Wring Me Out

 

'Twas a wet one on Sunday.

Visit #1601, Sunday 24 May 26, 6:45-9:10AM, 5.6 miles, 8.8 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the low 50s, steady rain.

Yes; I checked the weather. This Memorial Day weekend was to be a washout but the rain would not start until Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately I had other duties which occupied my Saturday so, I prepared for rain on Sunday and made the best of it.

Walking around Merimere Reservoir I picked up this hat hanging on the guardrail. Looking at it I can understand why someone would want to forget it.

As I left the road to follow the trail, I discovered the Meriden Water Department FINALLY replaced the lock I put on the gate in January 2025!

You may recall all the blue ribbons I removed from trees along the hiking trail near this gate. Well, this week I found a few replacements, and I also noticed some trees marked as if they were destined to be harvested.

Looking at a GIS map ("GIS" stands for Geographic Information System) I presume the land is part of Hubbard Park. If this is a logging project, which city department authorized it? Back around 2000 the parks department tried something similar and it was stopped after a public outcry against logging within Hubbard Park. I'll contact city officials and see if I can get an answer.

Exiting the trail I took a short side trip to the radio towers. It's a little known fact that one of the first FM broadcasts in the nation took place at West Peak around 1939 while FM broadcasting was in its experimental phase. The antenna tower, although no longer used, still stands. Look closely and you can see the foot pegs needed to climb the tower (really just a pole).

In the photo below, courtesy of wdrcobg.com you can see the tower in the background.

Here is what the antenna looked like when the station was in operation.

Other historic photos of the West Peak site can be viewed HERE.

I returned to the park and went home to dry out.