Search Results for “dec truck trails longer then 1 mile ”

Hiking Back to Pharaoh Mountain from Crane Lake Road

Pharaoh Mountain is located about 10 miles east of Schroon Lake, and can be accessed from the Long Swing / Pharaoh Mountain Trail from the North along with a much steeper and longer trail from Pharaoh Lake from south.

If you choose to take the infamous and rough Crane Pond Truck Trail to it’s end, and then park at Crane Pond, it’s only about a 3 1/2 mile hike up the mountain. If you stop at Alder Pond, and don’t drive through the shallow end of Alder Pond to get to the last mile of Crane Pond Road, then it’s a 4 1/2 mile hike each way.

Below is Alder Pond. It was an amazing morning, as the rain let up and started to clear off. The truck trail cuts through the end of the pond, and with the recent rains, it was deeper then I wanted to take my old pickup through.

At end of Crane Pond Road is Crane Pond (not surpisingly!) There is a parking area here, and Crane Pond is known for it’s good fishing and beauty.

Reaching Glidden Marsh on the Pharaoh Mountain Trail. Pharoah Mountain is in the distance, with the peak sticking up. Most of the trail is relatively flat, until you reach the mountain, and then you start climbing.

About halfway up there, there is the most charming little water fall.

As you climb, views become progressively better.

Reaching the summit, there are views in almost all directions, although you have to wonder around the top of the mountain to get all views. Here is looking North-East toward Ticonderoga. You can see Lake Champlain in the distance — barely, along with Crane Pond, Alder Pond, Oxbow Lake, and other features up close.

On the northernly view, you have nice views of the High Peaks Region of the Adirondacks, with Mount Marcy and Alonquin Mountains peaking out top.

To the south-west, there are view of Gore Mountain (ski trails still with snow on it as of April 11).

There also is a primative campsite on top of Pharaoh Mountain.

To the South-East there is Pharaoh Lake, which I did not visit, but the maps show about 5 lean-tos surround it.

Desolate Swamp is quite purty from the mountain.

After hiking up the mountain, I took a side trip to the beautiful Oxbow Pond, and the other side of Glidden Marsh. Here is the Long-Swing Trail along the edge of Glidden Marsh, near the turn off to Oxbow Lake.

Oxbow Lake is so beautiful, and probably real deep.

The Oxbow Lean-To. It looks well used, but is in good shape, and has a decent outhouse a little ways from it, a fire pit, along with lots of water for cooking in the nearby pond.

The one end of Oxbow Lake is swampy, as it runs between outfall of Crab Pond down to Oxbow.

Heading back to the truck, the sun flickers on the outlet of Glidden Marsh.

An amazing hike. Definitely want to come back, and possibly spend a night at Oxbow Pond.

Rain is starting to clear on this start to the Martin Luther King Weekend 🌦

After much of the summer having rainy Sundays, this winter seems to be dominated by rainy Saturdays. And it will get cold come tomorrow, for an extended time period, though that’s somewhat to be expected this time of January. I bet by my birthday at the end of the month things will start to warm up again. Maybe that’s when I take that left-over carrot cake in my freezer and camp then. Who knows!

Good morning! Rain and 48 degrees in Delmar, NY. 🌧 There is a south-southeast breeze at 14 mph. 🍃. Temperatures will drop below freezing at around 9 pm. ☃️

I slept in until 5:30 AM this morning ⏰ which was late for me, and I was in bed by 8 PM but I think the net result was I got a good night’s sleep. Probably was the excessive amount of sugar 🍰 I had yesterday. I didn’t want any parties, but they still threw me two different parties for my going away at work. One of them had carrot cake 🥕 and yes it was super sweet, as I no longer normally eat sugar. 🍭 😋 I was pretty wound up for the rest of the day, and I wish I ad been able to ride to work 🚲 to burn calories but that was not to be due to that loose bolt. I did have a nice walk last night. 🚶‍♀️I like yellow foods, note my obsession with turmeric, 💛 only followed by obsession with oranges, e.g. carrots and citrus like oranges and grape fruit. 🥕 But then again, Red is kind of my favorite color, ❤️ witness my big jacked up truck. 🛻 It’s not like I don’t love smoked paprika and red peppers especially when good and sweet too. And then dark orange, which is another word for brown, 💩 which I do poop a lot with my fiber rich diet. 🤣

Breakfast was onions, eggs, some spinach, canned tomato with some milled corn mixed in. 🍳 The result was pretty good, though I wish I had more fiber 💚 but by this morning my pantry was pretty bare. 🥫 I like carbs a bit too much, but at least I always try to include lots of fiber with my carbs, and almost always whole-wheat carbs. First this this morning after showering 🚿 and breakfast I went to Hannaford. I don’t love shopping there, they have a small spice selection, and while their produce selection is higher quality it’s also more expensive. But with coupons 🎫 I was able to knock $35 off of a $121 shopping bill, which got it down to $86. 💸 Still things are more expensive then Walmart and of course I had to settle for regular plain yogurt, as they didn’t have non-fat Greek yogurt. That did not make me happy, and included a few cuss words. 🤬 I probably should have given the full-fat yogurt a try. Some fat isn’t bad, even if it is omega-6 saturated fat, and it fills you up quicker then no-fat, or so I’m told by the dairy farmers, who want to get a better price on their milk fat. 🤰 Shopping is so depressing 🙁 🛒 with inflation these days.

