Peter's Holiday Fireworks

Visit #961, Friday 3 July 15, 3.5 miles.
Temps in the low 80's, sunny, dry, and silly pleasant.

This week's post is early because I'm very busy. Look at it this way; you've got all holiday weekend to enjoy my blog entry, and you know you want to!


In previous posts I mentioned I'd be continuing with my Five Year Plan during holiday weekends.

Well, the July 4th weekend began my final and most ambitious project to date, and it went off with a bang.

The parking lot at West Peak, particularly the eastern perimeter, has been neglected for decades. Trees were overhanging the pavement so much that it was affecting parking on that edge. Today was the day I began to do something about it.

This entailed, horror of horrors, actually DRIVING up to West Peak. Unheard of for me, but I needed to bring a ladder to trim effectively.

This is a view north, from the southeast corner of the parking lot. You can clearly see how far many branches are extending over the pavement.

All the requisite tools are assembled, now let's go!

This gives you a basic idea of the work; drop the branches/trees, cut them up, and toss them into the woods. It was pointed out to me that doing so will make it more difficult to find all the trash that's tossed beyond the guardrail. Hopefully once the leaves decay finding trash won't be that much of a problem.

My ladder is in the background where I finished for the day. You can't quite see the improvement in this photo.

 I could only allot 2 hours for today's work. It was tempting to continue and put this chore to bed, but It will have to wait until perhaps Labor Day weekend.

This view of the northeast end of the parking lot shows the work left for the future. I'm over half way done. The work went faster than expected and I was well pleased with the results.

Here's the view back upon my progress today. You can clearly see the overhead clearance and how it enables vehicles to tuck into the parking lot's perimeter.

If you get a chance, check out my work in person and you'll be able to compare the finished portion with the unfinished. I'd enjoy to hear any comments you may have.

Gotta run-don't lose any fingers this weekend!

Kickin' Back

Visit #960, Saturday 27 June 15, 12:00-4:00PM, 6.9 miles.
Temps in the low 70's, with rain expected to begin late in the afternoon.

During the week I called a trusted informant who frequents Hubbard Park to see if any of the trails suffered tree damage as a result of last week's storm. I was told the trails were clear, which saved a lot of time on my part inspecting them for fallen trees and branches.

 The same source told me there was a lot of trash in both the West Peak and Castle Craig parking lots. Now I had an agenda.

Early Saturday morning, 6:30AM in fact, I struck out on my mountain bike to ride in Hubbard Park and check out some other trails for storm damage. While the trails were clear, I found what would be my Find of the Week near the radio towers at West Peak. That firmed up the route I'd take today.

From the parking lot I walked to Merimere Reservoir and picked up the trails to Castle Craig. At the Castle, I cleaned up the parking lot and surrounding area and left my first bag of trash.

I then walked the road to West Peak to retrieve that Find of the Week.

This must be someone's idea of "kicking back in Hubbard Park".

The early morning mountain bike ride paid off because seeing what I was up against I knew what to bring with me to make moving this recliner easier.

Just like last week, I used my handy-dandy comealong strap to assist.

I engaged in a little "Anytime Fitness" workout, performing a loooong set of cable rows.

This was easier than just plain dragging the recliner as it kept the chair from toppling over.
After roughly 200 feet, I reached the parking lot. I gave my second bag of trash a comfortable perch.

I then proceeded to clean up the parking lot, depositing a third bag of trash in the same cushy spot.

At this point it was starting to rain oh so lightly, as you can see in the above photo.

Shortly thereafter I came upon my second Find of the Week.

Looks like Nicholas (I redacted his last name and address) is making the rounds of our judicial system. Note how the names of the Wheeler Clinic employees lack last names; I guess some of the pre-trial intervention-ees have a habit of taking action against their intervention-ers. Good luck Nick; hope you remembered your first appointment!

Hiking down from West Peak, I reached the wooden walkbridge only to discover Find of the Week #3.

