My Master Plan

 

'Twas another sticky, humid hike. Really; Meriden is out there somewhere- the Saturday morning view from Castle Craig.

Visit #1490, Saturday 3 August 24, 6:45-8:30AM, 4.0 miles, 6.2 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 70s rising to near 90, cloudy with humidity over 90 percent.

This morning I began my hike and no sooner did I reach the gate at the soap box derby track that I encountered some graffiti.

I intentionally blurred the graffiti to obscure what was an Instagram address I verified when I returned home.  I did not want to give the creator any free advertising. Of course,  I removed the graffiti.

At the gate at the south end of Merimere Reservoir, I encountered #12 in the recurring series beginning November 2016, of this cat graffiti. Still off their meds, I guess.

I gave it the same treatment.

While cleaning up the parkling lot at Castle Craig I found a dog dish in reasonable condition. I thought I might clean it up and bring it to Goodwill, but when I stopped for a haircut after my hike, I offered it to my dog-owning barber, who took it.

And here was my "Master" Plan for today-remove this Master Lock.

Hiking down the Blue Trail, heading toward the beehive fountain, I found the trail had become overgrown. There's a reason why I carry hedge clippers in my backpack. Don't all hikers carry hedgeclippers?

I hope to perform more hedgeclipper magic next week.

I found another smiling rock. I wonder if it is related to the one I found last week.

I dropped my litter off for the week and drove my sweaty self to the barbershop.

But I wasn't done. At least, not for the weekend.

I took a bike ride early Sunday morning and decided to take my road bike a little off road, following the trail in Hubbard Park that parallels I-691. I had hiked this trail yesterday and it was clear. However, on Saturday afternoon strong thunderstorms with high winds rolled through the area. To my surprise, I found a fallen tree branch as a result of that storm.

I removed it from the trail and wondered if I'll find other trail issues on next week's hike.