Got home from shopping and decided on an early lunch. 🍌 The banana I had wasn’t satisfying enough, so I decided to fry up one of those wonderful sweet onions from Hannaford along with a bunch of peas, broccoli, and some tofu with lots of turmeric and red-chili spices, plus a dash of salt and black pepper to maximize vitamin up tick. That finally got me filled up. 😋 Now I’m feeling good. Probably still on that glycemic roller coaster 🎢 from all that sweet and wonderful carrot cake yesterday. I actually took home a quarter of that carrot cake, and promptly stuck in the freezer for some time down the road, after licking down the box. The frosting they use at Cookie Factory in Troy is just pure cane sugar and egg whites. Pretty heavenly 😇 especially when you don’t normally eat sugar. Of course now I have a big sweet tooth again, 😬 but I’ll keep it filled apples, bananas, and especially that mango I got. I am so happy to have bananas again this week, last week was sad without them. The carrot cake is locked away in back of the freezer. 🍰

Today will rain likely before noon, then a chance of showers, mainly between noon and 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a temperature rising to near 51 by 11am, then falling to around 39 during the remainder of the day. 🌦 South wind 11 to 16 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 29 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, remaining cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was 43 degrees. The record high of 71 was set in 1932. 13.1 inches of snow fell back in 1964.❄

What to do today is the question on my mind. 💭 I intentionally got up and early and to the grocery store a little after 8 AM so I could shop both before the crowds 👩‍👩‍👦‍👦 🛒 and so I could have the balance of my day free. Really I could see today going in three ways. Stay close to home, go to the library, 📚 and maybe a bike ride on the rail trail 🚲. Another option would be to go to the Village of Colonie, check out clothes at the Salvation Army off of Central Avenue 👔, and then ride trail in the Pine Bush. I do get best clothes from Salvation Army, so much of the new stuff is China-made fancy-label crap. For riding trail this afternoon though, even with the sand though, the trails might be soft. But if it clears out later, might be nice to watch the sun set from Albany Pine Bush. 🌲🌲🌲 The third option would be to get my stuff together, do a night or two up in the woods, though I’m sure after all this rain things would be soft. 🌲 🏕 Tomorrow everything will be frozen, and it will be sunny, but it’s going to be cold with the wind. Maybe one night in woods freezing my ass would be refreshing though if the balance of day is sunny. 😎

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:04 pm with sun having an altitude of 25.8° from the due south horizon (-45° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 12.4 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 4:00 pm with the sun in the southwest (233°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (241°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:44 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 20 seconds with dusk around 5:15 pm, which is one minute and 7 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Crescent 🌒 Moon in the southwest (224°) at an altitude of 18° from the horizon, 226,726 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:51 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 42 degrees. There will be a west breeze at 15 mph with gusts up to 28mph. Today will have 9 hours and 23 minutes of daytime, an increase of one minute and 28 seconds over yesterday.

Tuesday I finally start out my new position in earnest, 👨‍💼 moving up to the office in North Albany. Looking to put my data science experience and knowledge to work at new Director of Data Services. And be the keeper of the LOL book, the list of lists, as they called them when I worked at Higher Education Services Corporation years ago. 👨‍🏫 I won’t how much of the Job Control Language and COBOL I remember from back in those days. 📜 I’m sure it will come back quickly, it’s sort of Unix like, and programming is ultimately just programming. COBOL is just extra verbose. And operators and programmers probably do most of that anyways.. I could drive, but I think I’ll take the express bus in then transfer to the shuttle. 🚌 Everybody says it’s not worth the effort to transfer buses, but it really won’t impact my morning commute much, and maybe I’ll get home later on days I don’t ride my bike in, but it’s a chance to walk laps in the Empire Plaza 👣 or visit with people in the Capitol Complex. 👥 It’s important to be seen at events, and meet up with people. Honestly, in person I’m not as obnoxious as on the blog where my slogan is, “All My Heroes Burn Their Trash and Smell a Little Like Cow Shit”.

I finally learned my new salary, it is a bit less then I hoped, especially these days with inflation, but if I work hard to get the bonuses, it will be find and with next year’s inflation adjustment and step increases, it will be the nice round number I was hoping for. 💵 It’s just tough with inflation, but I’m doing better then a lot of people. And I got paid early this week, so I no longer have $162 in my bank account, though come next week when the auto investing is done, it’s probably be hovering around $1,000 again. 📈 But it’s still a good time in stock market after last year, even if this year is starting off soft. 🏦 I do worry about some damage being caused in economy by pay-now-pay later’s exploding popularity, though I don’t think it’s likely to be as damaging as the housing crisis of 2008.

Tonight will be mostly cloudy 🌥, with a low of 28 degrees at 3am. 12 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 21st. Southwest wind 11 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph. In 2023, we had light snow. It got down to 26 degrees. The record low of -24 occurred back in 1957.

