This Week In Hubbard Park: Rain-Third Time's A Charm

Visit #905, Saturday 11 October 14, 8:15-11:25AM, 6.3 miles.
Temps in the 60's, steady rain.

Visit #906, Sunday 12 October 14, 6:55-7:15AM, mileage n/a.
Temps in the 30's, clear.

After my last two work sessions in Hubbard Park, held under rainy skies, you would think I'd have smartened up and stayed home.

I walked the road from Hubbard Park up to the fork to Castle Craig/West Peak, picking up trash along the way. My major objective was a hemlock which had fallen along the roadside, slightly sticking into the roadway.

I didn't walk more than 100 feet before I found a Find of the Week, the first of several...

Here's what Joan Rivers, Botox "expert" had to say on the subject: “I’ve always been open about what I do, because I want [women] to be able to get Botox and not look like a Sharpei." I don't know about you, but six hundred bucks for only temporary relief from wrinkles?

Past the north end of Merimere Reservoir, I spied this sign which had long since been obscured by trees.

A sign does no good if you can't see it and since I had my chainsaw with me, I could fix the problem.

The rain weighs down the leaves, and exposes trees with low hanging branches that are made even lower when wet. This tree's branches hung so low a passing SUV would surely hit them. Since I couldn't reach the offending branch to just prune the tree I had no choice but to remove it.

I performed a proper job of cutting it up and tossing it aside before I continued on my way up the hill.

You can see the adequate set back of the foliage from the road at this spot. Unfortunately it's encroaching upon the roadway in too many other places. A proper pruning of the roadside would maintain the tree canopy which is part of the attraction, while still providing good side and overhead clearance for passing vehicles. This should be done by someone with an eye for maintaining the aesthetics of the road; you don't want wholesale cutting here.

Further up the hill was the main reason I carried the chainsaw today.

This didn't take nearly as long as the other tree. Look in the distance and you can see how hard it's raining. You didn't need to tell me...

I reached the fork in the road and hiked the trail down, making my way to the Halfway House, down to Merimere Reservoir, and behind the water tank. My route had me chance upon 2 more Finds of the Week.

This is the second time I've found Suboxone wrappers in Hubbard Park, the last time being in July. I found Saturday's wrapper at the Halfway House and I'll hazard a guess that it's from the same person who left the other wrapper by Echo Point. Why? Because I've seen people sleep overnight at the Halfway House just as I found the campsite near Echo Point, and there were remnants of a McDonald's meal at the Halfway House, indicating they likely ate then slept there. Also, I can't imagine more than one opioid addict visiting the trails of Hubbard Park. That's enough of my sleuthing for the week.

Lastly on the Interesting Find of the Week hit parade:

I don't see the association between the leaf and the product-a leaf isn't exactly reliable protection, is it?!

Returning to the park, I had to smile.

The Meriden Parks Department had taken it upon themselves to cap off the top of the hollow gate post.

In March of 2013 I reported outside of this blog that someone was using both posts at this gate as their personal trash can as the posts conveniently became a receptacle for their empty coffee cups. I deviously rained on their parade by filling both posts with expandable foam.

While the foam did a good job of keeping the coffee cups out, people were picking at the "muffin tops". Nice to see the Meriden Parks Department implemented a more permanent solution.

I dropped off my bag of trash and went home to wring myself out.

I returned on Sunday, sharing a bike ride with some work. When I reached the road intersection of Castle Craig/West Peak on Saturday, I spied some longstanding graffiti on a metal pole that I'd mostly forgotten. Armed with my new superpower (re: sandpaper) I donned my superhero costume (my lycra cycling garb) and rode there early Sunday morning. My superpowers defeated the villain in a paltry 8 minutes.