It’s been a fun but somewhat troublesome trip so far. Big Red has been behaving well, despite being somewhat of a dog on the hills. I do need to think about gears before I burn out the transmission or damage the engine on the hills. Just I don’t want to spend more money on Big Red to buy gears.

The lights and batteries are preforming well, although I also need to replace a cracked wire that sometimes malfunction. It’s a cheap piece to replace, I just have to have some make it up.

But beyond that, things have been troublesome. Things were super wet yesterday, with deep fog on the mountains. I skipped Mount Utsaythana because everything was covered in Fog in Stamford.

I got Brooks BBQ yesterday and there service was fast but I wasn’t super thrilled with their chicken. Maybe it just was the dreary weather.

I get out to Berry Hill Firetower and remember the upper landings are closed. Nice views still but the weather still is real dreary.

Then I head down to Balsam Swamp State Forest camping area. There is nobody there, so I decided to setup in the large accessible campsites by the lake.

It’s starts to pour. I get out the tarp, string it up and get a smokey campfire going. Then I hear something like gunfire in the distance, getting closer. I’m like, what the heck. A few minutes later this guy with a handlebar mustache pulls in the campground, and asks if I have a tow rope. His 1970s era Winnebago has blown a differential and he’s stuck. I don’t carry a tow rope anymore.

Somehow he gets the Winnebago going and pulls in also with a motorboat and a grill — and a gas generator. Of course the lake is still frozen.

Nice man and family, but of course he pulls into the campsite across the way from me, down by the lake. I like my privacy and ability to listen to music loud, but so be it.

The guy asks if it’s okay to run his generator. I say fine, assuming he plans just to run it to charge his house battery or run something like a microwave temporarily.

Of course not. His generator is no louder then a lawn mower and my site is like 100 ft away. It wasn’t that much of a nuisance until I realized he planned to run it 24-7. Must folks turn them off, especially during quiet hours. Listening to it all night long kept me awake and super annoyed.

So I packed up and left this morning. Now that the fog burnt off it’s pretty nice. Been fishing at Whitney Point with little luck. Also didn’t have much luck last night. But I think the tonight will go much smoother. Camping at Long Pond and also will hit more spots at Whitney Point Reservoir.

I hate gas generators with a passion in the woods… They really can drive you insane.