank.

More traipsing and more foliage followed.

Checking up on the Merimere Reservoir Alligator, it continues to grow in length, even with the steady rain we had last week. Pretty soon there were be a land bridge from shore to the tail.

Climbing over the guardrail to retrieve some litter, I discovered this long forgotten valve for channeling water from the Maloney Canal into Merimere Reservoir. Looks like it opened and closed vertically, with a now missing screw drive. Wonder when it was installed?

It was finally time to get back to tree trimming, now with Pole Saw 2.0!

Today I reached a milestone, the fork in the road to East/West Peak. I'll now be able to pick up where I've left off without following the reservoir road but taking the trails instead. That means faster access for me, and more productivity.

Done with trimming for the day, I followed the trails to Castle Craig, and enjoyed more foliage views.

Getting closer to the park, I encountered some graffiti. This is the 8th time I've found this "Brandon" Graffiti since August of this year.

I used some drinking water I had remaining in my bottle, along with a brush I always pack for just such occasions, and scrubbed away. We'll have to wait until it's dry to see how effective it was.

Next week: Something big...

Zero Dark Thirty

 Visit #1389, Sunday, 9 October 22, 7:00-9:35AM, 5.1 miles, 10.0 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the high 30s to start, warming up nicely by hike's end, sunny.

It was Sunday morning and I beat my alarm clock by an entire hour, awaking at the ridiculously unnecessary time of 5AM.

What to do? If I left for Hubbard Park now, it would still be dark when I arrived.

So I washed and ironed clothes to kill time. Yeah, I lead a wild life.

Leaving for Hubbard Park at dawn and driving west by City Hall, I could clearly see a mysteriously bright, stationary light shining BELOW Castle Craig. An early morning rescue? Someone in trouble?

Arriving at Hubbard Park, the light was gone. Later that morning I met a couple hikers and asked them about it. We thought it might have been an early morning rock climber. Our other thoughts were crazy; UFO/UAP? A drone? We'll have to see if it makes the newspaper.

Anyway, I headed westward along the trails adjacent to I-691, and stopped to clean up the gravel parking area in the northwest corner of Mirror Lake.

From the number of er, wrappers I picked up, it must have been a wild time.

Can you imagine the size of the wallet needed to hold all these?!

You'll be pleased to know I found the wrappers' contents too, but I'm sparing you the evidence.

I collected so much litter I had to drop off my first bag at the trash can near the duck house. And that bag was just for the condoms!

I resumed my hike, cleaning up all the trails between West Main Street and I-691.

At the walkbridge, I found some recurring graffiti, having previously appeared in July.

First, I applied some sandpaper and elbow grease.

The Goof Off then does the heavy lifting. One more pass with the sandpaper and I'm done.

The trails had that autumn glow thing going on. There were a few other early morning hikers enjoying it just like I was.

I returned to the parking lot and dropped off my second bag of litter.

Heading home, I wondered whether I should try and catch up on that lost sleep.

The Hurricane Ian Edition

 

Actually, it has been downgraded to "Post-Tropical Cyclone" Ian. At the time I was in Hubbard Park on Sunday morning, Ian was roughly centered in the North Carolina/South Carolina area, but you can see the wind's effect on the surface of Merimere Reservoir.

Visit #1388, Sunday 2 October 22, 7:00-10:40AM, 6.0 miles, 6.5 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 50s to low 60s, cloudy and very breezy.

The eerie cloud cover and ominous sounding gusty breezes added to the spooky feeling, too early for  Halloween!

And yet again, despite any rainfall we've had, including rain yesterday, the Merimere Reservoir Alligator continues to grow in length.

I was excited to use my pole saw this week because the saw blade was cutting poorly. The tooth profile is very intricate, and I'm not a saw sharpening expert, but with the files I had on hand I decided to give it a try, figuring out which portion of each tooth to sharpen, and what angles to hold. If I failed, new blades were available.

As I walked up the road to continue trimming roadside branches, I found a low hanging branch which must the be the result of Ian's winds. I used my pole saw to illustrate just how low the branch was hanging over the road, even though it's tough to see the branch itself.

I cut the branch  and removed it. My sharpening efforts were a considerable success!

But my success was bittersweet. In my effort to pose the extended pole saw against the branch, it fell to the ground a couple times. I later noticed when I tried to use the saw again that I had broken it. One of the switches which lock the pole extensions had broken and gone missing which made operating the saw difficult.

This is what it SHOULD look like.

Off to the store to buy another one. I don't consider it a complete loss, however. I had already bent one of the extension poles, which made it mildly difficult to extend even after I repaired it. A new saw would eliminate that problem, plus I'll have a spare saw blade. And I will keep the broken saw for spare parts, which it appears I need quite frequently!

I effected temporary repairs to the pole saw which gave me limited reach for today. Nevertheless, I was pleased with today's progress.

Finished with my trimming session for the day, I hiked toward West Peak. Along the way, I found this tree tagged with caution tape.

I initially encountered several trees tagged like this, back in April 2022. I removed the tape only later realizing they may have been tagged for removal, and removing the tape merited a dope slap for yours truly.

You think I would have remembered. No; again, I removed the tape. Let me lean in closer to the screen while you administer Dope Slap #2.

Shortly after passing that tree I turned around and headed toward Castle Craig, where I met Kent and Bruce, who had themselves were performing their weekly trash pickup in Hubbard Park, leaving the castle area nice and tidy.

I found this large plastic belly pan from a car, on the roadside. I took it home for disposal.

Friendly reminder: it's time to stock up on Halloween Candy!