Muck Boots, Week #2

 

Today's essential tools.

Visit #1472, Saturday 30 March 24, 7:30-10:00AM, 2.8 miles, 30.0 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 40s rising to near 50, sunny with blustery winds.

Once a year I pick up litter from both banks of the stream which runs through Hubbard Park from the long gone petting zoo down to the lower pond. A friend asked me if I do this in advance of some Easter function in the park.

The answer is no; I do it this time of year because the skunk cabbage and all the vegetation hasn't grown in yet so it's easier to navigate, and to find litter.

The muck boots were handy last week; they were a must this week if I was going after litter in the brook and the adjacent soggy ground.

Well, the boots were handy UNTIL I stepped into a deceivingly deep, soft spot in the water.

Pour out the water and wring out the sock!

Here's one of the four bags of litter I collected.

The newly dredged pond, and reconstructed walls of the lower pond, completed around September 2023, look good, and the duck seems to approve.

While crawling around on the banks of the stream, I chanced upon this snake.

Looked dead to me as it wasn't moving a finger (do snakes have fingers to move?) but I wasn't about to grab it so I touched it with a stick. It's tongue flickered oh so slowly as if it came out of brumation a tad too early and got caught in the chill. I was going to call the snake ambulance (if you've never seen a snake ambulance, they're really long 😊), instead I just let it be.

This walkbridge could use some repairs. I know an experienced walkbridge repair consultant...

Returning to the parking lot, I found this:

Edible cannabis with deceiving, innocent candy names have been in the news lately. While this was a cannabis vape cartridge and not candy, the reference on the package is apropos to the discussion.

Here's hoping your children don't find edible cannabis candy in their Easter baskets!

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 It was cold out there this morning. Wet, too!

Visit #1471, Sunday 24 March 24, 6:55-9:00AM, 4.6 miles, 1.0 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 20s, sunny with bitter, high winds from the north.

Just like two weeks ago, it rained heavily all day Saturday meaning any venture into Hubbard Park on Sunday was going to be a sloshy affair. (I washed my company van and my car in Saturday's rain, taking advantage of the free rinse!)

I had two different agendas to choose from for Sunday, so I chose the one where I was less likely to get wet, but the thought of drenching my feet again in cold water like the last tromp did not appeal to me.

What to do?

I entered the park via the north end early Sunday morning. The Merimere Reservoir spillway was dumping copious amounts of water.

The high side of the spillway was not employed.

Now I had to cross the same stream that soaked my jeans those two weeks ago.

This time I came prepared.

I switched into my muck boots to cross the brook, then removed them when I stopped to cut the first tree; the soles are too soft for hiking in rocky terrain to be practical.

On this trail last week, I found a couple fallen trees which needed removal from the trail.

As a warm up I cut back this hemlock which wasn't quite blocking the trail.

In the pic above, you can see one of the illegal trail markers I covered over last week, which I failed to show you then.

And boy; did I need a warm up. While working out Friday morning, (at 4:30 in the morning, Elmer!) this week's exercise routine included Sumo Deadlifts.

It was now Sunday and my ass felt like Sister Sebalda paddled me good for talking in class! Hopefully the hike and warm up would alleviate some of the soreness.

Now it was on to some REAL fallen trees.

First tree, done. On to the second.

I reached the top of the trail and began following the road toward West Peak when I chanced upon my Find of the Week.

The child's hat is currently soaking in Oxi-Clean then I'll bring it to Goodwill. You can't throw billed hats in with the regular wash; all that colliding with other clothes invariably cracks the hat's bill. I've ruined many a cycling hat that way, until I wisened up. I'm slow on the uptake...

I picked up another trail near West Peak that would take me back to Merimere Reservoir. I hadn't been on this trail for a while and having the chainsaw with me it would be handy if I found anything across the trail.

While I didn't find anything major, I did trim back one tree sticking into the trail.

Exiting the park at the north end, the spillover was flowing mightily.

I didn't care; my feet were dry.

