Damage Assessment

 

Gotta do whatya' gotta do.

Visit #1519, Saturday 22 February 25, 11:25AM-1:55PM, 5.2 miles, no litter.

Temps in the low 30s with a slight, chilly breeze, sunny.

Visit #1520, Sunday 23 February 25, 5:45-7:00AM, 1.0 miles, no litter.

Temps in the 20s, clear skies and dark!

Last Sunday's ice storm brought down a lot of branches in my neighborhood. It was time to see how the trails in Hubbard Park fared.

I reached the I-691 walkbridge only to find yet more stickers plastered on the fence post, which I removed.

Conditions were very icy. It paid to wear my Stabilicers as well as bring hiking poles.

And there definitely were a lot of broken branches on the ground. I removed what wasn't stuck under the frozen snow but will definitely have to return with a chainsaw for some things. I'll also have to inspect all the other trails to assess the damage.

Exiting the trail I see the padlock I used as a substitute for the water department's missing lock, is still intact.

Walking on the road toward the north end of Merimere Reservoir, I could hear a racket which sounded like ATVs in the distance. Until it wasn't in the distance anymore.

I saw no signs that they came from Elmere Reservoir and with the gates closed, I don't know how they entered Hubbard Park unless it was from West Peak and they were heading back that way when I encountered them.

Reaching the Soap Box Derby track I saw my paint job from last week looks very good.

But it wasn't until I left Hubbard Park that I got my biggest surprise.

I got onto I-691 East via West Main Street and as I approached the walkbridge over the highway I could see a new, very large piece of graffiti on the walkbridge abutment. This would not do.

So I drove to Hubbard Park Sunday morning before sunrise to remedy this problem.

Sorry for the poor photo; it was very dark and difficult to get a good angle on the picture unless I was near the highway. Then of course, I might draw the attention of the gendarmes!

Note the "artist's" signature at the far right. It comes up again.

I would have preferred to use a roller and paint tray but the slope was too steep, so a paint brush it would be. It took me roughly 30 minutes to cover. As you can see, by the time I finished the sun had risen, exposing me to all sorts of raised eyebrows!

I have to admit from the highway it looks pretty good!

Upon the return walk across the bridge, I discovered the same person had tagged the bridge with their signature. So we know they walked across the bridge to get to the abutment vs. parking on the side of the highway.

No paint needed to remove this.

I assess I'm done this weekend.