Nor'easter

 

Indeed the wind was howlin' on Saturday. The leaves were dropping like a prostitute's skirt.

Visit #1620, Saturday 26 Sep 26, 7:30-9:40 a.m., 3..4 miles, 1.7 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 60s, intermittent rain, and high winds, due to a Nor'easter.

Last week I reported on some new Cat's Patootie graffiti I'd found that needed attention. I'd also received an e-mail from one of my park informants telling me about a newly fallen tree I wasn't aware of. I took a mountain bike ride to the park during the week to seek out both.

I arrived at the park fifteen minutes after the gate across the road should have been closed but it was still open.

But just as I took the photo two things happened; that car you see parked up ahead arrived, and the parks employee assigned to locking the gate drove by (note the vehicle far in the background) no doubt to get stragglers at East/West Peak to leave. I advised the former to move their vehicle otherwise he and his date would be stuck behind the gate. Initially skeptical, they eventually took my advice and thanked me.

I took care of the graffiti.

Only for it to reappear on Saturday as #50, and to be again removed by me.

The other one was fine.

I did however, find  and cover #49 during that bike ride and it did not reappear.

Lastly during that weekday ride, I inspected that fallen tree I was informed about.

I wanted to remove both fallen trees but with the Nor'easter scheduled to dampen both weekend days I didn't have a choice to pick the drier of the two. So be it. I'm not too crazy about running a chainsaw in the rain because everything gets grungy with sawdust.

While the rain was intermittent, the wind was high and constant, even producing whitecaps on Merimere Reservoir. It was eerie yet beautiful at the same time.

I checked the weather before leaving the house and was fortunate enough to arrive during a lull in the rain.

I reached the first tree and dispatched it.

While hiking to the second tree I met another intrepid hiker who told me they heard, and saw, a tree branch snap and fall. Rare, but you get to witness the power of nature and Saturday's wind was mild by comparison.

The second tree across the trail was larger and needed more work. It also started to rain again increasing the grunge.

I then took a side trip onto an illegal trail created by one of our park's regular vandals. I found more of their religious tracts and mysterious notes. They still repeat the theme from previous notes; thank you for this and that, and wishing something about a woman. I wish their handwriting was more legible.

I removed a couple stickers from the bollards, otherwise known as Rommel's Asparagus.

But the award for Sticker of the Day belongs to this one.

Slightly difficult to read it says; "I hate colored peapole (sic). I don't know what "peapole" is. A vegetable, perhaps? 😉 Clearly, the person who wrote this (My instinct tells me it's the same person of the religious tracts and notes) is older because the term "colored peapole" is outdated let alone misspelled.