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 It was cold out there this morning. Wet, too!

Visit #1471, Sunday 24 March 24, 6:55-9:00AM, 4.6 miles, 1.0 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 20s, sunny with bitter, high winds from the north.

Just like two weeks ago, it rained heavily all day Saturday meaning any venture into Hubbard Park on Sunday was going to be a sloshy affair. (I washed my company van and my car in Saturday's rain, taking advantage of the free rinse!)

I had two different agendas to choose from for Sunday, so I chose the one where I was less likely to get wet, but the thought of drenching my feet again in cold water like the last tromp did not appeal to me.

What to do?

I entered the park via the north end early Sunday morning. The Merimere Reservoir spillway was dumping copious amounts of water.

The high side of the spillway was not employed.

Now I had to cross the same stream that soaked my jeans those two weeks ago.

This time I came prepared.

I switched into my muck boots to cross the brook, then removed them when I stopped to cut the first tree; the soles are too soft for hiking in rocky terrain to be practical.

On this trail last week, I found a couple fallen trees which needed removal from the trail.

As a warm up I cut back this hemlock which wasn't quite blocking the trail.

In the pic above, you can see one of the illegal trail markers I covered over last week, which I failed to show you then.

And boy; did I need a warm up. While working out Friday morning, (at 4:30 in the morning, Elmer!) this week's exercise routine included Sumo Deadlifts.

It was now Sunday and my ass felt like Sister Sebalda paddled me good for talking in class! Hopefully the hike and warm up would alleviate some of the soreness.

Now it was on to some REAL fallen trees.

First tree, done. On to the second.

I reached the top of the trail and began following the road toward West Peak when I chanced upon my Find of the Week.

The child's hat is currently soaking in Oxi-Clean then I'll bring it to Goodwill. You can't throw billed hats in with the regular wash; all that colliding with other clothes invariably cracks the hat's bill. I've ruined many a cycling hat that way, until I wisened up. I'm slow on the uptake...

I picked up another trail near West Peak that would take me back to Merimere Reservoir. I hadn't been on this trail for a while and having the chainsaw with me it would be handy if I found anything across the trail.

While I didn't find anything major, I did trim back one tree sticking into the trail.

Exiting the park at the north end, the spillover was flowing mightily.

I didn't care; my feet were dry.