I’d loved to spend the night in the woods, 🌲 🌲 and it’s not going to be super cold but that wind will be cold, as will the dampness of things after that inch of rain we got last night. Who knows my urge for camping 🏕 and having a fire up in the woods 🔥 might get the best of me and I’ll be huddled over the propane heater either tonight or tomorrow. At least there is no fire risk, even with the wind. Kind of wish there was some snow and less mud. It’s that wind that’s what will get you. 🌬

Sunday will have a chance of snow showers, mainly after 9am. 🌨 Partly sunny, with a high near 35. Breezy, with a south wind 11 to 20 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 31 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. Then Sunday night, partly cloudy, with a low around 16. West wind 10 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. Going to be ducking cold. 🦆 And for M. L. King Day, mostly sunny, 😎 with a high near 26. West wind 7 to 9 mph. Still rather old.

Looking ahead, there are 4 weeks until Clean Your Computer Day 🧹 when the sun will be setting at 5:21 pm with dusk at 5:49 pm. On that day in 2023, we had mostly cloudy, mild, rain showers and temperatures between 51 and 34 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 35 degrees. We hit a record high of 53 back in 1955.

I’m tuckered out 🛏

Good day but a busy one with all that driving down from County Bridge Campground in Blossburg Penna to Cumberland Maryland, riding bike for 23 miles of the Chesapeake and Ohio Trail along with part of the Great Allegheny Passage then finally heading down to Canaan Heights WV. What a day, and there was still some daylight to set up camp too though

Good evening from West Virginia! Mostly clear and 43 degrees in Canaan Heights, WV. 🌠 Breezy, ️16 mph breeze from the northwest 🌬 .

Got to camp around 6:30 pm in West Virginia, was a bit worried as the first few campsites I drove by where taken and I noticed a new sign on the way in that said camping at Designated Sites Only. ⛺ That said all of the old sites are still in service and have been improved a bit by the forest service and new sites added. It was a cold Sunday night, I had plenty of choices in the other eight or nine unoccupied sites. The nearest campsite to where I am id more than a third of a mile away.

Totally my fault, lol, 😂 I wanted to maximize my time riding bike 🚲 on the Chesapeake and Ohio Trail and the Great Allegheny Passage Trails before heading down to Keyser to get supplies and ultimately head to camp. Didn’t help though that Waze had the wrong address programmed into it for Tractor Supply. 🚜 I wanted to make sure I had a full propane tank for the next six nights as especially tonight I’m working the heater hard to stay warm – too late to find wood for camp, plus I’m dog 🐶 tired. Probably will retire to bed shortly in my truck though honestly I don’t want to sleep too soon as it’s going to be a long night and the sun rises late in West Virginia this time of year. 7:30 am tomorrow.

Tonight will be clear with a low of 27 degrees at 4 am. 🌉 Winds will die down as the night progreses. In 2022, we had partly cloudy skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 39 degrees. The record low of 20 occurred back in 1969.

Tonight will have a First Quarter 🌓 Moon with 61% illuminated. At 8 PM, the moon was in the south (181°) at an altitude of 25° from the horizon, some 226,951 miles away from where you are looking up from the earth. 🚀 At the state speed limit of 55 mph, you’ll make it there by April 11^th. Buckle up for safety! 💺 The Hunter 🏹 Moon is on Saturday, October 28. The darkest hour is at 12:41 am, followed by dawn at 6:59 am, and sun starting to rise at 7:30 am in the east-southeast (104°) and last for 2 minutes and 59 seconds. Sunrise is one minute and 12 seconds later than yesterday. 🌄 The golden hour ends at 7:56 am with sun in the east-southeast (111°). Tonight will have 13 hours and 12 minutes of darkness, an increase of 2 minutes and 44 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will be sunny ☀ with a high of 59 degrees at 3pm. Four degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around November 1st. Northwest wind 9 to 11 mph. A year ago, we had sunny skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 63 degrees. The record high of 81 was set in 1947. 0.5 inches of snow fell back in 2002.❄

Looks like I picked an excellent week for vacation. ⛺ The director was jokingly giving me a hard time for once again canceling a vacation day and then taking another one off, but it was worth it looking at the forecast. I just kind of wished I had packed more then three or four t-shirts as they may be what I’m wearing with the warm weather. Almost bought a West Virginia t-shirt at Walmart earlier today.

It wasn’t perfect on Saturday though. Day one, the drive down to Pennsylvania was rainy the first part of the trip, ☔ maybe more misty and drizzle not difficult driving, lots of color along many parts of Interstate 88, Warren Anderson’s expressway. 🍂 Some places were past peak but others had excellent color.

Got Cider Doughnuts 🍩 🍏, apple cider and apples at Aunnoto’s in Oneonta. The doughnuts while not quite warm where still very fresh and exceptionally good, especially the first one I had fresh in the parking lot. Maybe it’s because I’m not used to all that sugar and fats in doughnuts but I felt like it had an out of this world taste. 😋 The cider was decent but more tart than I had imagined. Probably the breed of apples pressed. The apples I got where quite good I’ll be enjoying them throughout the trip.

