A Base Coat For Winter

The first snow of the season that looks like it's gonna hang around.

Visit #929, Saturday 10 January 15, 11:50AM-2:20PM, 5.0 miles.
Temps in the low 20's, sunny.

Visit #930, Sunday 11 January 15, 2:35-4:20PM, 6.0 miles.
Temps in the high 20's, cloudy with precipitation forecasted for Monday.

Saturday was a good day to tackle another one of my "lingering projects".

The tree below folded in half during a fair weather storm several years ago. While not obstructing a trail or the road where the Soap Box Derby is run, it WAS inside the fence line and just looked plain ugly. It needed to be removed.

Using my chainsaw, I made sure to drop it in such a fashion as to minimize the possibility it would damage the fence. I was successful. Dropping the tree in the opposite direction wasn't going to happen.

It took 45 minutes to chop the tree up and toss it back over the fence. Things looked good as new when I was done.

Here's another angle from when I returned to Hubbard Park on Sunday.

I packed up my gear and proceeded to hike a loop of the trails below Castle Craig. Along the way I spied some people daring to cross Merimere Reservoir onto Miner's Island despite the fact the entire reservoir wasn't frozen. Oh well...

I picked up what little trash I found at the Halfway House and continued on. Knowing Len, I expected to find some of his hijinks somewhere along the trails. I wasn't disappointed.

You may remember I reported finding this tree fallen across the trail and returning with my comealong, then my chainsaw, to remove it. Gee; I wonder how those logs found their way back across the trail?

After seeing this, I suspected there might be other evidence of Len's work elsewhere, but I would have to pursue it tomorrow. For today, I returned to the parking with my little bag of trash.

On Sunday I walked the road from the playscape all the way to Castle Craig, then over to West Peak. Enroute, I sniffed out more of Len's work.

As I walked over to West Peak, I wanted to see if the Meriden Parks Department had replaced the telephone pole blocking the trailhead that SOMEONE rolled away. Yes, they did. Thanks!

All during my walk on the road, by observing footprints in the snow, I'd been seeing signs of someone wearing ice grippers on their shoes. Unfortunately, I recognized them as a less-substantial style and would soon find out how less-substantial they were.

As I made my way down from West Peak, I found my proof:

Remember boys and girls, when I recommend a product as I did last week, seek no imitations!