February 20, 2016 Night

Good evening. Currently partly cloudy and 50 degrees in Delmar. Tonight will have a slight chance of showers between 1am and 2am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 39. West wind around 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Waxing gibbous moon that is close to full, setting at 4:54 am. Tomorrow’s sunrise will be at 6:42 am with first light at 6:14 am, which is 2 minutes and 30 seconds earlier then today.

Tomorrow will be cloudy with a slight chance of rain after 3pm. A high near 43. West wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

It was nice to get back hiking in the Catskills today, although Plateau Mountain is a pretty steep hike for the first half mile although it moderates the farther you get up the mountains. I haven’t spent much time in the mountains recently. Pretty nice day but in the evening it clouded up. Stony Clove was quite pretty.

I haven’t been through Greenville and Freehold in a long time, and it kind of brought back many memories and observations on how things have changed in the fifthteen years. Lots of mud due to the lack of snow on farms and the rural landscape.

As much as people talk about the Adirondacks and the Catskills, but I realize they aren’t the only mountains in the world. Hiking in the Catskills reminds me a lot of parts of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Driving up NY 23A, I reminded of many of the narrow, steep, and windy US Highways throughout West Virginia. I love mountains but I see the writing on the wall for our state, and how they’ll only be increasingly closed off to the public’s use.

I’m really hoping to get to West Virginia and Virginia, along with maybe Tennessee and explore more of the Blue Ridge Parkway. I also want to spend more time in the Shenandoah Valley and seeing more of America. The Catskills are great but they still are in New York State.

I hope you had a good day. It certainly was a warm one and some great hiking. Sleep well!

February 20, 2016 Afternoon

Good afternoon. Currently partly sunny and 48 degrees on Plateau Mountain. Tonight will be mostly cloudy, with a low around 34. West wind 10 to 13 mph.

Sunset will be at 5:40 pm with twilight at 6:08 pm which is one minute and 17 seconds later then yesterday. Tonight’s Waxing Gibbous Moon with 86% illuminated will set around 4:30 am. Full moon on Monday. Tomorrow will be mostly cloudy, with a high near 38. West wind 8 to 10 mph.

In four weeks on March 19 the sun will be setting at 7:14 pm, which is 34 minutes later then today. There are 1 month, 10 days until April Fools Day. when the sun will be setting at 7:29 pm.

Nice afternoon on Plateau Mountain. Not too cold but windy. Despite a ton of people parked down by Notch Lake, there isn’t any one else on Plateau per the sign in book or based on the lack of human footprints. It’s surprising as the views atop Plateau are as good or better that Hunter Mountain, another without a firetower.

February 20, 2016 Morning

Good morning! Happy Saturday. Finally the weekend! It is currently partly cloudy and 38 degrees in Delmar.

Cloudy start but it already starting to clear. Today will have a chance of showers before 10am, then a slight chance of showers after 3pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 54. South wind 10 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Today in 1971 the Β Emergency Broadcast SystemΒ is accidentally activated with an erroneous national alert. What was meant to be a test went out as a real alert, but demonstrated the flaws in the system when several radio and television stations ignored the alert.

Happy Birthday to Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader. He turns 73 years old today. He’s old enough, maybe he should consider a life of leisure and retire. Dealing with a group of GOP senators all day long must be tough work.

Those who stay up late will want to wish Trevor Noah a Happy 32nd Birthday!

There are 1 month, 1 day until First Day of Spring. Today should definitely feel spring like outside.

I think I’m going hiking somewhere today but I’m a bit unsure where I want to go.