Unplug, People!

 

Enjoy the hike and not your phone.

Visit #1538, Saturday 14 June 25, 6:35-10:00AM, 5.7 miles, 6.9 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 60s, persistent drizzle to start, tapering off to scattered showers.

Reading the Ask the Doctors column by Drs. Eve Glazier and Elizabeth Ko, this week, came the above wisdom. You'll actually be healthier for it. You can read it yourself HERE.

It's a no-brainer for me and I hope if it isn't for you now, it will be.

I started my hike in light precipitation which eventually tapered off.

Nearing the Halfway House I found this Fire Line-Do Not Cross tape which was at some point strung across the trail. I pass by here frequently and find it hard to believe it is left over from the Daffodil Festival fireworks in early May which were launched from the location, and I overlooked it all this time. I also didn't find any fire calls logged in the area recently. I removed it.

Reaching the bottom of the steep trail leading to Castle Craig, I see someone had left a feast for the squirrels. Or maybe it was a feast for humans.

I picked up the Blue Trail along the ridgeline, and found this bloody mess. Something had their own feast.

The remainder of the hike was bloody quiet-the less than ideal conditions tends to keep people away, and I had no phone to distract me.

The Blog That Almost Wasn't

Had I stepped on him, he would be "wasn't", too.

Visit #1537, Saturday 7 June 25, 6:35-9:15AM, 5.5 miles, 3.0 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 60s, very humid/cloudy/foggy with showers developing later in the day.

Last week it was camera problems; this week I lost electricity, telephone, AND internet. I can't get a break. Internet was just restored 9PM on Sunday evening.

Let's see if I can bring things back up to the present.

While in Hubbard Park last week I spotted this graffiti, which was too high on the tree for me to reach.

So I returned to Hubbard Park on my mountain bike during last week to rectify the situation using my secret Extendo-spray can.

I made my way up to West Peak. The graffiti I mentioned last week, which I couldn't photograph due to my funky camera not working, well, I suspected after finding the same style in multiple locations that I'd probably find it at West Peak as well. This ain't my first rodeo, ya' know.

I was right. And I was prepared.

I also removed the fallen tree I found last week. As promised, I used a bow saw instead of my chainsaw. I'm not so sure this was a great idea; It was a great twenty minute workout, however. Progress was slow and the mosquitos were brutal; they would have been worse had I not brought insect repellent.

Which begs the question-If you spray a mosquito with insect repellent, does it try to get away from itself?! That's probably a question Stephen Wright would ask. So let's take a little diversion and watch some Stephen Wright humor.

I also found a couple new stickers which I removed.

But the real reason I re-traced my steps from last week, when my crapped out camera thwarted my effort to create real subject matter, were these:

I was having a discussion with a reporter a couple weeks ago and he remembered writing an editorial about these abandoned cars, sometime around our country's bicentennial (1976), and catching some flack for doing so and putting Hubbard Park in a bad light. I told him those two relics of the '70s were STILL there, up near West Peak. I decided to photograph these two trips back to the Carter administration. I dream that someday they would be removed. If they got in there, they can get out of there.

Well, my camera issue has been resolved, as have my electricity/telephone/internet (for now). Here's hoping for more stability this summer.

E18

 

Lingering rain meant the road to East/West Peak was closed to cars. This was great for me as even with my late start I would enjoy the road all to myself. And yes; I didn't see another soul.

Visit #1536, Saturday 31 May 25, 12:35-3:00PM, 5.2 miles, 8.4 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the low 60s with lingering showers after a night of rain.

I had specific plans for today and well,...they all went to hell.

I got such a late start because I was waiting for Frontier to arrive between 8AM-1200PM to repair a hum on my phone line.

As I walked past the south end of Merimere Reservoir I spied some geese with a new generation of turd factories.

Like I said, I enjoyed having a car-free hike on the road in the middle of the day.

I picked up my intended trail, and on the way up found a newly fallen tree. So next week will be a

Power Tool Weekend® or I may actually go handsaw on this as it's reasonably small.

And then, when I reached what was going to be the main reason for today's hike (which will remain a secret until next week), it happened.

My camera died.

No, it wasn't a dead battery.

The display would only show the code which is the title of this week's entry.

So you'll be in suspense until then.

And I can't show you all the graffiti I found and removed.

Or the handmade ceramic something or other about the size of a coffee can.

And the other graffiti I couldn't address this week but will perhaps next week.

So instead I'll share with you another story.

I was contacted by a reporter for the Record Journal recently. Jeff Kurz began by asking me questions about litter/nip bottles and my experience with them in Hubbard Park. He was particularly flummoxed by empty nip bottles with the cap back on. How did they do it while driving? Why?

I was reminded of being told of a local  liquor store where a lot of empty nip bottles would be found.

So early on Memorial Day morning I drove to that liquor store just to see how many I could pick up.

Thirty minutes later...

You're looking at SEVEN HUNDRED nip bottles when I stopped. I wasn't going to crawl deep into the weeds for the next 100-200. This was an extension of my conversations with Jeff.

'Til next week, with a replacement camera...