Striking While The Iron Is - Cold?

 

Visit #1580, Saturday 24 January 26, 7:55-9:55AM, 4.2 miles, 10.0 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the single digits, partly sunny.

Visit #1581, Sunday 25 January 26, 7:00-8:30AM, 2.2 miles, 20.0 lbs. of litter.

Ten degrees when I left the house; 10-15 inches of snow expected, to start about 10AM.

Participating in the Tradition Run last week (I diverted from the road and hiked a trail to Castle Craig), I performed a little trail maintenance and found a newly fallen tree, both on the Blue Trail. I failed to complete the former, so Saturday I planned to return.

I dressed appropriately for the brutal cold and was surprisingly warm. Besides the fact I was moving, I'm sure it didn't hurt that my hands and feet were supplemented by those little warmer pouches.

Crossing over the I-691 walkbridge and hiking up the trail I found this newly fallen tree, and it's a biggie.

My first thought was, I'll return to Hubbard Park on Sunday morning and remove it before it gets buried by the snowstorm predicted to start mid-Sunday morning. This is chainsaw work. But my plans eventually changed.

Hiking up the Blue Trail, I revisited a tree I tried to remove with my new tool. I began to do so during my Tradition Run hike and quite frankly, I was beginning to think a hatchet is not the right tool for trail work.

In the photo above you might be able to barely make out where I was chopping, at the far left of the photo.

Ah, but this week I bought yet another new tool and was eager to try it out and compare it to the hatchet.

Like the hatchet, my requirements were lightweight, packable, and effective. This saw met all three.

So how does it compare?

Strictly for performance, my benchmark is my chainsaw, which on a scale of 1 to 10, is an 11!

The hatchet is 4-5.

This new saw is 6-7. It definitely outperforms the hatchet. It completed felling the fallen tree with ease. This is better than a bow saw, and more compact, too.

This saw is a good back and bicep workout as it cuts on the pull stroke vs. the push stroke.

Giddy with such success, I followed the Blue Trail to the next fallen tree which I discovered while participating in the Tradition Run.

Look at the nice clean cut!

Elsewhere on the trails I counted and removed three more of the endless stream of these recurring stickers.

I hadn't planned on performing this next task because recently, Merimere Reservoir was not frozen enough to cross the ice onto Mine Island. But temps in the past couple days and overnight Friday, as well as the impending snowstorm, inspired me to try and remove the campsite on Mine Island.

Obviously, the ice was thick enough otherwise you wouldn't be reading this!

The hillside of Mine Island is incredibly steep and I had a good leg workout to reach the campsite.

This appeared to be the smaller of the two tents, and based on the contents, was used to store wood for a campfire.

Maybe a clue as to who the campers were?

And some more of that tent's contents.

Fortunately, the campers left the storage bag for the larger tent (more on that later) and I was able to pack up the small tent and all the various other stuff and easily carry it back to the parking lot, where I deposited it into the trash can.

Just how cold was it on Saturday? - I returned home and found my waterbottle was frozen.

The remaining tent was frozen to the ground and removing it was going to be tough in this weather, but it would be even tougher buried under even more snow, or if the ice on Merimere Reservoir melted making it impossible to cross over onto the island. What to do?

Return early Sunday morning before the snowstorm, that's what.

I hiked directly to the reservoir and crossed the ice like Jesus walked on water, but under conditions favoring amateurs.

This tent was 8 x 14 feet as advertised on the storage bag I found Saturday.

This was going to be a "getting your cat into the pet carrier for a trip to the vet" exercise. Countless tent poles were cut and much wrangling and cussing ensued.

There were also two sleeping bags and various empty food containers. While doing this, it started to snow which was earlier than forecasted so I had to hustle before things got ugly.

It took two trips to Mine Island and back to remove everything. The large tent, laden with chunks of ice stuck but good to the material, had to be dragged from the island, across the ice and to its resting place.

I piled everything next to the gate at the south end of the reservoir. When warmer temps prevail and the snow recedes, I'l return and give everything a proper send off.

Crazy Ideas

 

Visit #1578, Saturday 17 January 26, 8:50-10:50AM, 4.2 miles, 0.0 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 30s, light snow with accumulation of a couple inches.

Visit #1579, Sunday 18 January 26, 10:30AM-12:30PM, 5.5 miles, 0.0 lbs. of litter.

Last week I was e-mailed by a park regular. Those pesky stickers which keep appearing, some of which disparage me specifically well, they found one on the iron bench at Castle Craig. They tried picking it off but were unsuccessful due to the cold. In our e-mail exchange when I mentioned using heat, they said "use a hair dryer; there's even an electrical outlet nearby!"

