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!