2021 Year End Tally

 It was a quieter than usual Sunday in Hubbard Park as people recovered from Christmas Day activities. Hangovers? Sore arms from opening presents? Who knows?

Visit #1343, Sunday 26 December 21, 7:55-10:55AM, 4.6 miles, 14.7lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 40's and sunny. Quite comfortable for a December morning. The days are getting longer, too!

I wanted to pick up where I left off, using my pole saw to trim overhanging branches on the road around Merimere Reservoir. The trip to the starting point was a bit dicey; light snow on Christmas Day turned to slush, which froze overnight. While temperatures were to rise well above freezing today, they first had to get there. The conditions were certainly questionable for the few runners I saw this morning. One passing runner equated it to a certain level on the Super Mario video game! I don't think the runner's name was Luigi...

I reached my starting point, roughly adjacent to the north end of Miner's Island, and picked up where I left off.

At the water treatment plant, I see the iron I left there TWO WEEKS AGO has still not been picked up by the water department. I actually saw the water department employee leave the site this morning and drive right by it...

I dropped off the pole saw at my car and continued on, hiking the trails on the south side of I-691.

Along the way I found Season of the Missing Glove 2021/22, Entry #1. Winter doesn't officially begin until I find my first lost glove!

Around this time a police officer stopped by and asked if I had seen a man wearing black pajama bottoms; they were looking for a missing Alzheimer's sufferer. I kept an eye out but didn't see anyone matching that description.

I returned to the parking lot and dropped off my last trash bag of the year.

And the 2021 year end tally is:

240.6 miles hiked; 694.0 lbs. of litter collected; chainsaw use, 44 times.