Came much closer to runnung out of gas then I want to admit on the way down to o Binghamton ultimately getting gas in Harpursville. ⛽ Put in over 25 gallons of gas in a truck with a 26 gallons tank. 🤯 Hoping to get gas as close to the Pennsylvania to avoid higher prices with the high Pennsylvania gas tax but it turns out gas was more expensive in the Binghamton area then the Northern Tier of Pennsylvania. $4 a gallon gas, added $100 to the vacation bill. The good news is filling up there I avoided getting gas until I reach the Mason Dixon line, actually south of Cumberland for $3.35 a gallon. ☺ Vacation costs money 💵 and my vacation is quite frugal so I shouldn’t bitch about gas prices too much.

The County Bridge Campground is still only $10 a night through New Years Eve 💰💸 when the PA DNCR is doing away with self registration honor pay in favor of online reservations with the out of state fee, reservation fee and whatever the rustic campground fee works out to be. Not such a great deal then for one night but whatever it’s not like I stay there much. Still ten dollars a night is a steal these days with inflation, especially as that’s what it cost I believe back in 2010. Obviously subsidized by all those fracking leases, though the fracking money is drying up for the commonwealth now.

In four weeks on November 19 the sun will be setting in the west-southwest (244°) at 4:31 pm (Standard Time),🌄 which is one hour, 32 minutes and 59 seconds earlier then tonight. In 2022 on that day, we had mostly sunny and temperatures between 39 and 21 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 48 and 31 degrees. The record high of 71 degrees was set back in 1921.

Looking ahead, 7:15 AM Sunrise ⌛️ is in 7 weeks, Days are Getting Longer ☀️ is in 2 months and Christmas Eve 🎅 is in 9 weeks.

A very pleasant summer morning 🌅

Cool enough this morning to be reminded of what fall feels like without the humidity and wildfire smoke mugging you the moment you step outside. That said, autumn is just around the corner as is August. It will come quickly come August 8th when I’m back from summer vacation, and I loose all the sunlight in the evening as I’ll be back farther east.

Good morning! Mostly clear 🌅 and 61 degrees in Delmar, NY. Calm wind. The dew point is 56 degrees.

Out walking 🚶 at 6:15 am which probably isn’t good idea as I didn’t get to bed until much too late after the late return from the hike last night, which I followed by sitting out back for a while and then running inside, taking a shower 🚿 and checking carefully for ticks before bed 🛏. A hard boiled egg 🥚 and some grapes 🍇 for protein and sugar before the morning walk. Whole grain oatmeal with fresh blueberries and black berries with more black coffee after the morning walk.🫐🍓 Plus maybe some carrots 🥕 for a fiber boost.

Today will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 85 degrees at 4pm. One degree above normal. Maximum dew point of 61 at 10am. Calm wind becoming southeast around 6 mph in the afternoon. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. It was sticky. The high last year was 97 degrees. The record high of 97 was set in 1991.

Finally finished my bike build. 🚲 I’m much happier with Blackie now that I got all the accessories installed except the heavy gauge u-lock holder 🔒 because I’m debating if I should mountain on the frame or on the rack, for better balance center and axle wise versus blocking the location for future additional water storage unit under bike lights for safer nighttime riding for finding potholes and rough terrain on the trail. The waterproof phone holder is great with the Zeopoxa Cycling app which not only tells me my speed but also distanced traveled and provides a map of my route. And every mile it barks out how many miles traveled, average speed and calories burnt. 🗣️

That said, I think the feature I like the most about my bicycle is the 13×15 crate I have mounted on my bike rack, now with a MIK adapter for quick release so I can load the box when it’s not on the bicycle or take off for transit on the bus or in my truck. 🧺 Or what riding in real rough country or greater efficiency. It’s great, you just throw whatever gear you want in it and go. Hammock, backpack, water, lunch, tools, etc. Also makes a good grocery carrier for heading home from the store. 🏪 Detach the crate, load in the store and I never have to worry buying too much groceries to haul home. Probably use it tonight for that purpose. Toss in the Bluetooth speaker 🔊 and have tunes 🎶 and podcasts to listen to plenty loud over the roar of traffic. Ended up using six plastic cable zip ties to secure the basket to the MIK adapter, it just worked better than bolts and washee with my particular crate. The crate is the weakest link, not the twist ties but I feel confident it could safely carry 20-30 lb of supplies or groceries. 🍏 While the rack is rated for 30 kg or 66 lb, the mount is 20 kg or 44 lb, I think the lightweight crate I installed probably couldn’t handle that much. But I don’t often get juice or milk at the grocery store — milk but usually at Stewarts where I walk, and only a gallon at most of the time. Bicycle water bottle holders are inexpensive, but I’m not sure the advantage over just tossing the water in the back. Maybe for long trips I’d want additional water closer to the front axle.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 1:02 pm with sun having an altitude of 68.1° from the due south horizon (-2.7° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 2.4 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:47 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (293°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (300°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 8:29 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 19 seconds with dusk around 9:01 pm, which is 48 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Crescent 🌒 Moon in the west (275°) at an altitude of 15° from the horizon, 251,882 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 9:44 pm. At sunset, look for partly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 76 degrees. The dew point will be 62 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Today will have 14 hours and 55 minutes of daytime, a decrease of one minute and 43 seconds over yesterday.

