I Found It

 

If you forgot to set your clocks back, you missed this morning's sunrise. It was a toasty one.

Visit #1502, Sunday 3 November 24, 6:45-9:05AM, 5.4 miles, 4.3 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the high 30s and sunny. Warming up nicely if you were hiking, especially uphill!

Last week, in my haste to paint over some graffiti on the gate at the north end of Merimere Reservoir, I knowingly used the wrong color paint. I returned this week with a better match.

While the start of my hike was certainly chilly, once I reached the open, north end of the reservoir, the sun warmed me up just enough to take the sting off my hands.

Here's what caused me sleepless nights all last week.

I partially redeemed myself, which hopefully leads to better sleep. I will return to the scene to see if it needs improvement.

This week I was going to try and follow a virtually unknown, unused trail which I'd previously spotted, and expected would lead me to the radio towers at West Peak.

I left the road at the gate to the Maloney Canal. I was surprised to find the lock securing the gate had been cut. This is the second time I've discovered the lock cut or missing, the first time being in November 2021. I will send an e-mail to the water department, along with photos. Read on and I'll guess who cut the lock.

I started up the trail and found not one, but TWO of the painted hearts on trees. If you recall, I found one painted on a rock far removed from the two I found this week. Another serial graffiti vandal, perhaps?

Since I had spray paint with me, I covered over both of them.

Note the "cat's butt" graffiti tag in the first photo. That's the 13th time I've found this tag since November 2016.

Remember the brush fires in Hubbard Park last week? I didn't make a concerted effort to find them then, but it just happened as I picked up the trail I chanced upon the remains of one of them.

Note the yellow ribbon on one tree, probably to mark the site by the fire department.

So that leads me to think it was the fire department who removed the lock from the gate at the Maloney Canal.

I picked up this mysterious trail I hoped would lead me up to the radio towers at West Peak. If I died out there I doubt I'd be found until my bones were picked clean. It was interesting and fun to say the least not to mention a change of scenery.

Being such a seldom traveled trail but obviously used by SOMEONE, I found no litter, except THIS.

So I'm on a VERY seldom used trail and find this VERY NEW wrapper. Here's my theory: Hiker starts near the radio towers and follows the trail down. They light up, and these cigars can last 20-30 minutes, roughly the time it would take to descend this trail to the bottom, where they flick the butt with their right hand off to the right, where it eventually starts the fire.

That's my theory, anyway.

I reached the radio towers and followed the Blue Trail down to the Main Trail where I chanced upon another find, as you see it.

Either a random ATVer broke off the mirror on their machine while joy riding through Hubbard Park, or a firefighting crew used an ATV to reach a fire elscwhere in Hubbard Park from the fire mentioned above, and broke off the mirror on their vehicle. (Note there were two separate brush fires reported in Hubbard Park.)

Crossing the highway and walking the trail back to the park, I discovered a newly fallen tree which, while not blocking the trail, is close enough that I'll remove it.

The tree did a number on the fence separating Hubbard Park from I-691 but that story is for another week.