When I found the envelope addressed to "Jon" I thought for sure I'd find a Dear John letter. Fortunately I, and Jon, had a happier ending.

Reaching the walkbridge over I-691, I discovered as I predicted, that one of the two American Flags affixed to the fencing, has been stolen. We'll see if the remaining flag survives until July 4th.

Back at the park I deposited my 4th bag of trash.

With the July 4th holiday directly in front of us please remember; safety first!

The Art of Bluffing

Visit #959, Saturday 20 June 15, 12:00-3:15PM, mileage unknown.
Temps in the mid-70's with mild humidity and cloudy skies.

I had the opportunity to ride my mountain bike in Hubbard Park on Friday and recon the trails. It's an efficient way of judging the status of things as well as getting a workout at the same time. The ride paid off as I found a tree had fallen across one trail and would need to be removed. Now I would know which trail to hike and what tools to bring.

Things started off innocently enough, walking from the park to the south end of Merimere Reservoir. While picking up trash around the south end of the reservoir, a young man, tattooed up both arms, an unlit cigarette dangling from his mouth, carrying a selection of fishing rods and a backpack, parked his car against the gate, and proceeded to walk toward me.

When we crossed paths, the conversation went something like this:

Me: Fishing isn't allowed in the reservoir.
Him: (Laughs) What are you gonna do about it?
Me: I guess I'll call the police.

Well, that prompted a quick U-turn by the tough guy so now we're both walking in the same direction, toward his car.

Him: Don't talk to ME like that!
Me: What did I say that offended you?
Him: You know, a lot of people fish here; you'll have to camp out if you want to catch all of them.
Me: I don't expect to catch all of them, just those I see.

He took his tattoos, his cigarette, and his fishing gear and left.

Problem is, I don't own a cellphone! But in today's society, it's presumed pretty much everyone does. It was a spontaneous bluff. I should play poker...

After that entertainment, I continued on the trails, picking up trash and trimming where necessary.

I reached the tree which had fallen across the trail.

Too long and clumsy to carry, with a small canopy at the top. That's why the recon ride on the bike paid off; I knew what to bring to easily clear the tree from the trail.

I connected to the tree with my web strap using a cow hitch and with a minimum of wrestling, dragged the tree off-trail.

I cleaned up the remaining trails and deposited my trash at the playscape.

The "V"

Visit #958, Saturday 13 June 15, 7:15-10:00AM, 4.8 miles.
Temps in the mid-70's with increasing heat and humidity.

Summer has arrived and with it, higher temperatures. I wanted to avoid the quasi-heat wave we were having so I set out early on Saturday morning.

As I reported last week, there was a tree which had fallen across a trail near the walkbridge over I-691. I planned on removing it, and it would require the services of my chainsaw.

But first, I had to get there.

I started by picking up trash around the dirt parking area at the northwest corner of Mirror Lake, where I came upon my first Find of the Week.

Well, either Libigrow is popular or we have a serial user in Hubbard Park, as I reported recently on finding another packet of the product.

I walked west on the trail and reached the fallen tree.

 The small branch added at the base of the tree was placed there by mountain bikers to aid riding over the log. I say just remove the log altogether.

With that goal achieved, I walked the remainder of the trail to West Main Street then turned around and headed back to the park via other trails, collecting trash as I went.

I reached my van and deposited my first bag of trash.

My chainsaw would no longer be needed; time to switch tools.

 Next, I headed over to Percival Park Road and walked toward the north end of Merimere Reservoir, to pick up trash and complete Part V of my Five Year Plan. Now that the west side of the road is complete, I plan to begin trimming around the parking lot at West Peak. I expect to begin around the July 4th holiday.

Enroute, I discovered there must me some unwritten rule that it's okay to leave your doggy poop bags on the steps of the building by the retention ponds. I guess it's inside knowledge.

Then I came upon my second  Find of the Week.  E.T. lost the antenna for his Phone Home device. It was in rough shape, too.

Here's how it looked when it was new!