Well that certainly was an interesting evening hiking in the Norman’s Kill Ravine Preserve. 🚶 The loop trail was just longer than I expected and the terrain was more rugged then I would expect for suburban Delmar. Not even all that exciting, just a lot of ridges and swamps along a flatwater, very muddy from the recent rain ☔. I think the trails are a bit rougher than I would want to take my new mountain bike on but might walk them again come the autumn when things are colorful and the views are better. 🍂

Tonight will be mostly cloudy 🌥, with a low of 67 degrees at 4am. Four degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 64 at 4am. South wind 3 to 7 mph. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It became very sticky as the night progressed. It got down to 72 degrees. The record low of 45 occurred back in 1974.

I am thinking tonight maybe of checking out another nature preserve along the Normans Kill, the Normans Kill Preserve behind the Justice Center on Normans Kill Boulevard next to Delaware Plaza. This preserve looks much more interesting then Normans Kill Ravines Preserve, and is much smaller / quicker hike, though a slightly longer bus ride. I was thinking I could go there and then go grocery shopping for the weekend thereafter, all using my bicycle.

On this day in 1969, Apollo 11’s crew successfully makes the first landing on the Moon 🌕 in the Sea of Tranquility. Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the Moon, well at least in England. Us Americans would get to watch it the next day. 📺 Funny how time zones work. The world conquered the moon, returned a half dozen times or so and got bored and gave up visiting the moon only three years later. 🌎 Worldly problems like Vietnam, pollution and inflation somehow seemed more important than visiting the moon. I guess they were, but to give up so quickly after a goal 🥅 was reached seems like a major societal cop out.

Continues to be a nice weekend on tap. ☺ That said, the muggers will return after the rain tonight into tomorrow. Saturday, isolated showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 80. West wind 6 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. Maximum dew point of 63 at 8am. Sunday, sunny, with a high near 84. Maximum dew point of 63 at 7pm. Typical average high for the weekend is 84 degrees.

The plan continues to be to head out of town for the weekend. I am thinking early Saturday morning through mid-day Monday, after the rain stops. I am leaning towards Catskill Scenic Trail on Saturday morning from Grand Gorge to Stamford, then swim in Mine Kill State Park, then Sunday maybe mountain bike around Burnt-Rossman Hills State Forest truck trails. I do want to get Shaul’s too, I haven’t decided if that will be Saturday or Sunday. Probably Sunday as Shaul’s closes at 5 PM. Maybe that could be another pool and bicycle day. Biking along NY 30 from the Blenhiem Bridge and maybe doing another afternoon at Mine Kill Pool could be good for Sunday, even though I’d rather hang out at camp for the day and not have to take down camp or at least lock things up, and then have the fun of getting out of that rough site and the bumpy roads. But whatever. Then maybe more of the Catskill Scenic Trail on Monday morning, such as Stamford south to Bloomville. And another swim before heading out to the folks house. Truth is I don’t want to get home too late on Monday as I need to pack for summer vacation like the next day.

Looking ahead, there are 2 weeks until Campfire Day 🔥 when the sun will be setting at 8:15 pm with dusk at 8:45 pm. On that day in 2022, we had hot, mostly sunny and temperatures between 90 and 64 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 83 degrees. We hit a record high of 97 back in 1975.

Happy World Population Day, at least if you are a mosquito or a tick 🪰

We got a brief respite from the muggers after the rain and it cleared out. But the mosquitoes are celebrating their new found pools of water and the ticks have been so bad, I found one crawling up my leg in the office downtown yesterday.

Good morning! Clouds and 62 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☁️ Calm wind. The dew point is 61 degrees. Not quite as muggy as before the rain though it will be muggier come midday 🕛.

Out walking 🚶 this morning, did 10.8 miles and 40 flights of stairs up and down yesterday, as the rain stopped early yesterday and it was nice for both for a lunch time walk and especially in the evening. So buggy down at the park but since they’ve improved the trails they’ve been pretty dry. I liked that cream of wheat with the frozen blueberries and Greek yogurt yesterday that I’m thinking that will be breakfast again with a fresh pot of coffee ☕. Quick breakfast too.

Black beans are cooking on the stove 🍲 which I will use for a cold lunch with red onions 🧅 and sliced peppers 🫑. Last night was kale – spinach blend as I ran out of the prior with some pasta and mackerel. 🐠 I was looking at the label 🔎 trying to figure if mackerel or tuna fish is a healthier option but I guess it matters if you prioritize vitamins and minerals, along with total omega 3 over slightly more calories and saturated fat. Most of the calories comes from the pasta at any rate, which I used the last half box of white pasta I had left in my kitchen with 1 1/4 lb of frozen spinach and a half lb of frozen kale. Tuna fish salad thet won’t kill you! All that fiber with the delious omega 3 fat fills you up quickly so it’s not so bad but I’m only buying whole wheat or chickpea pasta going forward.

