Good afternoon. Currently overcast and 33 degrees in Delmar. This afternoon will have a slight chance of snow showers after 4pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 33. Light south wind. Chance of precipitation is 20%. Sunset will be at 4:49 pm with twilight at 5:20 pm which is one minute and 12 seconds later then yesterday.

Tonight we will have a waxing gibbous moon, setting at 1:21 am. Tonight will have snow showers likely, mainly between midnight and 4am. Cloudy, with a low around 19. Light and variable wind becoming west 9 to 14 mph after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.

I decided to come back home from the Adirondacks tonight rather than tomorrow. I heard that up north they could get 3-6 inches of lake effect snow tonight, and I was worried that the tent would likely collapse with the weight of snow. While the morning was nice, this afternoon was pretty gray, cloudy and only about 20 degrees up north. I was also concerned with the low temperatures impeding snow removal tomorrow morning in the Adirondacks.

It was a pretty nice morning to start out the day although a bit chilly. Clouded up midday and after hearing the Winter Weather Advisory, I decided to tear down camp. I was originally planning on going to Warrensburg to charge up the battery to be safe and buy firewood and a small propane canister, so I could run both the lantern and the heater.

The nights sure are long this time of year but actually somewhat shorter than a month ago. Still darkness by 5:15 or so means a lot of camping after dark. Dinner is cooked after dark and by 9 PM I’m plenty ready for bed.

Not a ton of snow up here. About 4 inches of ice, topped by 4-5 inches of snow that I scrapped off in the campsite. I pitched the tent on a tarp above the cleaned off ice. Didn’t have any problems with moisture or wetness in the tent, the heater helped to evaporate any dampness. I parked out by the road to be safe and avoid the risk of getting stuck but I probably could have driven on back if I wanted to.

Last night was fairly dark with mostly just candlelight because I discovered that I could only run either the heater or the propane tank off of the tank when it was below freezing, as the propane lines were freezing up and not enough pressure to run either appliance at the same time. The lines, even when one appliance was on produced insufficient pressure for proper operation. It’s possible that the splitter has just froze up, but I think today when I’m in town I’ll buy a small bottle of propane to run the lantern. I have the white gas lantern but it needs fresh mantels and I good cleaning. Hopefully it will have enough pressure to work in the cold. Last night it was a pain switching the propane lines between the lantern and the heater, especially because in the cold the propane kind of made an icy, slushy mix on the fittings as the remaining propane on the lines expanded as connectors were removed. Liquid petroleum gas when chilled is kind of a substance like gasoline.

I left the step stool home so I had trouble getting the tarp up high enough. I figured though that the lower tarp would keep in the heat. Hated banging my head into it. At times the wind was whipping around enough that eventually a grommet ripped out the tarp and the tarp went flying. By 8 o’clock any remaining rain had already become snow and sleet.

It was plenty warm in the tent. I turned the heat on occasionally through the night but under the covers it was plenty warm and snug. Mostly turned on the heat when I opened the tent to take a piss through the night. Although I woke up from time to time, it was a good long night’s sleep. Listened to podcasts throughout the night. Those USB batteries work pretty good, swapping them out as they run down.

Weekends rarely go entirely to plan. All the preparations in the world don’t always mean everything goes perfectly. It was pretty in the Adirondacks but it sucked that the lantern wasn’t working and I was too far from my truck to run electric lights. This time of year the nights are still so long. But fortunately, no major disasters occurred, and despite cutting the trip short, I’ll call this weekend a success.