The remote Sly Pond is one of the highest bodies of water in AdirondackPark at an elevation of 2,872 feet. It was once infamous for being a marker of how acidic Adirondack lakes had become by the eighties, with the DEC recording in 1980 the pond having an acidity of 3.54 which is about as "acidic as a dill pickle".
Warren Generating power station is a retired 84-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power station in Warren, the state of Pennsylvania, United States.
The current use of the Site includes the Warren Combustion Turbine (CT) facility owned by Warren Generation LLC. The CT is a 57-megawatt natural gas- and distillate fuel oil-fired electric generating station, which consists of one operational simple-cycle CT and ancillary equipment and systems. Fuel for the CT is delivered by pipeline (natural gas) and tanker truck (oil).
The Site previously had housed two coal-fired 42-megawatt steam electric generation units (Units 1 and 2), which were installed in 1948 and 1949, respectively, and retired in September 2002. Since the units’ retirement in 2002, all coal has been removed from the Site.
Historically two on-site landfills were utilized: the North Disposal area, located northwest of the power generation facilities, was closed in 1984 via capping with native soils; and the South Disposal area, located west of the power generation facilities, was closed 2003 via capping with native soils. Waste materials placed in these landfills consisted of fly ash, bottom ash, and pyrites. The South Disposal Area was operated under Solid Waste Permit No. 300858. The Ash Pond Nos. 1 & 2 were closed in 2002-200 3.
I’m a big of farmers who are essentially Living Off the Earth and think Rednecks are Noble Savages. Dairy Farming are key to our rural landscape. I’d trust a farmer or a hunter in a pile of guts he’s butchered over any ivory-tower scientist.
This past week, I decided to re-do the Moose River Plains Maps I had previously rendered in QGIS. I got some new data from the DEC, and wanted to simply the existing maps by taking off Wilderness Boundaries, and other details not of particular interest to hikers, campers, and kayakers. I also removed campsites that are in process of being removed or relocated under the finalized Unit Plan for the area. Be aware that the elevation on these maps is metric, as that’s what the NYSDOT Topographic Maps use in this region.
Click on any of the maps to display the high resolution version, that you can download and save, or print. Laser printers are great, especially for the Cedar River Flow Maps, as they’ll keep the ink from the running. All of these maps are free for you to use and distribute as they are based on public data. If you have ideas on how to improve these maps or seek similar maps of the area of other trails or locations, please feel free to contact me at andy@andyarthur.org.
There is no charge to camp here, however if you plan on staying more then 3 nights, you will have to a get a free permit from the forest ranger. Most campsites offer picnic tables, fireplaces or rings, and outhouses. Moose River Plains are all back country dirt roads, with a speed limit of 15 MPH, and there are some rough sections on the roads. As of September 2011, all of the roads shown on these maps are open.
Moose River Plains Camping Area.
Roads are red, hiking trails are black dotted lines on the map. All of the campsites in pink shaded area (“Moose River Plains Camping Area”) offer vehicle accessible camping including RVs and other tow-behind campers. The campsites outside of the “Camping Area” — specifically those on Otter Brook Road — will in the future be reserved for tent camping (most with vehicle accessability) except during Big Game Season when campers will be allowed at all sites. Most of the other trails with campsites on them offer wheelchair or mountain bike accessiability, as they tend to be gravel paths.
Moose River Plains Campsites.
Note: Campsites are numbered starting from the east, as you are coming from Cedar River Flow, heading towards Limekiln Lake. Many campsites have been closed or added over the year, and that’s why there are many gaps in the numbering system.
Cedar River Flow and Wakely Dam.
Cedar River Flow is a popular destination at Moose River Plains. In many ways it’s the gateway to Moose River Plains, as you reach Wakely Dam, which holds back the waters of Cedar River Flow as one of your first destinations heading West on Cedar River-Limekiln Lake Road from Indian Lake.
The Cedar River Flow is a popular lake for canoeing and kayaking. There are several designated and undesignated campsites along Cedar River Flow, with the designated ones shown on the map. There are also a handful of campsites, closely grouped together at Wakely Dam. The Cedar River is navigable for several miles upstream, and some people will paddle to the Lean-To on Sucker Brook Trail.
Wakely Pond and Wakely Dam Areas.
Along the Northville-Placid Trail near Wakely Pond there are several designated tent campsites. A map of Wakely Pond-Wakely Dam Areas, and the rapids downstream of the Cedar River Flow.
Wakely Mountain Firetower.
By far one of the most popular destinations in the area is the Wakely Mountain Fire Tower. It offers truly spectular views of Moose River Plains, Blue Ridge Wilderness, West Canada Wilderness, Fulton Chain of Lakes, and even the High Peaks.
Mountain Pond is located about 2 miles North of Paul Smiths College on an old routing of NY 30. It is a mile long, has catch and release fishing, and good place for some solitude and flat water paddling. It is in Debar Mountain Wild Forest, with 2 large campsites on the pond, 3 smaller ones on or near the pond, and 10 other along Mountain Pond Road. It’s little used due to it’s remote location, and easy to even get one of the large sites on the lake on the weekends.
