Huge

 

The 7:30AM view east from the Halfway House. Yeah; it's dark. But after we turn the clocks back (did you forget?) the sun will be a bit higher in the morning.

Visit #1336, Saturday 6 November 21, 7:15AM-12:30PM, 9.1 miles, 7.2 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the low 30's to start, rising to the low 50's by noon, sunny.

Reported to me by a Meriden resident: Someone actually floated a boat on Mirror Lake while fishing last week. This is a huge no-no but still quite comical.

(Photo courtesy of Bob Pagini)    

The police and the Meriden Parks department were notified. The police department got him off the water, and the parks department will be posting signage. The Coast Guard has been notified and will begin regular patrols on Mirror Lake to catch other violators (just kidding).

I wouldn't be concerned about boaters as much as the possibility of nuclear armed North Korean submarines in Mirror Lake, which would be a huge threat to the continental United States.

This week I was to remove the huge tree I discovered last week which fell across the White and Yellow Trails. Due to the magnitude of this job, I enlisted the help of Paul Bernier. Having an assistant would be a huge time saver as I had quite a lengthy agenda. I arrived at the park early and hiked some trails to pick up trash, then did the same within the park while waiting for Paul to arrive. 

Near the Halfway House, I came upon my Find of the Week. It's too early to be thinking of ice!

We hiked to the tree and established a game plan.

It took about 45 minutes to clear this tree, which was certainly much quicker than had I worked solo.

With his job done, Paul left, and I ventured on. Next on the list was to hike all the way to the north end of Merimere Reservoir to remove a much smaller tree from a trail.

On the way up toward Castle Craig, I encountered another fallen tree. Good thing I had the chainsaw with me.

Once I reached to the top of the Orange Trail, I followed the Blue Trail to the north end of Merimere Reservoir, clearing fallen trees and branches as I hiked.

(Sorry; no "After" Photo)       

None of the above required my chainsaw which is a good thing because I had more work to do and I was running low on fuel.

I finally reached the next fallen tree which did need my saw.

I had one more tree to remove, so I took to the road and headed up toward East/West Peak.

Along the way, I checked on the gate which the Meriden Water Department put across access to the Maloney Canal. The lock has been cut, probably by ATVers. I sent an e-mail to the water department to notify them of the loss. While I forgot to take a photograph, I did photograph the graffiti next to the lock, which makes me wonder whether the graffiti "artist" and whoever cut the lock are one and the same.

This is the 10th occurrence of this particular tag since November 2016.

This was no match for a pro, like me.

The last tree of the day would stretch my chainsaw beyond its limit.

That brown patch of leaves on the right is the result of a fallen tree pushing branches and saplings over.

I barely had enough fuel to finish the job. Close enough for volunteer work. I think you can clearly see the difference. Should I ever pass by with my chainsaw again, I'll finish the job.

I accrued some huge mileage today when I finally returned to the parking lot.