Search Results for “photo campsite 13 is my favorite ”

Campsite Fifty Six

One of my favorite campsites up at Moose Plains is Campsite Number 56. Located in the “Plains”, it is surrounded by dense vegetation, and entirely screened from road via dense brush on each side. Unlike being in the woods, however, it is a largely open canopy, home to many grassland birds and with excellent views of the stars above.

I can set up camp here, backing my pickup truck into the site,and not see another person for as long as I stay back there. I might occassionally hear the rumble of a passing pickup truck, or hear a yell from the fairly distant Campsite 57 on the other side of road – which happens to be about a ¼ mile away, and down at the bottom of a valley, below the sand dunes, down by Summer Stream.

It is my personal sanctuary, where I go up to a couple of times of year. It really isn’t that far, and you drive right in. And it’s almost like your in a entirely different world.

View Larger Map

Why Jones Pond is One of My Favorite Campsites

Jones Pond has 5 drive-in campsites on Jones Pond, a small public-private lake a little ways from Paul Smiths. A popular area on weekends, on weeknights, it is little used, but right on this beautiful lake.

View Larger Map

All of the campsites have “filtered” views of Jones Pond with tall white pines growing throughout the campground. The sun, year round sets on the lake, with views of Saint Regis Mountain te background. There is much beauty at all of campsites, with high sand dunes a little ways behind campsites, and sand dunes providing sound and light barriers between campsites.

Part of the generalized St Regis Canoe Area, it one of many nearby lakes. It provides a great place to make the night after a long day paddling, after watching the sunset, and the fire burn as the night progresses. Walk down to the shoreline, and look at the stars sparkle in the sky.

It’s not perfect. There is some road noise from Jones Pond Road, and certainly part of lake shore is privately owned, so there are some power boats occassionally on the lake. But still, it’s a wonderful experience.

After a cloudy start the sun is out ⛅ 👉 ☀

Starting to finally get nice out this morning. Going to be a beautiful day.

Good morning! Happy Sunday from Vacationland 2023. Partly sunny and 60 degrees at the Finger Lakes National Forest. There is a north-northwest breeze at 8 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 57 degrees. Much cooler than before the front came through.

Woke up pretty early this morning, thinking that it would be a nice morning 🌅 and I could get up, use the bucket shitter 🚽 and they have coffee ☕. I even thought 💭 about taking a ride over to Searsburg Road and watching the sun rise. They promised it would be a beautiful day, and it probably will be but it didn’t clear out by nine o’clock last night as promised by the weathermen. ☁️ I looked to the sky this morning and all I saw was clouds. Maybe I should have pooped 💩 and gone back to bed but instead it was apple banana pancakes 🥞 using the remainder of the pancake mix I bought last winter mixed with whole oatmeal, fried apples and mashed bananas. Through
In chia seeds 🌱 for an extra health punch 👊.

Going forward I won’t buy any more pancake mix but instead use that whole grain oatmeal with water and bananas. 🥞 I like the hardy more fiber rich oatmeal over the bleached flour, sugar and chemicals of Aunt Jamina’s pancake mix. Less garbage and cost too by using just simple oatmeal and bananas. Really don’t need to waste money 💵 on packaging to burn. Likewise I’m using real silverware and dishes now while camping as paper plates, and plastic silverware have gotten so expensive with inflation plus who wants to burn all that toxic plastic trash? 🗑

Today will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 71 degrees at 3pm. 13 degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around September 24th. Maximum dew point of 57 at 8am. Northwest wind around 9 mph. A year ago, we had cloudy skies. The high last year was 82 degrees. The record high of 100 was set in 1933. Cool but getting sunny for sure.

Today I have a busy agenda planned. 📜 But it’s going to be a great one. I plan to get a fairly early start, bike most of the Cayuta Valley Rail Trail. 🚲 Then swim at the Watkins Glen Pool, get ice cream at Glen Dairy Bar 🍦, ride along Rock Cabin Road, watch the sunset 🌇 on Seneca Lake. Then back to camp for some hammock time before bed. Greased my chain 🔗 up well on my bike this morning, cleaned off the mud, and set up the GoPro mount on my bike 📸 so I can do some video today riding for the blog and YouTube and other social media. 📹

Despite a fairly soggy day yesterday, 🌧️ I’ve been feeling great without the alcohol and calories 🤰 of years past, choosing healthier nutrient dense meals 🍴 and whole fruits and vegetables 🫑up here at camp. ⛺ A healthy diet I believe really does improve ones mental health. ☺ While I’m not one to blame the chemicals in processed foods – most of them are relative safe, 🧪⚗️ most of them mask crap ingredients that are rich in low quality fats and sugars while providing not much vitamins, fiber or protein. Plus being skinner I feel great though I certainly have been stuffing myself this weekend 🍑 but with higher quality whole foods.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 1:14 pm with sun having an altitude of 66° from the due south horizon (-4.7° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 2.7 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:51 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (290°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (297°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 8:31 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 14 seconds with dusk around 9:02 pm, which is one minute and 5 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Full 🌝 Moon in the southeast (146°) at an altitude of 11° from the horizon, 228,672 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 9:43 pm. At sunset, look for mostly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 64 degrees. The dew point will be 53 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 5 mph. Today will have 14 hours and 35 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 6 seconds over yesterday.