As I walked north, I paused by Echo Point and trimmed branches away on the near side of the guard rail. The view is being obscured by trees growing downslope on the far side of the guardrail. I'm toying with the idea of restoring the view by clearing out the trees below. We'll see.

At the north end a did a U-turn and picked up trash from the opposite side of the road.

If you traced the route I traveled today you'd find it sort of formed the letter "V" hence the title of this week's post!

Back at the parking lot I dropped off my second bag of trash.

 

Tidbits

Park an antique automobile around Mirror Lake in Hubbard Park, add a little Photoshop, and you're taken back in time...

Visit #957, Sunday 7 June 15, 9:40AM-12:00PM, 4.4 miles.
Temps in the mid-70's, perfectly sunny and dry.

I didn't have any great plans for today, but something always makes my outings interesting, such as the car above.

I threw some tools in my backpack on an idyllic day to cut down a very skinny tree which I thought was leaning too much over the Green Trail. Of the three trees on the left, it was the worst of the bunch.

No Photoshop was involved in THIS photo, just a bow saw and some elbow grease.

I then hiked over to the Halfway House where I found someone had stockpiled some wood for their campfire but didn't use all of it.

That wasn't the only thing that was er,  hot at the Halfway House.

Okay now...

I hiked some of the lower trails, pruning and picking up trash as I went. Pointing toward the walkbridge over I-691, I wondered whether I'd find the American flags attached to the fencing. One is displayed above the east bound lanes, the other over the west bound lanes. You see, I've been finding them there for several years, always attached around Memorial Day by some person I've never seen. They usually last until about the Fourth of July. Either they're stolen or burned by then.

I was not disappointed.

I pointed myself back toward the park where I deposited my trash.

Here's a teaser of my planned work for next week's episode. Hint: It involves a chainsaw.

Until then, maintain.

Destructive Behavior

The view west, toward Mount Southington.

Visit #956, Saturday 30 May 15, 10:30AM-1:15PM, 4.9 miles.
Temps in the low 80's, sunny, breezy, mild humidity.

It's tough to stay motivated when you see repeat bad behavior.

A few weeks ago there was a brush fire in Hubbard Park, no doubt started by a carelessly tossed cigarette. On Friday of this week yet another brush fire was started, this time by a campfire.

I went mountain biking in Hubbard Park at about 7PM Friday and stopped to chat with the Meriden Fire Department and Connecticut Forest Fire Service who were still on-scene with hoses extended roughly 1800 feet to the fire. It never occurred to me they'd be back at it on Saturday.

Paul Bernier joined me this week to assist; my thanks to him.

In last week's activities, I reported finding 2 trees maliciously bent over that had to be removed. Paul told me of a THIRD tree on another trail which met a similar fate and needed removal.

We parked north of Hubbard Park and began our trash pickup at the north end of Merimere Reservoir. The trail, and the tree to be removed, were near the road so it was easy to access. Paul wanted to leave 4 feet of tree standing as it's used as a hand hold for people descending the steep pitch. I let him do the honors.

First he cut ANOTHER tree which must have been pulled over by the same person. Then he sawed through the tree at the top of the photo.

We then turned right and headed up a trail which would take us just shy of Castle Craig. Just before we reached the road we encountered a branch I'd forgotten about that was encroaching into the trail. I let Paul do the work.

Trail restored.

The road is just to the rear of the photo. We turned right and headed toward West Peak.

Enroute, we discovered the Connecticut Forest Fire Service trucks had returned to the site of yesterday's fire, dumping more water on it.

Just when I suggested to Paul we hike through the woods to take photos of the fire site, the firefighters came back to their truck. They were finished with their work and began packing up.

Left to right: Larry, Jake, and Bob. A big thanks to the crew for helping protect Hubbard Park.
You can tell Jake's the junior member of the crew by the size of his headlamp! ;-)

Paul and I continued on, cleaning up the West Peak parking lot and the peak area/trails. In the process, I came upon my Find of the Week.

