I'm Lovin' It

 

Makin' chips, that is. My apologies to McDonalds for co-opting their famous slogan.

Visit #1523, Saturday 15 March 25, 1:30-4:20PM, 4.6 miles, 1.9 lbs. of litter.

Driving to Hubbard Park Saturday, I got this good feeling about what I would be doing. Maybe it was the manly anticipation of chainsaw use.

I picked up where I left off last week. My first broken branch was going to be dicey since it was still attached to the tree, it was a large branch, and it was tall.

There was pressure on the branch as you can see it's touching the ground. I was concerned the branch would let go from the tree as I cut because I was working directly underneath. Best I could do was remove that pressure and hope the unsupported branch would eventually fall on its own in time. It's now floating freely about three feet of the ground. I would prefer to drop the entire tree under supervision; that may or may not happen in the future.

Moving on, I found some recent graffiti on a rock, which I'll address soon.

This was NOT my doing and I don't endorse it. Besides; it doesn't emphasize my best features! It will go soon as well.

Hiking down to the I-691 walkbridge, I found this sticker which I've found before this year and which I removed.

Another recent repeat offender was this graffiti I found on the walkbridge.

It was while removing this that a mountain biker stopped by.

He jokingly asked if I was polishing the bridge (!) then, probably because I had a chainsaw on my back,  told me there was a fallen tree on a certain trail back up the hill. So I reversed course.

Well yeah, that's in need of removal. Note the Blue Trail marker on the tree in the background. Thanks to the mountain biker for that info. Merely identifying where the trail needs maintenance saves me a lot of time.

Hiking back toward the walkbridge, I came upon my Find of the Week. How I missed it on the way up is beyond me, and why someone carried them so far just to discard them here beside the trail is another mystery.

I couldn't reach the other end of the bridge without finding more graffiti, obviously done with the same wax pencil and therefore the same people as that above.

It received the same facial treatment.

One last fallen tree was discovered on the trail across the street from Belmont Avenue.

Next week: A brief rest from the trail maintenance.