Yesterday the 40″ waist seam jeans and XXL shirt 👖 I wore to work looked cartoonishly big on me, as I’ve lost so much weight. I’ve recently bought 38″ shorts thinking they’ll be good as I like my shorts loose and they also are running kind of big one. Even some of the XL shirts, especially undershirts now seem to big for me. I guess I never thought I would loose so much weight so quickly, though I’m still very hesitant to buy more clothes as I don’t know what size will fit well. Maybe come August I’ll have to shop the thrift stores to see what I can get, although it’s still tough as I’m so tall. I just worry about weight gain though I think I’ve really changed what I eat.

Speaking of which I was really happy to hear that Stanton now has both sweet corn 🌽 and tomatoes 🍅. I am not really sure which I’m most excited about, probably my favorite nightshade as tomatoes are so good in many foods and fresh tomatoes are the best! If I go to Schoharie this weekend I’m hoping to get somewhere I can stock up. I’ll eat them quickly so they don’t ret a chance to go bad, lol 😂.

Today will start out cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny ☁️🤜🌞, with a high of 88 degrees at 5pm. Kind of a game of weather punch buggy, as the sun and hot weather push out the cooler rainer weather of yesterday. Four degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 65 at 11am. Light and variable wind becoming west 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with a few breaks of sun the afternoon. The high last year was 91 degrees. The record high of 98 was set in 1936.

At this point I’m getting a bit impatient about getting Blackie 🚵 as last night I figured out what heavy gauge u-bolt lock to get to secure my bicycle, a USB rechargeable long lasting rear light for the rear and a waterproof carrying mount for my phone. 📱 I tested out my phone to see if it would work okay as a GPS bicycle speedometer / trip odometer, turned out that 45 minutes on and off the bus with the GPS location and screen on only used 3% of the battery life, so should be good. 🔋

Mostly want it to keep track of distance out on the trip so I know how long the return will be though watching my speed on the down hills would be fun and I want to track my distance. It’s good that I can avoid adding any more expenses to this ever growing bicycle project. 💸But I figure now is the time to equip the bicycle as I want it, so it will be ready for adventures as close to day one as possible and I can work out kinks before vacation. 🏖

One issue I might run into is I don’t know if the Trek MIK rack will fit on the XXL model of the Marlin 6. 🚲 I’m going to ask and buy at the shop when I pick up the bicycle for just that reason. If not there are many after market bike rack systems you can get and either use a MIK adapter or maybe a different rack system. I just want something I can bolt 🔩 to a milk crate storage containers and do the quick release for packing inside or at camp, and load the bike in the truck or on the bus 🚍. I really want to have the storage before vacation especially for longer rides so I can bring lunch and supplies without having them in a backpack 🎒 on my back in the heat. I might even do some hammock camping on vacation depending on where I’m riding.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 1:01 pm with sun having an altitude of 69.5° from the due south horizon (-1.3° vs. 6/21). The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:52 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (295°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (302°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 8:35 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 23 seconds with dusk around 9:07 pm, which is 29 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 9:53 pm. At sunset, look for mostly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 82 degrees. The dew point will be 65 degrees. There will be a west breeze at 5 mph. Today will have 15 hours and 9 minutes of daytime, a decrease of one minute and 14 seconds over yesterday.

The Verizon salesman 📴 stalked me out at home last evening, seeing if I would be interested in signing up for internet today. 🖥 I was like not really bro, I don’t have a TV or internet at home and I’m not really interested in all that technology stuff. He wasn’t that persistent when he learned I didn’t own a television or had a computer at home (I store my laptop at work). Truth is during the pandemic that was the closest I ever got to getting home internet as it was cold especially in the winter working out of my truck 🛻 down at the library but now with unlimited phone data and 5 GB Hotspot, I’d much rather just use my phone 📱. Phones are so powerful these days, yet they are so portable, can he used virtually anywhere and use very little electricity to charge. 🔋 Heck, I’ll probably leave my laptop locked in my office 🏢 rather than bring it on vacation this year.

Tonight will be mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 64 degrees at 6am. One degree above normal. Maximum dew point of 65 at 8pm. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies. It was humid. It got down to 70 degrees. The record low of 44 occurred back in 1978.

After reading 📖 more of the Boggleheads Guide to Investing, I just ordered up my yearly free credit report 📜 and no surprises there, it was super boring 💤 and accurate. I did find one issue – my Experian report wasn’t properly locked 🔒 so I did that to protect against identity theft. The other two were good. Updated my assets spreadsheet, 🧮 that’s looking far better now than six months ago. I was pleasantly surprised that my ratio of bonds to stocks has increased but then again I’ve been buying more bonds lately as I’m getting older 🧓. The higher fed rate is helping with the cash side of things too. Far better than wasted year in the market in 2022. The out year projections look good, based on the past decade but I’m sure we are going to have a recession but I figure that’s just a loss on paper and in the long run, it’s a potential for gain.

On this day in 1962, live television was transmitted for the first time across the Atlantic Ocean. On Telstar! 📺 Seems odd nowadays, when so much commerence is global and we can access a server next door as quickly as in France. 🇫🇷 Of course ultimately Telstar 📡 would be destroyed by above ground nuclear ⚛ testing. 💣Which was pure foolishness of a deadly kind of way that was making the sweet corn 🌽 radio and putting strontium 90 in children’s ice cream cones. 🍦Now we just have PFAS and dioxin in our ice cream and everything else.