We turned around and walked the road back down to the reservoir, cleaning up both sides of the road.

I didn't want to leave the bags at the reservoir for Monday pickup by the Meriden Parks Department; they'd sit there looking ugly. It was an easy task to carry them back to my car where I disposed of them at home.

Memorial Day and Good Samaritan Weekend

Visit #954, Saturday 23 May 15, 6:30-10:30AM, 4.0 miles.
Temps in the low 60's, sunny, breezy, and dry.

Visit #955, Sunday 24 May 15, 6:00-8:20PM, 4.0 miles.
Temps in the mid-70's, sunny, breezy, and dry.

I've reserved holiday weekends to work on my special project, my 5 Year Plan; Memorial Day weekend qualified. I'm working on the western side of the road past Merimere Reservoir. On Saturday I picked up where I left off in April, at the jersey barriers and heading north. Below you can see a couple Before and After shots. The idea is to trim back the foliage so walkers don't have to move far out into the road into the path of oft-zooming cars. At the same time I don't want to clearcut the area; the trimming should be aesthetically pleasing. Since I'd previously cleared larger foliage from this strip with my chainsaw, I only needed loppers and hedge clippers for Saturday's work.

While I've already trimmed the east side of the road, it looks like it could use some sprucing up; maybe later this year.

Saturday's work fell shy of the north end of the reservoir and will have to be completed another time. Of course, I picked up trash on the outbound leg but couldn't watch both sides of the road while concentrating on the western side. While working, a Good Samaritan came along and thanked me for my work. He then proceeded to tell me he occasionally brings a trash bag with him to do something similar but had forgotten today. Would I mind if he walked back to the park and picked trash out of the woods and left it in the road for me to collect on my return trip? Hell no! It would save me a lot of aggravation. The guy did  a thorough job.

On Sunday I returned to fulfill a special request and peform regular trail cleaning. I'd been told of a tall, slender oak tree at the top of the trail near Castle Craig that was vandalized, essentially bent in half. Left alone, it was growing tall and straight and had a promising future. Instead it now needed to be removed.

I started at the playscape and hiked the trails until I reached the tree.

While laboring through this tree with my bow saw, I encountered Good Samaritan #2 of the weekend. He applied pressure to the tree so my saw would not bind. It sped up the process.

I picked up the road from Castle Craig shortly and connected to the Blue Trail pointing me down toward I-691. Good thing I brought the bow saw for I encountered another tree across a trail. I wonder if this was toppled by the same person who bent the other tree as there was no reason why this tree should have fallen on its own. I see some strange stuff out here so it wouldn't surprise me. In fact, if you read on, you'll see things got stranger...

Done with the heavy work for the day, I continued picking up trash as I returned to the park. As I did, I came upon my Find of the Week:

For those of you not familiar with Libigrow, you can follow the link for a primer. You should also know the FDA thinks you shouldn't be using the stuff. You've got to wonder how some rogue pharmaceutical manufacturer can get away with putting a controlled substance such as sildenafil (the active ingredient in Viagra) into an over-the-counter herbal supplement. You've also got to wonder why people would even try this junk, risking their health.

I reached the park and tidied up the dirt parking area in the northwest corner of Mirror Lake. I walked the road around Mirror Lake back to the parking lot as a large patch of grass was cordoned off, presumably for reseeding (the trail exits onto the reseeded area). Anyway, something didn't look right as the cordon tape was torn off the stanchions. I hope it wasn't done so people could park there-the park was certainly packed with cars when I arrived earlier so it's obvious parking was at a premium.

I retied the tape to both stanchions but a key section was missing, leaving an opening for people to park there!

This would be an ideal place to post a surveillance camera and see how many people drive over the curb and park their cars on the area; a real study in human behavior.

The trash cans at the playscape were overflowing and I couldn't see leaving a bag on the ground, so I took it home with me.

Enjoy your Memorial Day, and remember those who died in service to our country.