A Broken Heart

 

The person who continues to defile the trails by painting rocks and writing on trees will experience a broken heart.

At the beginning of March, I mentioned this trail problem and said it would be the only time I would present updates to you.

I have changed my mind.

Visit #1470, Sunday 17 March 24, 6:55-9:25AM, 5.0 miles, 6.7 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 40s, cloudy.

By keeping you updated on this person's activity, perhaps I can bring pressure or action to stop this vandal or get them help for their psychological problems.

Like Jack Reacher, I've done this before (1:27 in the video).

Hang on for the ride. Here's a sample of what I've found recently.

Rest assured; I cover over or remove whatever I find.

Kind of ironic since this person is painting the trees themselves.

This tree has repeatedly seen such artwork; they even bother to replace the nails I remove. Strange obsession.

During last week's hike, I found that Hubbard Park's current serial vandal has taken to unsanctioned, unattractive marking of a trail.

I planned to hike this trail on Sunday and cover these marks.

To reach the trail, I had to cross the brook which was knee deep in rushing water last week.

What a difference a week makes!

Hiking the trail and covering the white circles with camoflage paint, I forgot to take After photos.

By my count, I PAINTED OVER 176 OF THOSE WHITE CIRCLES.

Also found along that trail today were two fallen trees. I will remove them in the next two weeks.

Also today, I found Season of the Missing Glove 2023/24 Entries #7 and 8.

This week I also found garden variety graffiti and stickers, all of which I removed.

The slightly blurry sticker refers to Zenleaf, a marijuana store with a branch in Meriden. Another hiker commented to me the smell of marijuana is now commonplace in Hubbard Park.

I also performed some garden variety trail maintenance, trimming back this brush which was leaning into the trail.

And about that broken heart...

Water, Water Everywhere

 

"Water, water everywhere and not a place to stand..."

-Tables Will Turn, from The Individualist, by Todd Rundgren.

I think of those lyrics every time it rains a lot.

Visit #1469, Sunday 10 March 24, 7:10-9:15AM, 5.0 miles, 4.5 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 40s, rain from Saturday afternoon through the overnight has just ended, clearing skies.

Today I take you on a journey through Hubbard Park after a night of rain.

This brook leads to Hubbard Park and empties into Mirror Lake.

This fence post at the I-691 walkbridge is an unusually popular place for people to place stickers, as you can see from the residue from older stickers I've removed. And I continue to remove them.

I hiked up to the beehive fountain and followed a short loop, then headed up toward the road to Castle Craig.

Below is a case where, as martial arts expert said,

"Be formless, shapeless, like water.

If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup.

You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle.

You put water into a teapot and it becomes the teapot.

Now water can flow or it can crash.

Be water, my friend."

Here the water becomes the trail rather than cut the corner.

I followed the water, up.

I followed the water down.

Along the way, I removed this fallen tree from the trail.

Up until this point, I managed to keep my feet dry. But now I had to cross this torrent to reach the road.

My luck had just run out.

There was no tiptoeing around this and I wasn't Jesus so I couldn't walk on it, or have Dad part it.

I could only laugh once I reached the other side.

The spillway was doing its job.

During the squish-squish on the road back to the park, I found this synthetic hoodie, which I stuffed into my backpack to eventually make its way to Goodwill.

It only dawned on me a few minutes later: Wait a minute; the hoodie isn't wet which means it was put there VERY recently. Hmmm...

Not so fast-further on down the road as I neared the south end of Merimere Reservoir, a trio of runners who I see regularly on Sunday mornings, came up from behind. The leader, who I know by face but not by name, asked if I had found a hoodie.

Ding ding ding, we have a winner! In his eight years of running and occasionally leaving a piece of clothing by the roadside to pick up on the return leg from running up to Castle Craig, this was the first time his clothing was taken! We had a laugh and he was happy.

There was one small fallen tree near the south end of the reservoir which I managed to put onto the correct side of the guardrail.

Now to go home, wring out my socks and dry my boots and jeans.