Daylight Trail Standard Time

 Visit #1450, Sunday 5 November 23, 7:20-9:00AM, 3.3 miles, 4.1 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 40s, sunny and rising to the low 60s.

Caution: Disturbing graphic content. Reader discretion is advised.

During last week's rain soaked hike, I found some graffiti in the form of stickers on a guardrail at the north end of Merimere Reservoir. On Saturday I returned via mountain bike to remove them. 

During that prior week's hike, I performed a brief test and determined it would take extra tools and effort so on Saturday I packed accordingly.

The thermos contains the secret sauce; the gloves protect my hands from the secret sauce.

1. Apply the sauce to a rag.

2. Place the rag on the sticker.

3. Wait one minute.

4. Scrape.

The chisel was the right tool to remove the stickers as the adhesive was very aggressive. the blade scraper wasn't cutting it.

Roughly fifteen minutes to complete the job.

Afterward I took a bike ride up to Castle Craig, and was disappointed to have cars passing me on the way up.

You see, the road is listed as being closed for the winter beginning November 1st and myself, like many other park goers I know, look forward to enjoying a car-free road for at least a portion of the year.

I don't know why the road was open and I imagine many others were disappointed as well.

I left Castle Craig I and pedaled around the reservoir to pick up the trails to the wooden walkbridge on the west side of the park. I wasn't sure whether I spied a fallen tree from a distance last week and wanted to verify what I saw so I might know whether to pack the chainsaw for Sunday's hike.

Yeah, I'd have to pack the chainsaw.

So Sunday morning I loaded up and hiked in over the I-691 walkbridge.

On the bridge I stopped to remove some new graffiti I found. It was easier than removing the stickers Saturday.

Just beyond that was someone's leftover Halloween candy. Looks like they visited the cheap houses.

Then, a most unusual find.

I wouldn't consider pickles trail food but I guess different strokes for different folks.

Also on the walkbridge I found a refrigerator magnet.

Now here's something I wouldn't throw away. I collect them, and put them where else, but on my refrigerator! I should get a life...

Now let's get to work on that fallen tree.

With that literally out of the way, I hiked on.

Passing the Halfway House, I spied someone (thing) that forgot to set their clock back.

Or maybe they're a third shift worker on overtime.

Now here comes the squeamish part.

Hiking back to the park on the Soap Box Derby track I saw a blanket and a couple garbage bags underneath the overpass and thought they were just litter. I picked up the blanket and found THIS.

Someone had dumped a dog, now deceased. No telling whether it was alive when it was dumped there, but the body was cold now.

I picked up the blanket and bags and left the corpse with really no idea what to do.

But luck was on my side. As I was driving out of the park I saw a parks department employee in a golf cart picking up litter. I stopped him and informed him of my finding and asked if he would help me remove it. Brandon/Brendan/Brandan (sp?) checked with his boss who told him to remove it, vs. contacting the local animal control officer. We placed the body in a large garbage bag and he disposed of it.

Relaying the story to someone else on Sunday, they suggested perhaps the dog was microchipped and was dumped instead of being properly euthanized for fear of the owner being reported. We'll never know.

How sad.

Litter Consultant For Hire

 Visit #1449, Sunday 29 October 23, 7:25-9:45AM, 5.6 miles, 5.6 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 50s, rain.

Allow me to back up one day, to Saturday, or even farther!

Back in May 2020 I was contacted by a sweet senior citizen woman and Meriden resident who loves the city so much she goes around picking up litter on the roadsides in her neighborhood.

She somehow found and contacted me asking assistance in emptying overflowing trash cans at Dossin Beach. I don't know what "special sauce" Susan seemed to think I possessed just because I picked up litter in Hubbard Park, but I couldn't turn down her plea. You could tell from the tone of her voice that seeing such litter caused her pain. I was able to oblige her request, and Chris Bourdon of the Parks Department promptly had the cans emptied.

Fast forward three years to late Friday night (after 9PM!), she called again, this time with a different, yet no less urgent request. She had spied litter on Hanover Street that she wanted to have picked up because from her perspective, it was beyond her capabilities. Her calls to the parks department and highway department did not result in the trash being removed. She posted on a Facebook page called "Meriden Talks" and that's just what it was; all talk but no assistance. Then she called ME, looking for a solution.

I arranged to meet her yesterday afternoon on Hanover Street near the soon-to-be-completed linear trail section and helped her pick up the litter. I expected a two hour cleaning operation, which is routine for me. Instead, it was five minutes of loading discarded clothing into bags, which we left nearby. I contacted the City of Meriden via their Request For Service web page to ask them to pick up the bags and even provided photos. We'll see how that goes; I used the same web site to notify the city about the stolen sign in Hubbard Park at Merimere Reservoir. That sign still has not been replaced...

At the end of our brief litter detail she said to me, "Now I know who to call next time"!

On to Sunday.

I couldn't avoid the rain, which was forecasted to start about forty-five minutes after I started my hike.

I found the bollard at the gate, which I found was in the process of being vandalized, has been repaired. A tip of the hat to the Meriden Parks Department, which caught this before the bollard disappeared.

Looks like I-691 bridge repair work is taking place in Hubbard Park.

Which lead me to my next discovery.

I found this coupling just where you see it, on a manhole cover adjacent to the retention ponds. Finding it there, I assumed it belonged to the Meriden Water Department, so I picked it up and left it at their gate.