Paddling. Just paddling along Mountain Pond in the kayak.
Tall Pine. Lining the edge of Mountain Pond, as I ride around in the kayak.
Towards Jenkins Mountain. The last hill that makes up Jenkins Mountain is where Mountain Pond gets it’s name from.
From Southern End of Mountain Pond. This is looking from Campsite 1 at the Southern End of Mountain Pond, looking North. Old NY 30 winds right along the shore of NY 30, the New Routing is about a 1/2 mile away for NY 30.
Campsite No 1. This is campsite No 1 at Mountain Pond. It was never used on the Saturday Night I was there, but it looks nice, if not a bit small.
View from Campsite 1. Here my kayak is parked at Campsite 1, where I got out for a stretch. Looking south at this rather spectacular looking lake on a great day. The lake winds back and forth, for about a mile.
Along Edge of Pond. This is looking at the eastern, more mountainess shore of Mountain Pond.
Central Part of Lake. On the left is the western shore, by where NY 30 runs. It is a beautiful, if not humongous lake with lots of shoreline and bys.
Many Downed Trees. There where many downed trees that had fallen into the lake, from the often steep eastern edge of mountain pond. Campsites are on the other side of the lake, and they all where in good shape.
Northeastern Bay. Here is an Northeastern Bay at Mountain Pond. Not as pretty as farther south with the steep rock ledges against the lake, but still a classic Adirondack Lake.
Loons. While this picture is somewhat in shadow, there where loons on Mountain Pond. They were not all that noisy, compared to Polliwog Pond or especially Mason Pond, where they howled quite bit more in the evening.
Mountain. This is the Mountain at Mountain Pond. It’s not much more then a hill, because Jenkins Mountain has largely petered out before reaching here, but it’s still a lot higher then surrounding elevation.
Campsites No 4 and No 5. As I had previously noted, Campsites 4 and 5 where pretty close to one an another. Nobody ended up staying at No 5, although somebody parked there for a while to go paddling.
Treeline. This is the tree line towards the top of Mountain Pond, on this rather beautiful day for sure.
Campsite No 4. This was taken from the lake. It was great to be right on the lake, at this very remote Adirondack Pond.
One of the challenges is to find places where the Long Path leaves the public roads. Using OpenStreetMap data I created a line intersection of the Long Path against public roads, then with some hand editing made sure only to include off-road trail sections when they meet public roads. Then I ran it against the state’s reverse geocoding service to add street addresses so you can use it with your phone or car GPS.
Up bright and early again this morning. Oatmeal Pancakes at five o’clock with cranberries, shredded oranges and bananas topped with maple syrup and cherries. A good sugar rush to start my day. It’s nice that with the new smoke detector it doesn’t set it off even when I send a big cloud of smoke up overheating the olive oil on griddle. Photo-electric detectors are good if you are annoyed about the alarm going off every time you cook. That and use avocado oil, you’ll produce a lot less smoke if you a bad cook like me.
Good morning! Happy Tuesday. Snow flurries glitter down from the sky as I sip my coffee β, its around 30 degrees in Delmar. β There is a south breeze at 9 mph. π. Things will start to thaw out at around 7 am. π‘οΈ Going to be decently warm come mid-day, figuring we are in the second half of December. Going to ride to work π², hopefully there won’t be a lot of damage to the rail trail from yesterday’s flooding.
Not a lot cooking up this morning π¨π³ besides pancakes. Used up the last of the cranberries with a banana and a whole orange mixed with some whole-wheat flour, egg and some baking soda to make the pancakes, π₯ topped with cherries and syrup. π Last night I enjoyed Cajun 15-bean soup, with lots of carrots and celery, and fresh rye bread, which actually is a mixture of rye and whole-wheat flour, as I don’t have white flour to use with the rye. π Came out pretty good, very dark in color and rich in flavor as I used red onions. Also some vital wheat gluten was added for texture, and obviously dill weed which is neccessary for rye bread. Maybe the next result is pumpernickel, although I guess in that case it would be truly whole-grain rye, which is pumpernickel not the blend between medium rye (partially refined rye) and whole-wheat. I am happy, and if you don’t like it, don’t break into my apartment and eat my bread.
Today will have a slight chance of snow showers, mixing with rain after 9am, then gradually ending. Partly sunny π, with a high of 38 degrees at 10am. One degree above normal, which is similar to a typical day around December 17th. South wind 9 to 16 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 26 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning with more sun in the afternoon. The high last year was 36 degrees. The record high of 54 was set in 1895. 7.8 inches of snow fell back in 2008.β
Solar noon π is at 11:53 am with sun having an altitude of 24° from the due south horizon (-46.8° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 13.5 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour π starts at 3:39 pm with the sun in the southwest (230°). πΈ The sunset is in the west-southwest (238°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:25 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 25 seconds with dusk around 4:56 pm, which is 24 seconds later than yesterday. π At dusk you’ll see the First Quarter π Moon in the south-southeast (157°) at an altitude of 43° from the horizon, 226,942 miles away. π The best time to look at the stars is after 5:32 pm. At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies π and temperatures around 34 degrees. Breezy, 16 mph breeze β from the northwest. Tomorrow will have 9 hours and 6 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 9 seconds over today.
