Good morning! Happy Saturday. It’s the weekend. Seven weeks until New Years Eve, one until Opening Day in the Southern Zone. Cold start to the day. Mostly sunny and 28 degrees in Watkins Glen. There is a west-northwest breeze at 6 mph. When the wind picks up its fairly chilly but otherwise a bit warmer and nicer than last night. 

I should have learned how cold it is up at the Finger Lakes National Forest in April but evidently I did not. The wind roars across the lake. Getting a lot of use out of the heater, which works well when it’s not too windy. But when the wind picks up the heat blows away and sometimes the pilot light extinguishes and it shuts off. Been running it on high which means I’m burning a lot more propane, but I expect I’ll still make it most of the week without refilling the tank. Even a maximum use, I really only burn through a few of buck or two of propane each night.

Cooked up eggs and sausage for breakfast. A good breakfast, that is cooked quickly on the stove. That said when I took the coffee off the stove to put on the griddle, it quickly got cold. Tomorrow I will use the frying pan and leave the coffee pot on the other burner to ensure that the coffee remains warm. 

Cold yes. But I like November in the woods, especially a clear morning like today. Later, I’m heading up to the Connecticut Hill WMA then to Watkins Glen for supplies and to stop in the library for Internet access. With a hot cup of coffee the mornings aren’t too bad. Just got to keep it on the stove staying warm. On the second pot now.

One advantage to the cold is I don’t have to keep cold food in the cooler as the air is keeping it cool. I can leave the milk on the table, although soon I should put it away as the sun is starting to reach higher in the sky. 

The service 4 wheel drive message came on the truck this morning. I think it came on because I left it in auto 4×4 while idling to charge the batteries. I think it came on because the lack of wheel slip when parked. I will see if it goes off today when driving. I suspect it will. Don’t think it will impact the rest of the trip. We will see. I did change the transfer case fluid last summer so it should be good. Hopefully that didn’t duck up things. I don’t expect I will need the four wheel drive much this week although it’s good in the mud of campsites. If I have to get it fixed when I return, so be it. 

My ankle has been a little sore the past few days. When I was out in North Syracuse, didn’t get a lot of exercise so my ankle needs to rebuild itself. This winter I plan to eat more fruits and vegetables and walk more in the Empire State Plaza during lunch to work to loose a few pounds and try to fully rebuild my ankle which hasn’t totally come back since last year’s injury. 

That said, I’ve tried to take it easy, and when I was gathering firewood this morning, it didn’t hurt too bad. I will see what happens. I have the ankle wrap to tie it up should I need to. It should be fine. Worse comes to worse, it’s my left foot so I don’t need it for driving. I have crutches and doctors at home. In this cold weather with the long nights I need a ton of firewood. 

Nice new campfire ring in the campsite. Looks like it was an old storm drain but regardless it does its job. I don’t have to worry about the fire spreading especially with today’s breeze. 

Today will be sunny, with a high of 43 degrees at 1pm. Not a real warm day for sure but sunny, which is nice for November. Six degrees below normal. West wind 6 to 10 mph. Last year, cloudy with a high around 56. The record high of 68 was set in 1909. There was 7.3 inches of snow back in 1968. That year was a very snowy one in Albany. 

The sun will set at 4:46 pm with dusk around 5:16 pm, which is 58 seconds earlier than yesterday. Night comes fast this time of year. Today will have 9 hours and 50 minutes of daylight, a decrease of 2 minutes and 13 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be mostly clear, with a low of 32 degrees at 4am. Typical for tonight. West wind 10 to 14 mph. Still cold and blustery but not quite as bad as last year. One year ago, partly cloudy with a low around 43. The record low of 13 occurred back in 1981.

There is 1 week until Regular Season Opens in Southern Zone when the sun will be setting at 4:40 pm with dusk at 5:11 pm. The average high temperature is 47 degrees, with a record high of 71 in 1921.