Not being one to do something halfway, I brought my Arnold Schwarzenegger of hair dryers AND an extension cord.

Do NOT even THINK of using this on your hair!

Well, I arrived only to discover that electrical outlet was inside Castle Craig and out of reach. That crazy idea wasn't going to work.

Fortunately, I brought Plan B, a thermos of hot water. Mission accomplished.

While at Castle Craig I also removed some graffiti.

All the other stickers I found on Saturday were easier to remove, even those that called me nasty names.

Saturday was a good day to follow this vandal's illegally built trail and see what else I would find.

And their threats addressed to me continue unabated. It feels good to be recognized. 😉

Don't worry; I removed everything.

This bug had a crazy idea, out in the cold and snow without a hat on.

But hey; my weekend didn't end there.

Sunday was the 56th Tradition Run. Because light snow was forecast to add to Saturday's accumulation, I thought it would be a fun event considering the adverse conditions. I was not alone.

Kudos to the Meriden Parks Department; the event was free but they asked for donations of winter wear and food for the Meriden Soup Kitchen. I hope many ponied up for this free event.

But I had another crazy idea; rather than follow the road up to Castle Craig, I deviated and picked up a trail which paralleled the road.

After finishing at Castle Craig, I followed the Blue Trail down, stopping to use my new tool on a fallen tree. I didn't finish.

Returning to the parks maintenance building/event registration, I received the last patch available.

There's still a whole winter of trail adventure ahead in Hubbard Park. Get crazy and get some!

Tools

 

Visit #1576, Saturday 10 January 26, 0945-1205hrs, 5.0 miles, 5.4 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the low 40s, cloudy with rain forecast for later in the day and overnight.

Visit #1577, Sunday 11 January 26, 3.1 miles, 3.4 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the low 40s, cloudy but clearing from overnight rain.

All men love tools. Some men "are" tools, as "tool" is defined in my brand new, 12th Edition Merriam - Webster's Collegiate Dictionary as informal: a foolish or unlikable person: JERK < "Before you compete on a reality TV show, you basically sign away your right to protect yourself from looking like a total tool in front of an international viewing audience." - Steve Tilley>

I could be both.

Last week I was stymied by a fallen tree which refused to yield to my pruning saw. As far as I was concerned, it was the saw's fault and I vowed never to use it again. But being male, and a tool lover, I sought out a new trail tool of destruct- 'er, I mean maintenance. It arrived. Oh goody!

I started my hike Saturday at the gate and ran into Season of the Missing Glove 2025/26, entries 11, 12, and 13, just as you see them.

Up the road I picked up Painted Face on Gravel #5 Since January 2025.

On the Blue Trail, I found this Turtle Fur branded hat. Expensive stuff. I'll wash it and drop it off at Goodwill.

Higher up the Blue Trail I removed my first fallen tree but it required no tools, just muscle.

Here was my first opportunity to use my new tool, but you don't get to see it yet; gotta build suspense!

Down at the bottom of the Orange trail, below Castle Craig, I found this dead opposum which I find unusual considering it was smack dab on the trail.

Due to circumstances beyond my control, I was not able to debut my new tool on that stubborn tree on Saturday. So I returned to Hubbard Park early Sunday morning to the scene of my torment.

And here it is, my new tool, at work.

It's a Gerber Bushcraft Hatchet. Lightweight, just the right length to use either one or two-handed, and be discreetly carried in my backpack. Of course, still being both male and tool lover I had to buy something to keep it sharp so I also picked up a Hults Bruk Grinding Stone.

The hatchet fits the bill when the tree is small, it's a onesy-twosey tree day, and the tree is not too large. I found it a good little shoulder and aerobic workout as well.

Done with that, I headed down toward Merimere Reservoir and while trudging through the woods discovered someone was piling up branches for an unknown reason.

Rounding the gate at the south end of the reservoir, I saw and removed Cat Graffiti #18 since November 2016.

But all the preceeding is not the REAL news in Hubbard Park.

For while hiking the Blue Trail high above Merimere Reservoir on Saturday I spotted THIS on Mine Island.

That's a blue tarp AND a tent on Mine Island. From a photo I took of the island on 3 January 26, the campsite was not there at that time. With the warm temps and melting ice I wasn't about to head out to the island to investigate so that will have to wait until colder weather returns.

 

Whoever got the idea to set up a camp there is a REAL tool. 

Here's a closer photo of the tent, from Sunday morning.

It wouldn't be the first time I found some homeless person trying to make a home in Hubbard Park. And I wouldn't be surprised if I find a frozen body out there...