Memorial Day 2016 Afternoon

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Good afternoon. 78 degrees and partly sunny at Grout Pond. Even more clearing expected for later. Not a half bad day for Memorial Day. Spending a few more minutes as a beach bum,  enjoying as much of the sun and water before I have to go home.

Last night was pretty foggy and cool but for the most part I missed most of the rain until morning. The one advantage of the cooler weather was there were no black flies. Black flies were back for the morning, so I took another bath in DEET. Burgers and coleslaw last night and started a campfire and read until 10 pm. I was tired, so I went to bed early.

Figured out why the propane splitter wasn’t working all the time. Based on reading on the Internet, I learned it’s important to turn off all the valves on the stove and lantern before turning on the tank slowly to properly pressurize the propane lanes. Now things working perfectly now. I’m happy about that.

Now I’m heading home to unpack. I’ll upload photos over the next few days.

May 29, 2016 Evening

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71 degrees on Forest Road 71. Stopping up here as I know I have good cellphone service and I needed to check my phone for work email. Parked by a swamp along the upper end of the road and based on my observations out of the truck windows, the black flies are intense.

Today the water and sun was nice at Grout Pond until the front pushed in and brought thick low clouds that look like fog in the mountains. The pond seemed warmer than yesterday but it varied a lot as there still a fair amount of cold water still cycling up. Still I’m glad it’s warm and nice. I’m tired of winter.

Went down to West Westboro to buy some ice at a very traditional general store. By the time I reached West Westboro, I think I would have been better off going to Arlington. Would have had better cellphone reception there. That said, I remembered the place on Forest Road 71 with the good reception.

Never got to use the kayak. I really should have explored Grout Pond or Branch Pond yesterday, when I had the boat on my roof. Oh well. I’ve done it before. It would have been choppy on the lake today.

Heavy rain or thunderstorms is coming my way, so I should probably head back to camp, so I’m not driving through it.

May 29, 2016 Afternoon

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Good afternoon. Definitely summer out there, with temperatures around 75 degrees here off of Branch Pond Road in the Green Mountain National Forest. A warm but nice afternoon. Black flies are pretty bad but with ample DEET soaking my clothes, cowboy hat and to a lesser extent skin, they are manageable. I strung up a tarp to block out the sun and provide some protection when the inevitable thunderstorms come with the summer heat of recent.

I found a decent way to get out to the Green Mountain National Forest, by taking NY 43 out to Sand Lake, then NY 357 to Brunswick, then NY 2 out to NY 22 then North to NY 7. There are probably a few more small towns you have to go through this way but my trip out here was congestion free and most of the route was posted 55 mph. In contrast, NY 7 is constant stop and go on the weekends from left turning cars, Hoosick Street is awful, and there often are crashes. Kelly Stand Road is open although no camping along the reconstructed area, but then again, there never was much good camping up there.

Today I’m going for a hike back to Stratton Pond but I’m not sure if I will go all the way back. I’m watching the weather. Like yesterday, I want to spend some time in the truly frigid waters of Grout Pond cooling off. Then maybe go for a paddle, assuming that the thunderstorms hold off. I have firewood stored under the tarp for later in case we get rain.

All and all, it’s been a somewhat buggy and hot weekend but it sure beats being stuck home in the heat.

May 27, 2016 Morning

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This hot day starts the Memorial Day Weekend after work. We are up to 78 degrees on the way up to 88 degrees, although afternoon thunderstorms may keep us from making the high. By afternoon the dew point will creep up to 67 or so, which will make it uncomfortable outside. The dew point is expected to remain in the upper 60s for most of the weekend — so get ready to enjoy that heat and humidity. 70-71 dew point expected on Sunday and Memorial Day — very muggy!

I have packed 4 gallons of ice for the cooler (along with two half gallons of ice packed around the propane to keep it reasonably cool in the truck). I’m hoping the ice lasts the weekend in the cooler, because where I will be in Vermont, it will be bit of a haul to buy more ice or other supplies during the weekend.

It’s going to be hot weekend out in Vermont, but I expect it will be pretty nice and relaxing.

May 26, 2016 Night

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We are down to 71 degrees under mostly clear skies. The dew point is 55. Definitely still fairly warm. Only getting down to 64 degrees. Tomorrow will be hazy if not cloudy with temperatures around 90 degrees and much more humid.

I’m packed for Memorial Day Weekend camping. I have a few more things to do in the morning but I should be able to leave right after work. I have a campsite in mind in Vermont but I realize with the holiday weekend I may not get it.

Hooked up the PA speaker under my truck. It’s not super loud but it was only $19 and will be fun to play with occasionally. I could hook up an amplifier to make it louder but I really don’t want to run any more wires.

I also bought a solar spotlight to use up at camp, to light up the flag when either tent camping or after I kill the inverter for the evening. It’s a small 100 lumen LED lamp but it can run 6 hours per night or nearly all night in the summer. I didn’t want to spend $38 on it but I hope to get a lot of use out of it. Camping on the Hudson River Islands State Park would be cool with the lit flag or even a tent in the back country.

Glad I bought a big box fan last year. I need tonight. Good night.