Spring Cleaning

Late in the day, Merimere Reservoir is a peaceful place to be.

Visit #1067, Saturday 8 April 17, 4:00-6:40PM, 6.0 miles.

Visit #1068, Sunday 9 April 17, 12:00-1:00PM, mileage n/a.

I gathered up my chainsaw this week to clear a couple trees that I spied last week, which had fallen across a trail up near Castle Craig.

I walked a clockwise loop, over I-691 and up toward Castle Craig.

I reached the fallen hemlock, and went to work.

I dropped the tree...

...then positioned the pieces to line the trail.

I walked this short trail to the other end, which dumps out on the road again. Across the road is the Blue Trail, and my Find of the Week.

Those logs were cut by me in March from a tree which had fallen across the Blue Trail. Of course, I was smart enough to toss them off-trail, so SOMEBODY was evil enough to put them across the trail.
Care to guess who? Anyway, I cleared the trail; let's see if they make their way back into the trail again.

Shortly thereafter, I came upon Find of the Week #2.

Smell not included.

I then proceeded toward West Peak. I hadn't been on a particular trail in a few months, and had a hunch that from the high winds and recent storms, I'd find some fallen trees. I was right. Here are the before and after photos, just to show you I was hard at work.

 

With all the tree cutting done, at the end of the trail, I picked up the road and walked back along Merimere Reservoir to the park. Nearing the park, along the Soap Box Derby track, my heart sank as I discovered a host of new graffiti which wasn't there when I walked the same section of road last week. I dropped off my trash for the week, and pondered next week's activities.

I was going to leave it until next week but I knew the sooner it was dealt with, the more it may discourage more tagging. So I returned Sunday to paint over all of it.

My artist's palette:

My new chainsaw-capable backpack is smaller than my older backpack. Consequently, it wouldn't support a gallon of pain AND a full 9" paint roller and handle. Fortunately, I discovered smaller, 6" paint rollers and corresponding paint trays. I was back in business.

My canvases on Sunday:

Incidentally, I encountered that tag above in October 2015, July 2016, and September 2016, along with the "JK" tag in various locations in Hubbard Park.

Oops; forgot the "After" photo for that one.

 

 

On the right in the above photo, you can see this sticker:

Grammar-challenged, or seafood?

And just when I thought I was done, I had a hunch our spray paint addicts weren't done and I should look elsewhere. So I walked a loop around the Soap Box Derby track and the road from the water treatment plant back to the park, and found what I was looking for on this small outbuilding.

BOOM! Done.

Satisfied I covered everything,  I packed up and called it a day, my spring cleaning done for the weekend.