Grin and Bear It

 

I didn't see a soul today, must be the humid weather.

Visit #1489, Sunday 28 July 24, 6:30-9:30AM, 5.7 miles, 6.0 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the low 70's,  cool for the most part but the humidity made for a sweaty hike.

CT Insider published a story this week about bears in Connecticut.

Several of the trails I hike in Hubbard Park see few others even though these trails are well established. I've always thought if I were attacked by a bear, my body might not be found for a day or more. Is that morbid or what?

I have taken some precautions; My backpack is equipped with an emergency whistle which hopefully will scare away bears, and I carry bear spray.

This week I would hike on one of those trails to remove a fallen tree, and I thought about the article, and bears, while out today.

I wasn't too thrilled to have to carry my chainsaw so far for just one tree, but the nature gods shined on me and I found two more trees worthy of removal.

The first tree, or pair of trees, which I unexpectedly found was on the trail behind the water tank.

On another, unmarked trail I found a sapling bent over so I removed it. This sapling didn't merit an After photo.

I hiked up to the road to West Peak and along the way spotted this painted rock spotlighted by the morning sun. Perhaps that's why it was smiling.

Once on the trail I had to hike quite a distance to reach the fallen tree I'd discovered last week.

Then I found a bonus tree, and that made three. Mountain bikers wasted no time building a ramp over it.

I wasted less time removing it.

At the bottom of the trail, still a couple hundred feet from the road, I came upon my Find of the Week.

I'd love to know how and when it got there. Fitting it in my trash bag was going to be a problem. When I attempted to fold the hose it promptly snapped, giving me the idea to try and snap it into manageable pieces. Problem solved.

As I walked around the gate leading back to the road, I found some graffiti which needed removal and was happy to oblige.

Approaching the gate to the closed road back at the park, I was reminded of this wreath I saw the past two weeks; I took it away.

This wreath would have come in handy had I been eaten by a bear. Fortunately it was not needed.

"Water, Water, Everywhere But, Not A Place To Stand"

I've inserted this song in my blog before, but it's worth repeating this week.

Visit #1488, Sunday 21 July 24, 6:15-9:25AM, 6.8 miles, 3.1 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the low 70s, sunny and moderately humid, reaching the mid 80s.

Interesting news in the Meriden Record Journal this week: Merimere Reservoir has a prostate problem and the state of Connecticut is helping fund the repair surgery.

I guess a lot of water is leaking from here:

Down to here:

And on to here:

And further, through here:

...instead of reaching Meriden's citizens.

This kinda makes sense to me because, as reported by the National Institute of Health, by the age of 85, 90 percent of men will have prostate enlargement and the issues that go along with it. I can only conclude two things:

1. Since Merimere Reservoir is over 85 years old, it makes sense it will have BPH.

2. Since the reservoir is experiencing this ahem, leak, the reservoir must be male.

I walked the road up toward the reservoir this morning and found some some new graffiti on the gate near the water treatment plant, which I removed  with some handy sandpaper and muscle.

At the north end of Merimere Reservoir I found a sticker on the gate. Stickers are just as offensive to me as graffiti so I removed it. In the photo I've blurred the information on the sticker so as to not give advertising to the owner, who I contacted and gently notified them of their trespass.

Once I left the road and picked up the trail, I soon found my Find of the Week but as you'll see, it wasn't my best find.

Why I would find a steak knife on a trail is beyond me.

Reaching the top of the trail was my goal this week.

These poles were placed at the trailhead at my request back in 2014 because I had found cars driving down the trail for some discrete activities. Occasionally I would find them moved slightly but not to the degree shown above. This week I brought some tools to assist repositioning them.

A couple logs were too heavy to move so I will return with assistance to complete the job.

But it was on my walk down the road back toward the reservoir and the park that I came upon a "Can You Beat This" Find of the Week.

I dreaded carrying this back to the park because I fully expected everyone who saw me thinking I was some Yo Dude skateboarder. Well, it didn't take long because the first person I encountered asked me that question, "Are you a skateboarder?!" Sheesh.

Closer examination when I got it home revealed one lame wheel bearing which freed up nicely with some WD-40. The bearing seal was broken but otherwise, it seemed serviceable to me although I wasn't about to test it. I'm gonna post it for free on craigslist and see if there are any takers.