A nice summer weekend ahead. 🏊‍♂️ ⛺ Saturday, scattered showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 86. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Maximum dew point of 70 at 11am. Sunday, scattered showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 86. Chance of precipitation is 50%. Maximum dew point of 71 at 11am. Monday, scattered showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 88. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Typical average high for the weekend is 84 degrees.

Still thinking this is the weekend to go out to Schoharie though a lot depends on timing of getting Blackie, my new bike. I keep waiting for that call from the shop, though I realize it’s only been two days, or maybe three. Maybe I’ll get the call this afternoon, though I’m not sure if I can leave work early today, but maybe tomorrow. I guess I don’t need to have the rack on my bicycle, I can use a backpack for this weekend for supplies along the rail trail but I do want to get things tested out. I haven’t decided about Monday yet, but it looks like a much better day to take off then Friday.

As previously noted, there are 3 weeks until August 🌻 when the sun will be setting at 8:17 pm with dusk at 8:48 pm. On that day in 2022, we had hot, partly sunny and temperatures between 89 and 69 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 84 degrees. We hit a record high of 101 back in 1933.

February 20, 2023 Morning

Good morning! Cloudy and 36 degrees at the Moscow Hill Camping Area. 🌥 There is a south-southwest breeze at 9 mph. 🍃. Temperatures will drop below freezing at around 5 pm. ☃️

The past few days I’ve decided to take a break from social media and the blog 📜 so I can spend more time in the woods hiking and thinking, 👂 listening to podcasts and drinking 🍻 beer and being away from it all. Two nights is never enough, especially since I got used to remote work from camp. I could have taken tomorrow off but rain is coming.

I was on the fence about where to this long weekend ⛺ but settled on Brookfield as there was more trails I wanted to explore and the forecast while cloudy for Sunday and today looked less wet. I had been at Rennselearville State Forest three weekends ago and wanted to mix things up especially so I didn’t burn up too much firewood. Plus I like the rural landscape 🚜 heading out to Brookfield. Longer drive though but a pleasant one.

Saturday I walked around Glimmerglass State Park 🏞 and it was cold by the lake but in the woods with the wind 🍃 blocked by the mountains it wasn’t so bad. I didn’t stick around very long as such. Deep blue skies and a pretty sunset 🌇. Got to Moscow Hill Horse Camp 🐴 and set up camp then hiked over to Elmer’s Place and then bushwhacked over Grassy Hill trying to find a good view which didn’t exist but I did flush out a ton of grouse. 🕊

By the time I got back to camp it was 6:10 and nearly pitch black but I had previously gathered firewood, set up the lights and propane, 🏮 had everything ready to go so it was a pleasant night. Had a big fire 🔥 though it was smokey at times due to all the wet wood, wet stuff in the burnables as I’ve been eating healthier. Heard a local fire station whistle go of 🚒🧑‍🚒 and thought I might have some unplanned visitors but no it was some other call. This place isn’t as remote as some places I camp. ⛺ Forgot to buy lighter fluid but once I got the somewhat damp and frozen wood going it burned well but was sparky until the wind died out. Saturday was a star filled night ✨ and very mild which was nice.

Sunday was cloudy and breezy at times 🌬️ especially up on the hills. I hiked the bulk of the day, visiting most of the outer truck trails at Charles Baker State Forest 🌲🌳🌲 as I didn’t want to hike muddy horse trails. Checked out the Elmer Spring Campsite which is remote but accessible by vehicle and is really nice and private. ⛺ Hiked the Ledges Trail which was kind of interesting as was Truck Trail 7 which is cut into a ledge on the side of the mountain ⛰️. Icy in spots especially on the road but cold enough even the horse 🐴 trails weren’t too icy.

For today, Washington’s Birthday will have showers likely, mainly before 11am. Cloudy 🌦, with a high of 40 degrees at 11am. Three degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around February 28th. Not bad for the high country in in. Just wearing the vest. Southwest wind 9 to 13 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning, remaining cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was 28 degrees. The record high of 66 was set in 1930. 11.2 inches of snow fell back in 1977.❄

While it hasn’t been sunny ☁️ the mid weather has been nice. Not having to deal with frozen water 💦, frozen food like milk 🥛 or eggs 🥚 is good for a change. The batteries are healthy and happy 😊 in my truck 🔋, I haven’t had to start the truck all weekend long. Used the propane heater ♨ a lot less than I have in recent trips, no icy propane lines to deal with. But it’s been cold enough that things have remained generally frozen in the ground, keeping the trails from being too muddy.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:16 pm with sun having an altitude of 36.2° from the due south horizon (-34.4° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 8.2 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 5:01 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (249°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (256°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:40 pm after setting for 3 minutes with dusk around 6:07 pm, which is one minute and 17 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Crescent 🌒 Moon in the west-southwest (253°) at an altitude of 2° from the horizon, 228,419 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:41 pm. At sunset, look for mostly cloudy skies ☁ and temperatures around 34 degrees. There will be a west-northwest breeze at 10 mph. Today will have 10 hours and 50 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 47 seconds over yesterday.

