Good evening. I hope you got out and enjoyed this beautiful Christmas Day. Currently 36 degrees with a breeze and partly to mostly cloudy this evening. The moonlight is pretty bright. I have killed the flag light and the lantern, as I don’t need the light with the moonlight. Also, with the long nights the accessory battery starts to wear down and I don’t like starting the truck up every hour or two to keep the lights running. Certainly not as nice as a evening as last night, but yesterday’s weather was exceptional, it’s unlikely we will see another 70 degrees day until the second half of April.
Going to be cooler tomorrow but if weather underground is to be believed, the rain will hold off until 11 PM or later. If that forecast remains, I may stay out camping another day. If that’s the case, I could enjoy a campfire and be in bed by the time the rain comes. Although, then I would have take down the tent in the rain and dry it out at home. Alternatively, I could camp in the truck but not have the heat. We will see. I could go hunting tomorrow and maybe visit the Rogers Center. I brought my 22 and 20 gauge with me.
Today I went to Glimmerglass State Park. I was under impressed. I like Central NY but all of the Central NY state parks are kind of run of the mill… Not real scenic or unique. I was hoping for better views from the park, especially on the Sleeping Lion Trail on Mount Wellington. No such luck, the trail is largely view less with a few broken views of the lake. The Hyde Mansion looked pretty run down, which is so often the case with state historic sites. One view was nice along the lake though. Then again, suffering through a cold, which had my head in the clouds.
Cooperstown was pretty dead this time of year. Very quiet compared to the summer. Also, it’s Christmas Day so most businesses were closed. Burlington was as quiet as it always is in rural Otsego County. Many farms looked pretty muddy from the recent thaw and freeze, and a lack of snow and ice. Plenty of people burning Christmas trash, a country tradition.
I also went up to Basswood Pond State Forest. Just a pond and picnic area. Pretty generic with a very run down pit privy and general lack of state maintenance. The hiking trails didn’t do much for me either. But then again, I’m sick. Avoiding a pothole I slid off the road with the soft road surface, but I got out of the ditch and I don’t see any damage. It wasn’t a deep ditch and no rocks or trees to run against. Oh well.
Tonight camping at Cherry Ridge. Nice evening but a bit chilly with the breeze. For a while I had the lights on but with the moonlight they’ve been dimmed. I had Christmas music going for a while. Now some podcasts and the fire has burned down. Very quiet up here for sure.
New camp lantern I bought about a month ago but lacked the adapters and hoses for now works great. I didn’t really buy it for roadside camping but instead for winter camping in the backcountry in a lean-to, running off the same propane tank as the heater. I didn’t want the extra weight of the liquid fuel lantern to drag up the mountain but also I didn’t want to run out of fuel. The propane lantern connected to the 20 lb tank will not run out at least not at as fast as the heater will run it out. The new Coleman propane lanterns have instant start, which is really cool – no matches are required, just turn the propane on and hit the lighter button. It works great.
One week the first day of 2016 of will have come to an end. New Years Day seems to be coming so fast. But then again, it’s so weird to be camping on Christmas Day and have 50 degrees weather in the day time.