Pete The Carpenter

 

Another rain slogged weekend. The Daffodil Festival can't catch a break.

Visit #1421, Sunday 30 April 23, 7:45-9:45AM, 4.2 miles, 2.0 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 50s, rain.

On Thursday-a sunny day believe it or not- I rode my mountain bike in Hubbard Park. Reaching the walkbridge near the beehive fountain, I found the walkbridge had been vandalized and one of the planks broken in half.

Hmmm; what to do about it?

Well, early Saturday morning in yet more rain, I returned to take some measurements. Hiking in, I found the hat and bottle. I'll clean both and bring them to Goodwill. Actually, they were where you see them on my Thursday mountain bike ride yet no one bothered to take them during the intervening days.

Later on that rainy Saturday I went shopping for repair parts for the bridge.

On Sunday morning, I hiked in with a brand new board and tools.

My checklist:

1- 2x6" pressure treated board, I cut it to 48" length, pre-drilled it for screws and painted the board at home. Installed with the relieved edge facing up.

6 - tamper resistant screws suitable for outdoor use and pressure treated lumber.

-And all the tools so the job goes smoothly.

As a bonus, I'm left with a perfect 48" piece of lumber should another plank need replacement, and enough screws left over for next time.

I celebrated my successful job by enjoying a continued hike in the rain.

Under The Weather

 

I assure you; despite the Daffodil Festival, parking in Hubbard Park was NOT a problem. The rain saw to that.

Visit #1420, Sunday 23 April 23, 10:55-11:45AM, 1.8 miles, 14.0 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 50s with rain, rain, and more rain.

Yes, I paid attention to the weekend weather forecast and Saturday would have been more favorable (read: drier) for a hike. But my day job got in the way.

I almost cancelled this week's activities altogether but the title fit perfectly with the rain AND my current state.

I contracted a beautiful case of poison ivy last week and I just wasn't feeling well. Both legs, arms, stomach, chin, and near places only your doctor or toilet paper goes.

But like I said; the title fit perfectly so I couldn't waste the opportunity.

With the rain, the park was a graveyard, and a soggy one at that. By hike's end I was soggy too.

But Hubbard Park still revealed some interesting finds that made the trudge worth it.

Reaching West Main Street across from Belmont Avenue, I picked up this car part.

On the return trip, I found this tag. Looks pretty official, so I left it alone. I can't find any info on what Yale might be researching in Hubbard Park or why they tagged a fallen tree.

Leaning against another tree was a memorial rock.

In case you're having a hard time reading it, it says, "In Loving Memory of Jack Daniels Lewis 2006-2022". I couldn't find any local obituary listings for 16 year old Jack. I wonder what the relation is between Jack's passing and Hubbard Park? It's not the first time I've found similar memorials.

Hung on the same tree- I'll guess "E.L." is a relative of Jack.

And just how hard was it raining-check out this brook which feeds Mirror Lake.

There are times during the year when that brook is dry!

I finished up and went home to scratch that itch.

Re-work

 

"On A Foggy Night" (Morning, actually) would be appropriate for today's hike. Tom Waits would best set the mood.

Visit #1419, Sunday 16 April 23, 6:40-8:55AM, 4.2 miles, 2.5 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 60s, cloudy and very foggy.

It seems I'm not paying attention to my work in Hubbard Park, and due to such poor quality control on my part I was doomed this week to return and tie up the loose ends.

I rode my mountain bike into the park earlier this week specifically to retreive one of the pink ribbons I had neglected to remove on last week's hike. I eventually collected three or four more during the ride.

The graffiti I supposedly removed last week-well, I didn't do such a hot job as I could still see it when I entered the park on my mountain bike. This morning I would have to finish the job.

A second round of elbow grease did the job.

Next on my re-do list: During last week's hike I found a street sign had been uprooted. I don't believe it was vandalism but probably bulldozed over by by a careless worker while stacking logs nearby, or the sign was just plain in the way.

So on this Sunday morning as I walked up the road I searched for the sign and hoped to secure it before it disappeared.

The sign hasn't moved.

I wanted to secure it to something until it could be reinstalled, so I brought some ty-raps with me and lashed it to an existing sign.

Since this sign has a gimpy leg I imagine it will need a new post. I'll give the Meriden Parks Department a heads up so they can restore it to it's original resting place.

Further up the road I spied something stashed behind a tree.

Laid out on the road, I saw it was a hoodie. If it comes through the wash clean, I'll take it to Goodwill otherwise it will wind up in my rag pile.

At Castle Craig I found some new graffiti on the outside. I removed it hoping it won't require re-work.

Then it was back to the re-work.

In trips past, I had missed covering this illegal trail marker.  There's no After photo, but I did cover it.

And in the "Re-work the Re-work Department" I discovered this tree across the trail last week but failed to remove it. And I brought the wrong tools this week to remove it! So yet a third trip to this trail will be required. Fortunately it's easy to walk around it so removing it is not urgent.

By now the fog was lifting. Well, from the park at least.  My foggy brain which lead to all this re-work still needs to clear.

Is This Long Enough?

 Visit #1418, Saturday 8 April 23, 7:15-9:15AM, 4.2 miles, 1.0 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 30s, rising to the 50s today, sunny and breezy.

I had a blog reader comment to me that last week's post was "kinda short".

Well, I understand how you can get addicted to the suspense and excitement I build in to every week's post, and how you can feel let down when instead you read something like last week's post about nothing but picking up litter on the banks of a brook.

Hopefully this week you'll find this week's post long enough, and be riveted to your seat as you follow this week's adventure.

My hands were damn near freezing when I started out this morning. I wore non-insulated leather gloves and they did nothing to keep my hands warm. I was counting on the sunrise and an uphill hike to warm me up and it couldn't come soon enough.

In March I reported finding two trees down across a certain trail at the north end of Hubbard Park. This week I would hike that trail and remove the two trees but first I would hike a parallel trail and inspect for other fallen trees, if any.

I planned well, for I DID find a fallen tree, which I removed with my chainsaw.

Near the top of this trail I found this tree tagged with pink tape. Assuming it was for a legitimate surveying purpose, I left it alone.

I was wrong.

As I hiked the original trail back down toward the two fallen trees, I continued to find these markers. It was then I knew something other than surveying was afoot, and I removed all the tape, which I found on trees spaced roughly every 100-200 feet.

I eventually reached the first of the two fallen trees on this trail.

Rather than develop their log-hopping skills, mountain bikers took the easy way out and built a log ramp over the fallen tree. POSEURS!

Well, I made it even easier and removed the tree altogether.

I never found the second tree. It will remain a mystery why someone removed one but not both trees.

Exiting the trails and walking the road back to my car, there was one thing left on my To Do List.

On the way in this morning I noticed a lot of new graffiti on the gate at the north end of the park. I was prepared to address it.

Just as I was packing up my graffiti removal kit, a frequent hiker in Hubbard Park stopped by for a chat and informed me one of the two resident snapping turtles in Merimere Reservoir had passed on. He escorted me to the funeral parlor where I paid my respects.

 All you ever need to know about Connecticut's snapping turtles can be found  HERE on the CT DEP's web site. Interesting stuff.

Here's wishing you a happier Easter than the turtle's.