Well, That Sucks!

 

Saturday was turning out pretty nicely as the clouds moved away.

Visit #1438, Saturday 26 August 23, 6:45-10:10AM, 5.8 miles, 11.1 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 70s, rising to the 80s; cloudy and foggy giving way to sun.

While conditions were similar to the oppressive weather a couple weeks ago, they were to a lesser degree. Hiking up to West Peak was not such a sweaty affair and it was easier to breathe.

As I started my hike I came upon one of two Finds of the Week.

This small tactical backpack had a pair of size 11 running shoes inside. I took everything home and tossed them in the wash thinking I could donate the backpack to Goodwill but on close examination I found it unserviceable and decided to toss it. It sucks that the owner lost it as I presume the backpack, and the shoes, were still serviceable to the owner.

A short jaunt up the trail and I met this obstacle:

I know this tree fell within the last week because I traveled this trail then.

A sucky inconvenience to hikers, but it will be short lived.

I plan to remove this from the trail next week. Please be patient!

Reaching West Peak and before I began my real work, I took in the views. 

My last view before leaving West Peak was some graffiti, which I removed.

I picked up where I left off two weeks ago, spending one hour trimming the trees around the parking lot at West Peak.

Look closely and you'll see the letters "AA" on the pavement. Each week I trimmed the roadside I would mark my finish point with a letter of the alphabet. Having run through A-Z, I continued the sequence starting with "AA". This week I finished with "AB", and so on.

I hiked down the road around Merimere Reservoir and as I reached the gate at the south end, I met a man with his two children, all on bicycles. The father was holding a fishing rod and it was obvious to me they were planning on fishing in the reservoir.

When I told the man fishing wasn't allowed in Merimere Reservoir he replied in a tone that implied I was lying to him and said, "There's no sign!"

And he was right. Sort of.

This sign is gone (I took this photo on Sunday. More on that later).

And the sign that used to be attached to the gate is gone.

In order to convince this father I wasn't bluffing, I walked him over to a tree which had an intact sign. Thank goodness ALL the signs weren't stolen otherwise I would have looked more like a fool than I already do!

Strangely enough, when I pointed him to the sign he asked me, "What does it say?" as if he couldn't read. I didn't read the sign to him but let him either read it silently or assume it said what I was telling him all along.

Then he thanked me. I quickly remembered fishing was allowed in Mirror Lake, gave them directions, and even gave them a map of the park. Problem solved!

I'll recommend to the Parks Department that they replace the missing signs, and I'll take it upon myself to trim around the two existing signs on trees to increase visibility. I probably saw half a dozen people fishing in Merimere Reservoir between Saturday and Sunday, not that signage was stopping anyone. Evidence of all the illegal fishing is this fishing rod which was part of the litter I collected on Saturday.

Leaving the fishing family I followed the road back to the park and just before reaching the gate found my second Find of the Week.

Now THAT REALLY SUCKS! Or rather, they probably didn't, which is why they were dumped behind the

I-691 bridge abutment.

Conveniently enough, it was minutes after 10AM and Parks Department worker Bob had just opened the gate and was driving up the road. I flagged him down and asked if he would load the two vacuums in his truck which he graciously did. My thanks to Bob and the Meriden Parks Department.

I returned to Hubbard Park on my mountain bike on Sunday to photograph the Public Water Supply signs, and followed the trails.

I was surprised to find yet another fallen tree, which means Labor Day Weekend will be a Power Tool Weekend®!