Fever Broke

 After a week of heat wave conditions, the weather turned glorious, ushered in by a late Saturday thunderstorm. I couldn't help but think of Todd Rundgren's song, "Fever Broke" because that's how the change in weather felt to me. Go ahead and give it a listen while you read on.

As I hiked around Merimere Reservoir, I kept an eye out for graffiti on the spillway and found some, which I removed in less time than it took to photograph.

It was my brass brush which did the lickety-split.

Up at West Peak I continued my roadside trimming project. This week I began to trim the perimeter of the West Peak parking lot. I did this once before, in 2015. At that time, I wasn't aware of such a thing as a pole saw, so I used my loppers and a step ladder. It wasn't as efficient and the reach wasn't as great. Now that I have a pole saw I will give the parking area a proper, enduring haircut in the next two weeks or so.

I stopped after one hour and hiked back to the park, enjoying the change in weather all the way.

A Summer One-Eighty

 What a pleasant morning, and what a difference a week makes, weather-wise.

Visit #1433, Sunday 23 July 23, 5:45-7:35AM, 3.3 miles, 4.5 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the low 60s, sunny and dry.

The last two weeks have been rough with either steamy, high temperatures and sun or steamy high temperatures and rain. Sunday morning greeted me with late August conditons; sunny, cool, and dry, with a slight breeze, Ahhh, relief!

I had to hike early for I was to meet a subcontractor at my house early Sunday morning for renovation work, which is why I struck out to Hubbard Park before the sun rose.

I can almost umderstand how people can forget a clothing item and leave it in the park, but a bicycle?

Trust me; this early in the morning there was no one around that could claim it was theirs.

Walking up the road toward Merimere Reservoir, I decided some roadside trimming was in order.

Not quite visible in the Before/After photos, although you can see the cut foliage on the ground in the second pic.

I performed much more trimming today, especially thorn bushes.

Even after reaching the walkbridge over I-691, I saw the sun hadn't quite risen enough to brighten Meriden.

On the far side of the walkbridge I found some graffiti on the bollards. I spent more time getting the sandpaper out of my backpack than I did actually sanding the graffiti.

Trying to fill out my "two hour minimum" in the park I spent some time cleaning up around a picnic table where it was obvious to me a birthday party was recently held. That's where most of this week's litter came from.

A Wet One Indeed

 

It's late morning and the parking lot at Hubbard Park was empty, except for me. Where were all the fun hogs?!

Visit #1432, Sunday 16 July 23, 11:00AM-12:20PM, 3.7 miles, 2.0 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the low 80s, very humid and raining. A tornado warning was in effect.

This rain wasn't going to let up all day. It was so warm a rain coat was not needed even if you were soaking wet. Ask me how I know.

Even I have my limits; today was no day for long hikes or tree trimming. I hiked a short loop.

Crossing over I-691 it was plainly obvious it was a wet day.

The trails were not any different.

The Halfway House was good shelter from the storm.

And to keep things interesting, for me at least, was a Find of the Week, a hefty steel chisel.

There are some days even I wish for winter. This was one of them.

In The Thick Of Things

 Visit #1431, Saturday 8 July 23, 6:45-9:00AM, 2.3 miles, 11.5 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 70s rising to 90, breaking sun and very humid.

There was no avoiding the humidity this week and Saturday morning was no exception, even though I made an attempt by starting before 7AM.

According to the standard definition of a "heat wave" we were experiencing one, but I never heard it mentioned in weather reports or saw it in print.

Why, it was so humid that in my heatwave induced delirium I forgot to take a photo of my tree trimming this week, so you'll just have to believe me.

I continued trimming the roadside on my way to West Peak. After an hour of that, I walked the short distance to the West Peak parking lot and cleaned up the area.

Done with that, I took in the early morning views from West Peak. The sun just started to break through the morning haze when I finished.

Enjoy.

I Wasn't Thinking...

 

...because if I WAS thinking, I would have hiked on Saturday and avoided the rain.

Visit #1430, Sunday 2 July 23, 6:45-9:10AM, 5.1 miles, 8.0lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 60s/low 70s, cloudy, humid, with light intermittent rain.

I had listened to the weekend forecast but didn't pay it much heed. I woke up early enough Saturday to get a hike in but I wimped out due to the humidity.

I got what I deserved.

The rain wasn't that bad; only at one point did I have to don my raincoat, and only for five minutes or so.

This week I walked the road around Merimere Reservoir and up to Castle Craig. With Meriden's fireworks scheduled for Monday evening, I thought the road would be closed to traffic as the fireworks were set up and I would stop to see how the work was progressing.

But I later learned the fireworks would not be set up until Monday. No big deal; the road needed some love anyway.

I reached Castle Craig with heavy cloud cover reducing visibility to near zero.

No, really; Hubbard Park is down there somewhere.

As I was picking up litter in the area, I noticed this new display.

Two signs accompanied the flags, explaining their purpose. I presume this was left over from Memorial Day, although I didn't count one flag per soldier.

It was then I noticed the flag was at half staff. At first I thought it was in conjunction with the above display. I later learned it was instead in honor of former governor Lowell Weicker Jr. who passed away last week. It's nice that Meriden pays attention to these protocols.

It continued to shower after I left Castle Craig, passing by the south end of the reservoir, and returning to the parking lot.

Try and keep all your fingers through this July 4th.