Only now do I wonder whether it belonged to the crew working on the bridge and someone purloined it and left it up the road from the site. Hmmmm...

Much further along the road around Merimere Reservoir, I saw this road sign.

Only then did I figure out what was going on at back at the playscape- there was a road race being held.

Since I was on the road well ahead of the race start, I decided to change my plans and follow the race route, picking up litter in advance of the runners' passing.

Following the road, I spied these stickers on the guardrail.

"Scope" will not be there after next week. Special tooling is being requisitioned as we speak.

Part of the race route.

Upon reaching the 5k road race turnaround, the rain started. I doubt anyone will be partaking of the water stop.

I reached Castle Craig without seeing The Black Dog.

Returning to the park I noticed these new signs posted around Mirror Lake. A brilliant idea that's long overdue. Now, we can only hope people will abide by them.

I went home, stripped off my wet clothes and laid out my backpack's contents to dry.

The Hardcore Continues

 Visit #1448, Saturday 21 October 23, 9:05-11:05AM, 3.7 miles, 12.4 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 50s, rain.

My weekend schedule didn't allow for me to wait until a sunny and dry Sunday to hike in Hubbard Park.

So I put on my big boy pants and got wet.

Today's trail pictures show you the foliage is reaching its peak in Hubbard Park.

Good thing I was out there on Saturday. I found a newly fallen tree on the trail near Merimere Reservoir.

More on this later.

I enjoyed the colors all throughout the hike.

But that fallen tree I found earlier- that was bothering me. Expecting a lot of people venturing out on the trails during the fall color bloom, the trails should at least be clear. So I returned to Hubbard Park early Sunday and removed it.

Car to tree and back in thirty minutes, and it was dry. Ahhhh...

Are You Fit?

 

Visit #1447, Saturday 14 October 23, 7:00-9:00AM, 4.9 miles, 2.0 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 50s, mostly cloudy with rain developing in the afternoon.

I'm currently reading Fit Nation - The Gains & Pains of America's Exercise Obsession, by Natalia Mehlman Petrzela.

Then President John F. Kennedy continued former President Eisenhower's executive order establishing the Presidential Council on Youth Fitness but dropped the "Youth" from the title in an attempt to encourage all Americans to exercise. Here's an excerpt from Chapter Six.

"In 1908, (then President) Roosevelt had challenged the Marines to hike fifty miles in three days. Kennedy raised the stakes to fifty miles in one day, and he invited his whole staff to take part. Robert Kennedy took on the task most publicly. Wearing Oxford loafers that were soon soaked by rain, Robert, along with four members of his staff and a rambunctious dog, set out at five o'clock in the morning. Some of the party dropped out, and the team nearly abandoned their mission altogether halfway, but the press continued to photograph the dwindling squad from helicopters. Alone in the snow and slush by mile thirty-five, Kennedy finished the journey and joked that as miserable as he was, he couldn't renege on a physical challenge from his brother".

I didn't hike fifty miles in loafers on Saturday but I did carry my chainsaw. Had President Kennedy been alive, I hope he would have approved.

I hiked up the Blue Trail toward West Peak to remove a tree across the trail which I discovered last week.

Two cuts later I rolled them downslope.

Up at West Peak, I pleasantly discovered the Meriden Parks Department has picked up the anti-freeze bottles I found last week and placed in a convenient to locate spot. My thanks to them.

Down at Merimere Reservoir, it appears the Meriden Water Department is not as efficient. The stolen sign I reported to the city last week has not been replaced. 

In case you don't know, Meriden has a "311" web link where you can report anything in the city you see that needs service. This is how I reported the missing sign. I received an automated reply, which doesn't exactly inspire confidence that it actually reached a real person.

I will have to start a one-man office pool to see how long it will take for them to replace the sign.

Reaching the park, the bollard I reported missing in early September and was promptly replaced, is in the process of being vandalized or stolen again. You can unthread the nuts by hand. Today I found the bolts loosened as if whoever was caught in the act while unbolting it from the ground. Time for the parks department to think of a more secure method of attachment. We'll have to see if the bollard is still in place in a week.

My workout is done.

In The Year Of Our Lord

 

... 2023 A.D.

Visit #1446, Sunday 8 October 23, 7:30-10:25AM, 4.9 miles, 4.0 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 50s rising to the low 60s, sunny and breezy.

It's Week "AD" in my almost completed project trimming the roadsides to East and West Peak. That translates into roughly sixty weeks since the beginning, which really started in August 2021.

I trekked my way up the Blue Trail toward West Peak and found a newly fallen tree which wouldn't budge so I'll bring tools next week to remove it.

Up at West Peak I came upon my Find of the Week.

All those bottles were filled with anti-freeze. How environmentally considerate of the dumper to bottle the fluid rather than drain it directly into the ground. 😕

I stacked all the filled containers behind the fence surrounding the microwave tower. I'll contact the Meriden Parks Department and ask them to pick up the bottles.

Roadside trimming continues.

I call this time of year "Lemon-Lime Season" because the colors of the leaves remind me of that soda.

Down at Merimere Reservoir was an unusual sight: 

The "Public Water Supply" sign which I documented in early September, has been stolen. I'll notify the Meriden Water Department and see how they respond.

Last week's, and yesterday's rain have resulted in strong water flow from Merimere Reservoir.

Foliage season is upon us and the next few weeks will offer the best colors so get out there, at least before 2024 A.D.