In the meantime, I'm going to brush up on my skateboarding slang. Dude...!

My Civic Duty

 

While the heatwave continues in to its second week, I'll bet this gaggle of geese doesn't mind; they can spend all the time in the water that they want.

Visit #1487, Sunday 14 July 24, 6:20-8:40AM, 4.8 miles, 3.1 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 70s rising to the 90s with heat advisories in effect, sunny and very humid.

First, a little side story.

I had returned from Hubbard Park Sunday morning and began to work on my blog when POOF!, my iMac went dead. Nothing-no screen, no chime, no turn on relay, nothing. 

I figure the power supply is dead. That means repair or replace. Of course, we all rely so much on our devices these days that we can't be without them. I wanted to get up and running ASAP so I could only see one option; buy a new iMac and repair the dead one later if possible.

Off to the Apple Store at Westfarms. I don't need to tell you what this cost. Then there were the required accessories to connect my existing equipment. Wallet Ouch.

I return home and before installing the new iMac, I decide to make a sandwich. I open up the refrigerator and the light is dim. What is this?

I'm not an electrician by trade but an electronic technician so I know some basic AC theory. I break out my test tools and discover one side of my condo has no power, but no circuit breakers are tripped at the fuse panel. Huh?

That means I have an electrical problem in my unit so I call an electrician and arrange for service on Monday. In the meantime I run an extension cord to the working side of my condo and begin to work on the blog when I receive a call from my employer; a coworker needs help. I leave and spend four hours in New Haven.

I arrive home at 10PM to see Eversource in the parking lot. I ask what's going on because I wonder whether it's related to my problem.

It is! Eversource is connecting a temporary generator while they address the problem.

So I don't need an electrician, I can return my unopened new, 24" iMac, and get my money back!

I now return you to the blog.

Last week I discovered a newly fallen tree on the trail behind the water tank.

That made this a Power Tool Weekend®. I brought the chainsaw and opened up the trail.

I hiked up the Yellow Trail to the Blue Trail, and up to the road between East/West Peak.

On the way down I discover this:

Well now; methinks I can save the parks department some labor, save the taxpayers some money, and remove this since I just so happen to be well equipped today.

The return leg to the park was cool and breezy, taking the edge off the humidity.

My find of the week was this leftover fishing tackle found at the south end of Merimere Reservoir.

Deal With It

 

The heatwave continues, but a slight cool breeze from the reservoir took the edge off.

Visit #1486, 6:40-8:20AM, 3.7 miles, 4.1 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the low 70s, humidity a whopping 93% with a dew point higher than the temperature!

You can predict how many people you'll see recreating in Hubbard Park by eyeballing the weather.

Sunday's conditions kept the crowds at bay which is what I expected.

I was curious to see how clean Castle Craig would be after Wednesday's fireworks show so that's where I was headed this morning.

The parks crew did a spectacular job cleaning up the park itself after the festivities; did it extend up the the peak? Let's see.

But first, earlier this week I took a bike ride on some trails and found a fallen tree which I was able to remove without any tools.

I rode over to the Halfway House-I received an e-mail from Chris Bourdon telling me his crew did mow around the area as I requested early in June. The Halfway House will now look good for the rest of the season. My thanks to Chris and his parks department workers.

Over at Merimere Reservoir on Sunday morning I found this hat. Not exactly something to wear to mom's house. Needless to say, I won't be washing and giving this to Goodwill.

Up at Castle Craig, the area was virtually spotless; I was impressed. However, there was one "i" which wasn't dotted. I took care of it.

The flag was powered by an even cooler breeze at this elevation.

Goodness knows I needed to cool down, so I sat down at the bench at the base of Castle Craig and took in the early morning view east for a few minutes.

On the return trip to the parking lot I stopped to clear one leaning tree and trim another fallen tree encroaching upon the trail.

I was glad to take off my sweat soaked backpack.

But my entertainment didn't end at Hubbard Park this morning. Leaving Hubbard Park, I stopped at the bank ATM for some grocery cash and couldn't help but notice what was in the wastebasket.

Here's double meaning to the phrase, "throwing away money", and at a bank, no less. Maybe they withdrew more money to buy more lottery tickets...