Return of the Routine

 With the chaos and crowds of the Daffodil Festival out of the way, I can get back to normality.

Visit #1598, Sunday 10 May 26, 6:25-9:00AM, 5.5 miles, 3.2 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the low 60s, cloudy/foggy but clearing after a night of rain.

First, a little reminiscence.

For those of us old enough to remember when the Hubbard Park playground was located below the skate house, remember the swings so tall they had to be 10 feet from seat to top? You could get some serious air once you got the swing in motion. Or remember the incredibly long seesaw?

Well, I just finished reading The Anxious Generation, How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness, by Johnathan Haidt. In a nutshell, Haidt lays out how smartphones in the hands of youth is causing all sorts of mental problems. What's that have to do with swings and seesaws? Before kids glued their eyeballs to screens they engaged in activities which stimulated their minds and bodies such as actual play. The book has a photo which I date to roughly 1900 (because of the bicycle in the photo), of children playing on what could be called a jungle gym of its day. It reminded me of Hubbard Park's old playground.

Could you imagine a playscape like that today?!

 For the 4th time this year, someone keeps spray painting red on this birch tree, despite my covering the red with black paint.

This is foam sticker #25 I've found and removed this year.

The hike was foggy, quiet, and cool.

Rounding the corner to Castle Craig, I noted the tree on the right was hanging into the road and in need of a little trim. So I gave it one.

It was so foggy, I found the klieg lights on, even in daylight. That is, unless the photo sensor failed.

I speak from experience; do NOT look directly into the light! 👀

I left the trail and walked the road around Merimere Reservoir back toward the park.

I see the speed bumps are back for the season.

At this speed bump a small tree was leaning over into the road. Like the tree up at Castle Craig, I trimmed it back.

Further along the road I found and covered over Cat Graffiti #31 since November 2016.

I watched a pileated woodpecker climb a tree. Actually they sort of hop. The bird kept climbing the tree as I reached for my camera and put some distance between us.

Why is it called a pileated woodpecker? Because of the red tuff of feathers on the top of the head, or pileum, which is the top of the bird's head from the bill to the nape.

Back at the parking lot I waited for city councilor Chad Cardillo. He introduced himself to me a couple weeks earlier during the pre-Daffodil Festival event. I was too late off the mark thinking of a photo opportunity so I asked to meet him this Sunday morning.

I thought it would be a great idea if he tried on my backpack to get a better idea of what I do. While I imagine most hikers in Hubbard Park carry little more than water, a snack bar, and a cellphone, I'm pretty certain people would be surprised by my load. And I was right, because the first thing Chad said as he hefted my backpack was, "What do you have in this thing?!"

I liken it to:

Trying on Batman's tool belt,

or Superman's cape,

or trying to lift Thor's hammer!

I weighed it when I got home but I won't tell you the number. The question is, do YOU dare to take the Backpack Challenge?

Thanks to councilor Cardillo for being a sport about it!

Doing The Daffodil Sneak

 

With parking at Hubbard Park off-limits due to the Daffodil Festival, I had to use the back door.

Visit #1597, Saturday 2 May 26, 6:15-8:25AM, 4.4 miles, 2.9 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 40s, with intermittent showers then clearing.

Saturday morning I parked in Berlin on Park Drive and walked in through the north gate. I was greeted with some new graffiti on the spillway.

Well now; we'll have to take care of it. More on that later.

The good thing about this graffiti artist (and I use the term loosely) is they were nice enough to put the year of creation on the end of their tag. That lets me know I wasn't too slack in my duties.

If you recall last week's entry, I mentioned finding some leaf bags at a trailhead in Hubbard Park. Chris Bourdon, Director of Parks and Recreation, notified me his staff had picked up the bags. Thanks, Chris!

And also if you recall that same blog post, I found some unusual blue ribbons all along one relatively seldom used trail. At one point the ribbons went in two different directions. This week I would follow the opposite direction from last week and remove whatever more blue ribbons I encountered.

This week I removed an additional 22 ribbons following an even more obscure trail, and from the evidence I can safely conclude it is an illegally built mountain bike trail.

Some evidence besides tire tracks includes this tree root which was profiled with a hatchet or similar tool.