Today I decided to hike back and explore a few more ponds 🐸 in the northern part of the state forest. Then midday head back home. I figure enjoy and explore as much of the land while I’m here. Then I’ll have to head home. I thought about taking Tuesday off but it looks like rain ☔ and maybe snow here.

Tonight will have a slight chance of snow showers after 4am. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a low of 23 degrees at 2am. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 5th. Maximum wind chill around 17 at 4am; Northwest wind 5 to 8 mph becoming calm. Chance of precipitation is 20%. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 13 degrees. The record low of -10 occurred back in 2015.

Planning to go out and see the folks 👪 when I get home, that is after showering 🚿 and unpacking. Then I want to run to the car wash 🚙 and then Walmart for fruit and vegetables for the upcoming week. 🍏

Brookfield looks cold and snowy for next weekend. 🌨 But I got my fun in. Saturday, a chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 25. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Sunday, a chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 34. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Typical average high for the weekend is 39 degrees.

I don’t necessarily plan on being back to Brookfield anytime soon though I might do my April trip to Cazenovia rather than the Adirondacks East Branch Sacandaga River for a change. 🗻 Easter is late this year and depending on how mild the spring is things could be greening up by then. Probably few black flies up north 🐜 but I’ve been itching to do the Gorge Rail Trail is Cazenovia – Canestota for some time again. March maybe a camping trip ⛺ to Rennselearville State Forest again or Burnt Rossman. Depends on how much snow. It will be after the time change at this point.

Looking ahead, there are 7 weeks until 8 PM Dusk 🌆 when the sun will be setting at 7:39 pm with dusk at 8:06 pm (Daylight Savings Time) in Brookfield. Earlier back in Albany. On that day in 2022, we had partly cloudy, warm and temperatures between 74 and 49 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 57 degrees. Thinking spring thoughts 💭 on this cloudy but mild morning. We hit a record high of 86 back in 1922.

December 12, 2018 Morning

Good morning! What day is it? Hump Day, of course. Two weeks to Boxing Day 🥊. I’m all for Boxing Day if it’s a holiday you celebrate using fire and all the packaging Christmas gifts come in. Cloudy with a fresh inch or two of snow on the ground, 27 degrees in Hector. ❄ There is a west-northwest breeze at 6 mph. 🍃. Things will start to thaw out at Friday around 8 am. 🌡️ About the ttim I start packing up up for home.

Today will be mostly cloudy 🌦, with a high of 29 degrees at 1pm. Eight degrees below normal. West wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. A year ago, we had light snow and mist in the morning, which became light rain and mist by afternoon. The high last year was 36 degrees. The record high of 62 was set in 1979. 6.6 inches of snow fell back in 1970.❄

This morning when I awoke there was an inch or two of snow on the ground. ❄ Not a lot, I think most of it came down in the evening before I retired to the tent as I didn’t like all the wet globby snow coming down. Did my business, made coffee, started up the truck as the battery was a bit low. Then I ended up cooking up eggs and sausage for breakfast. The eggs being in the cooler didn’t freeze unlike nearly everything else. All the water I have is totally frozen, I’ve been melting snow on the stove to produce water for coffee, cooking and washing. That stove puts out a lot of heat so

The sun will set at 4:34 pm with dusk around 5:06 pm, which is 9 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for mostly cloudy skies ☁ and temperatures around 29 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Today will have 9 hours and 6 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 38 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a chance of light snow, mainly after 2am. Mostly cloudy 🌨, with a low of 24 degrees at 8pm. Two degrees above normal, which is similiar to a typical night around December 9th. Maximum wind chill around 20 at 7pm; South wind 5 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. In 2017, we had cloudy skies. It got down to 16 degrees. The record low of -6 occurred back in 1988.

Yesterday I decided to stick around camp, going for what was originally going to be a short walk to sit back and study nature🐦 but became a longer seven mile walk via the Backbone, Ravine, Interlaken and Burnt Hill Trails.🌲 Some of the views from the pastures were fairly nice although the woods seemed unusually quiet maybe due to the clouds and somewhat unsettled conditions. I was hoping to see more wildlife but it was still a nice walk. I’ve never explored the trails much up here as they always seem so muddy in the summer.

Plow just came through but I still think I’ll take the less steep route off the mountain in case it’s slippery as it’s still snowing a bit. ❄ I’m chewing over Seneca Falls and Montezuma today versus Ithaca and Luicifer Falls in the winter. I know the gorge trails are closed but I believe the overlook is still open. Not a real sunny day but not much sun is predicted for the rest of the week. I want to get the propane tank topped off just because it’s getting a little light and I’d hate to run out in the cold weather. Maybe I’ll do Seneca Falls just because I hate driving in Ithaca so much. Probably leave before dark as I don’t want to drive back on those rural roads after dark.

As previously noted, there are 2 weeks until Boxing Day 🥊 when the sun will be setting at 4:40 pm with dusk at 5:12 pm. On that day in 2017, we had snow, partly cloudy skies and temperatures between 22 and 8 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 33 degrees. We hit a record high of 59 back in 1895.

Andy Arthur.org

Search Results for: dec truck trails longer then 1 mile