Return of the Chainsaw II

 Picking up where I left off last week.

Visit #1528, Sunday 13 April 25, 6:00-8:50AM, 6.5 miles, 18.4 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the low 40s, lingering showers to start, then cloudy.

Determined to catch up on ice storm damage from many weeks ago, I saddled up the chainsaw for at least the third consecutive week.

I started at the crack of dawn so hopefully I would arrive home in time to watch the King of the Classics bicycle race, Paris-Roubaix. 150 miles, and twenty-six sections of cobblestones the size of your head that will detach your retinas, this year's edition was expected to be a brawl between two favorites, Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar, former and current world road champion respectively.

You can watch the action below by clicking on the "Watch on Youtube" link-skip the first 3:05 and jump into the good stuff.

I walked around Merimere Reservoir in the gloom of gray skies and a stiff, raw wind.

I picked up these two bolts, one old and one new, which were leftovers from the recent guardrail replacement and which someone left on the concrete blocks.

I hiked almost all the way to West Peak before reaching the fallen branch I intended to remove last week. It was a lot of distance for just one branch, but I'm not complaining-it was a workout worth every step.

I reached the road and intended to hike down another trail I hadn't yet inspected for storm damage. But along came a trail runner whom I asked about that trail and whether there was anything that needed removing. She said it was all clear which gave me the green light to walk down via the road instead.

Good thing too, because along the way I found a pair of the shock absorbent blocks used on the new guardrail. I'm not sure if they were forgotten or tossed, but I wasn't going to leave them there. Due to their shape I was able to slip them over my chainsaw bar versus carrying them by hand. They added over twelve pounds to my already heavy backpack but hey; it's just more of a workout, right?

The Maloney Canal was flowing like nobody's business after the recent rains.

And I finished in time to watch Paris Roubaix.