Anyway, I exited the trail near West Peak and while policing the parking lot found this collection of stickers on the fence.

I later tried researching the meaning of this bumper sticker but came up empty. If anyone has an answer, contact me, and I'll think of a prize for whoever can solve this mystery.

About the time I began to remove the stickers, it started to rain, hard enough to put on my raincoat.

As I followed the road down toward the reservoir, a parks department Jeep, Lic. 300.ME I believe, passed me going up presumably to Castle Craig perhaps to put up the flag? Five minutes later he was passing me again heading downhill.

Reaching the sharp bend at the bottom of the hill I found this fallen tree just barely poking in to the road.

There was no way I was going to move this off to the side but with my handy folding saw I managed just fine.

Before:

After:

I think the sawing clocked in at under 3 minutes.

Now, about that graffiti. I returned to the park early Sunday morning to do business.

I couldn't safely reach the right side of the tag from this side of the spillway so I approached it from

the opposite side, above the guardrail. Consequently I wasn't able to see that well looking down at it from an awkward angle, hence the less-than-complete job vs. the left side. I hope you still approve!

By the time you read this the Daffodil Festival will be over, and perhaps the ducks can move back to Mirror Lake in peace.

I Am A Poseur

Gotta get an early start; with the Daffodil Festival Tag Sale Weekend, parking would quickly get ugly.

 Visit #1595, Saturday 25 April 26, 6:40-9:50AM, 5.6 miles, 3.7 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the high 30s to start, quickly rising to more comfortable temps, mostly sunny.

Visit #1596, Sunday 26 April 26, 6:30-8:30AM, 4.1 miles, 3.0 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the low 50s, cloudy and drying after overnight rain.

By my records and rough estimates, I pick up 300-500 lbs. of litter each year in Hubbard Park.

After reading this recent article in the Meriden Record, I don't dare brag about my numbers.

Interesting that the CTDOT keeps numerical records of the litter they collect. I wonder if they got the idea from me? 😉

However, when starting Saturday's hike, I did find this unusually large dumping at the dirt parking lot in the northwest corner of Mirror Lake. I'll let the parks department know about it but they have their hands full with the Daffodil Festival, I'm sure.

I hadn't been to the farther reaches of Hubbard Park in many weeks and looked forward to the views and woods. First stop would be West Peak.

Along the way I found Cat Graffiti #26 since November 2016.

I did not have the tools with me to address this which is part of the reason I returned on Sunday. I did however have the tools to remove Cat Graffiti #s 27, 28, 29, and 30, all found on Saturday. I KNOW where to look.

After, a sample:

Along the way up to West Peak I picked up Find of the Week #1.

Why this mace canister was discarded on the Blue Trail, and why it was empty, we'll never know.

Reaching West Peak in the early morning, I took a few moments to enjoy the view.

Then it was back to work and hiking.

Taking this trail down, I found a few fallen trees, which I was able to remove with the help of the newest addition to my toolkit; compact, light, yet effective. I'm kicking myself for not being aware of this tool sooner.

Also on this long established yet little used trail, I started finding, and removing, these blue ribbons.

In fact, I removed FIFTY-TWO ribbons, and that wasn't all of them because they went off in other than my intended direction of travel. More on them next week.

And what hike wouldn't be complete without finding and removing more foam stickers? Here are #s 23 and 24 of 2026.

I found it necessary to return to Hubbard Park on Sunday because on Saturday's hike I found evidence of our park's red paint graffiti vandal, and if I went looking in the right places, I could expect to find, and remove, more.

I found DOZENS of unsightly tags, and covered whatever I found. Here is just a sample.

Heading back to the park on the trail behind the water tank, I found a fallen tree with branches encroaching on the trail. My handy saw to the rescue.

Walking on the Soap Box Derby Track  I picked up Find of the Week #2.

Since the road the Soap Box Derby is on was used for vendor parking for the tag sale as I noticed on Saturday, I suspect this was dumped by one of the vendors, otherwise this road is never open to traffic.

Regardless, this is sad. There was a trash truck parked by the tag sale tent so I tossed the tire and my Sunday trash into the truck.

What's not sad are the crowds attending the tag sale.  Good luck bargain hunting!