Good evening! Partly clear and 52 degrees in Kelley Stand, VT. Calm wind. While the low dew points helped out drying things out, the woods has remained quite soaked. 

Today I hung out at camp and later on went over to Grout Pond and paddled around the lake for a couple of hours. No black flies on the lake. It was scenic but the water was fairly cool, not good for swimming. Made some videos and took some pictures. 

Once the campfire got going well it’s been pretty decent but at first the wood was pretty wet. The smoke is blowing in the direction of the driest part of the campsite, but I’m sitting in a wetter location. 

This afternoon I rearranged the campsite to avoid the worse of the mud and while things dried up a bit, it’s still a mess. I am thinking about packing up tomorrow before the rain in the evening and going home to avoid getting muddier. I’m not worried about getting stuck with my big jacked up truck but my gear will get even muddier. I don’t want to have to put away wet gear or a wet tarp if I can avoid it. 

Tonight will have a slight chance of showers before 10pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low of 48 degrees at 4am. Four degrees below normal. Calm wind. Chance of precipitation is 20%. In 2016, it got down to 67 degrees with shallow fog and mist and mostly cloudy skies. The record low of 33 occurred back in 1994.

Waxing Crescent Moon tonight with 18% illuminated. The moon will set around 11:13 pm. The First Quarter Moon is on Thursday night with partly cloudy skies expected. The Full “Strawberry” Moon is on Friday, June 9th. The sun will rise at 5:16 am with the first light at 4:42 am, which is 39 seconds earlier than yesterday. Tonight will have 8 hours and 54 minutes of darkness, a decrease of one minute and 30 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will be partly sunny, with a high of 71 degrees at 1pm. One degrees below normal. Maximum dew point of 56 at 5pm. Calm wind becoming south 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon. A year ago, we had shallow fog, mist, then later mostly cloudy skies and a high of 93 degrees. The record high of 93 was set that year. There was a dusting of snow in 1902 in Albany. 

In four weeks on June 24 the sun will be setting at 8:35 pm, which is 14 minutes and 26 seconds later then today. In 2016 on that day, we had mostly sunny skies and temperatures between 83 and 53 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 80 and 59 degrees. The record high of 96 degrees was set back in 1943.

Looking ahead, 50th Gas Up in Gallupville is in 2 weeks, Eat Your Vegatables Day is in 3 weeks, Latest Sunset of Year (8:37 PM) is in 4 weeks, July 1st is in 5 weeks, Cow Apprechiation Day (Moo?) is in 7 weeks, Hottest Time of Year Ends (83 Average) is in 8 weeks, National Lasagna Day is in 9 weeks, Last Sunset After 8 PM is in 11 weeks, National Dog Day is in 13 weeks, Lowville Cream Cheese Festival is in 16 weeks and Beaver Moon is in 23 weeks.

The laser lighting is pretty tonight now that I improved the projection. It looks like the trees are full of fireflies. The simple eligence is beautiful. It doesn’t look like high tech laser light, despite that’s what it is. I haven’t hooked up the new set of party lights I bought, I’m actually considering to return them. I have the receipt so I could do it. I’m not sure. It was only $20 and I could use them later in the summer. On the other hand, I’ve been thinking about getting a set of color controlled lights for im the truck cap, which are also $20, so returning them u could get my $20 back to spend on that. I want more colors options for my truck cap and brighter colors then the current set up. I guess it really doesn’t matter. 

Tomorrow I’ll decide if I should head home in the evening or stay another day and drive home in the rain. A lot depends on the timing. If the rain comes late enough, I could take down the tarp in the evening. Then have everything ready to go in the morning. I’ll think about it. 

I’m thinking I’m ready for bed. 

Good morning! It’s Memorial Day Weekend. Happy Black Fly Season! Two weeks to 50th Gas Up in Gallupville. Big anniversary. Some of the tractors they show now were brand new back then. 

Partly sunny and 63 degrees in Kelley Stand, Vermont. 24 degrees colder then last year. There is a north-northwest breeze at 5 mph. The dew point is 48 degrees. The skies will clear tomorrow around 7 am.

Now that the sun came out its pretty nice. A bit cool and still fairly damp but with the sun I’m hopeful that with the sun and breeze the mud will continue to dry on up. I dug some trenches to help the mud dry up. This isn’t a particularly wet campsite and it’s hardened with gravel but it still pretty wet here in the woods. 

Already went through a shit ton of socks. I packed extra but my cracked boots leaked a lot and I didn’t want to wear my hunting boots by the fire, lest I melt them and I didn’t want to wear my new boots and get them all muddy. I hope I have enough socks, I could run back to the Walmart in Bennington if I need more. 

With all the rain and now the sun, the black flies are out and showing zero mercy. I soaked my cowboy hat with DEET and rubbed some picardian on my skin, so they aren’t biting much but they are swarming. A light breeze is helping too. The black fly season only has two or three weeks left. Thank the Black Fly God. 

Today will be partly cloudy, with a high of 68 degrees at 4pm. Five degrees below normal. Maximum dew point of 49 at 10am. North wind around 5 mph. A year ago, we had thunderstorm, rain, but other wise mostly sunny skies and a high of 87 degrees. I spent most of that day swimming in Grout Pond. Much warmer that year. I might go for a paddle on Grout but no swimming thus year. The record high of 94 was set in 1914.

The sun will set at 8:21 pm with dusk around 8:55 pm, which is 53 seconds later than yesterday. At sunset, look for partly cloudy conditions and 62 degrees. The dew point will be 49 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Today will have 15 hours and 3 minutes of daytime, an increase of one minute and 31 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a slight chance of showers before 1am. Partly cloudy, with a low of 50 degrees at 3am. One degree below normal. Light and variable wind. Chance of precipitation is 20%. In 2016, it got down to 67 degrees with shallow fog and mist and mostly cloudy skies. The record low of 33 occurred back in 1994.

As previously noted, there are 2 weeks until 50th Gas Up in Gallupville when the sun will be setting at 8:31 pm with dusk at 9:06 pm. On that day in 2016, we had mostly sunny skies and temperatures between 74 and 47 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 77 degrees. We hit a record high of 96 back in 2008. I think I will probably go. I want to have some of their ice cream. Maybe camp at Burnt Rossman and swim at Mine Kill? 

The selfie stick works well. You can laugh at it but it’s good for making videos and taking pictures. At $16 including tax it was very affordable and included a Bluetooth remote which doesn’t work with my camera. But still I’m happy with it. 

The laser lights are cool with the trees in the woods but I tell you I’m sure it would attract the attention of any passing fire warden as they look like embers burning on the branches or fireflies as they are supposed to look like. On a flat surface like a wall, they are pretty boring but in the wilderness, they are quite pretty.