Tonight will be partly cloudy π€, with a low of 24 degrees at 1am. Two degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around December 13th. Maximum wind chill around 21 at 6am; Northwest wind 7 to 13 mph. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 23 degrees. The record low of -19 occurred back in 1951.
Today in 1974, Nelson Rockefeller is sworn in as Vice President of the United States π΄πΌ under President Gerald Ford under the provisions of the 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution. π His appointment was controversial, and what should have been a swift confirmation process turned into a protracted and grueling inquiry into the extent of the Rockefeller fortune and its hidden influence. π΅ Basically he handed a stack of cash to anybody who got in his way as Governor of New York over his 15-odd years in the position. Which is why he always got his way and built so many big things, including the Empire State Plaza and World Trade Center.
Looks likegreat weather leading up to Christmas π€Ά. Saturday, partly sunny, with a high near 37. Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 41. Christmas Day — Monday, Partly sunny, with a high near 44. Typical average high for the weekend is 36 degrees. And the days running up to the Christmas holiday will be as follows — Thursday, mostly sunny, with a high near 36. North wind 10 to 13 mph. Friday, sunny, with a high near 33.
After chewing it over for a while, I decided to take off Thursday and Friday to head out to Madison County, likely for four days. π While I’ll need to camp in two different locations unless I go down to Sherburne to get a permit, I could either go out to Cazenovia or Brookfield or stay part of the week at Cherry Ridge and the rest at the horse camp. Got to watch out for snow, though it doesn’t look like it’s going to be much of a problem though there could be a dusting or even an inch or two after the snow showers come rumbling through today, and it’s not going to be much above freezing in coming week. π¨ Going to work from home tomorrow I think so I can run to the store mid-day and fill the propane tank and get any other needed supplies for camping. Plan to drive home on Christmas Day for Christmas dinner with the family. π πͺ π
One option I’m seriously looking at is on Friday π² riding more of the Canalway Trail, this time from Canastota up to the area around Rome, maybe Durhamsville depending on the time. I think the trail will be free of snow by then, though Friday might be a bit chilly though sunny and shouldn’t be so bad with gloves on. Or I could hike around Stoney Pond or if I decide to spend time at Charles Baker, then I could ride the roads there. π Off-road bike riding isn’t permitted in the winter, but road-riding is okay per their website. The road up to Cherry Ridge could be icy, though it’s usually plowed but not sanded, except for the campground which isn’t plowed at all. But as of now, they don’t have any more then any dusting per the web cams and snowfall predictions. β Thought about heading further south to Long Pond State Forest, but that’s quite a ways south and west. West Virginia is too far away for four nights, not to mention they have a ton of now.
I am dipping a bit into my time reserve for time next year, β² not rolling over the maximum into 2024, but when I thought about it some more, it doesn’t matter as I don’t expect I’ll be taking much time off until late April, which will give me several pay periods to build time back up, plus I get 35 hours of personal time (5 days) on the first of the new year. Starting my new position as Director of Data Services, I am not going to want to miss much work π as I have much to learn and I want to put in the long hours, to make a good impression in my new position. Not sure how much comp-time I’ll get to use next summer, π though I think there is definitely a possibility of remote work with my new position that is more about working data and running reports β¨ then working with people, or so I think. I don’t know, I haven’t started the training yet. π¨π« Things are getting wrapped up at Research it seems for the year, there is a handful of projects outstanding in the Production Book but I’m not worried as the year comes to close.
It will be four nights out camping this week leading into Christmas, π then I have off Christmas Day to visit with the families and Boxing Day is also a holiday at my company. π Then it’s three days of work, but I”m thinking of potentially working from home that Friday leading into the New Years Weekend, so I can leave early and set up camp in Rensselaerville and do a three-night trip there through New Years Day. Depends on how much snow we get the second half of next week. βοΈ Really hard to say. Lots of winter camping this year, but it’s been so mild. Come January though I’m not planning anything until at least mid-month with Martin Luther King Day but even that’s uncertain — and as I noted, I’m not sure if I will take any time off from work for trips until April with my new position getting underway. Might be a busy summer too, but I’m thinking at least part of the time I will be able to remote work π¨π» so I could extend trips by working part of the time from camp and/or the Speculator and other other libraries.
Looking ahead, next Tuesday is Boxing Day π₯ when the sun will be setting at 4:29 pm with dusk at 4:59 pm. Days are getting longer. On that day in 2022, we had partly sunny and temperatures between 30 and 16 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 35 degrees. We hit a record high of 59 back in 1895. Before my time, lol π.