Yesterday became a wet day, though later then expected. Rochester got the rain early, we got it later in the Finger Lakes. 🌧️ Breakfast was eggs with tomatoes, onions and peppers with a side of old breakfast sausage I bought last winter. Rode Blackie 🚵 to the top of Hector Backbone though I admit I dismounted and pushed the bicycle part of the way. I had lower gears ⚙ to drop it down to but I wasn’t feeling motivated. At the top by Blueberry Hill Campground 🫐 it started to rain – it was already one o’clock before that happened. More of a passing shower, waited waited it out under a tree. 🌳 Rode around the campground, the fee is now up to $15 a night though I can’t imagine camping so packed in with others. I like my fires 🔥 and music 🎶, I would be a nuisance if I had to camp around others. 🤫

Tried to get good cell service up there 📶 without much luck. A few bars but it was slow, possibly due to the weather. ⛈ Rode down the backbone to Potomac Road, much more fun going down then over to Potomac Ponds which I started back, started slinging mud 🐽 and decided to turn back when the trail got too muddy. I rode down old Chicken Co-op Road as my GPS calls it 🗺 and the sky just opened up. ⛈️ I wanted to see my favorite old campsite and see how the mud wallow was holding up after all the stone I dumped in it last year. Still quite muddy. Glad I got the site I like on Potomac instead. I headed back to camp, I didn’t mind being soaked as it was still quite warm. 🧅 Fried up another delicious 😋 Vadella onion on the griddle – sliced it into rings, put it on a cast iron skillet and added a little MSG to really make it pop. Dessert was red kidney beans with some maple syrup 🍁 and a beer 🍻. Had two beers yesterday between lunch and dinner which is my limit though the first day I had one and maybe none today.

As the front came through the rain picked up and the temperature dropped. 🌡️ I read for a while 📖 and listened to a podcast 📻 from Focus on Albany with Cynthia Pooler interviewing Leon Van Dyke. Interesting history about how the Democratic 🐴 machine worked and the $5 votes 🗳 and the fear people had about ever speaking up about the machine. Found out John Wolcott is returning home Monday for hospice care, 🧑‍⚕️ but he’s still pretty much in his final hours, hope to visit him at least one more time when I get back from vacation. Had some great interviews with John Wolcott and Leon Van Dyke over the years though I wish we had started years earlier 🎤 before John lost much of his memory and became so frail after getting bit by a tick and collapsing one day in his bathtub 🛁. Tick born illnesses are no joke. 🐜

After a while with the wind and the rain ☔ I started to get chilled through at camp and decided I needed to take off my wet clothes. 👚 I got jeans and a hoodie on, bedded down in my truck with the remainder of the Boggleheads investing book 📙 which I finally finished off before putting on a different podcast about the history of Mad Magazine before nodding off. 🤡 Got some shut eye 👁️ for a few hours before dinner time.

Dinner was more salmon 🐠 with delicious pearl onions, mini red potato 🥔 , sweet corn and fried slices of tomato 🍅 – the second half of the big juicy one I got at the farm stand. I still have a full tomato left, it’s like heaven. Eating good. Rode up to Searsburg Road 🚲 hoping to catch the sunset but it was still gray last night but I do have good reception 📶 there. Maybe tonight though I think I’ll watch the sunset tonight from Seneca Lake 🌇. Decided I wanted to get some more miles in before bed 🛏 after a fairly lazy day 😴 so around dusk started over to Foster Pond on the bicycle but turned back as drizzle started. 🔙 Had a small campfire 🔥 at warm myself and retired to bed around ten 🔟. Early by vacation standards when it’s not really dark out until around nine.

Tonight will have increasing clouds ☁, with a low of 56 degrees at 5am. Six degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around September 6th. Maximum dew point of 54 at 6pm. Northwest wind around 6 mph becoming southwest in the evening. 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 60 degrees. The record low of 49 occurred back in 2021.

One month 📅 from now will the Average High Falls To 79 ️Degrees ⛱️️️ when the sun will be setting at 7:47 pm with dusk at 8:14 pm. As they say, all good things must come to an end, autumn leaves must fall. But first, summer vacation! 🏖

Allegheny National Forest Dispersed Camping and Pennsylvania DNCR Motor Vehicle Camping

Allegheny National Forest Dispersed Camping and Pennsylvania DNCR Motor Vehicle Camping 🏕

Please see also information on dispersed, roadside and back-country camping in New York State, Vermont and West Virginia.

Allegheny National Forest Dispersed Campsites (shown on this map with a round Yellow Camp logo) are free-to-use with a 14-day stay limit in any 30 day period. Many of these campsites are informal areas used for camping, others like along Forest Road 160 and 259 near Jake’s Rocks and along Lolita Grade have enhanced gravel pads/parking areas. Unlike New York State, they do not have formal markings at the sites. More detailed map.

PA DCNR Motor Vehicle Campsites (shown on this map with a Blue Camp logo) are free to stay at with a permit which can now be obtained online, 3 days in advance.

Download a spreadsheet with the coordinates of Allegheny National Forest Dispersed and Motor vehicle campsites.

More About Allegheny National Forest Camping …

In the Allegheny National Forest there are a variety of back country roads, offering primitive roadside camping.

Campsites are free to use, and have no facilities except for a fire ring and a pull-off from the road, and sometimes a site reinforced with gravel.
As noted below, some campsites have additional facilities.
Don’t make a mess of campsites, pack out any garbage left over.
Burn only dead and down trees, don’t bring in wood from out of state.
You can camp up to 14 days per 30 day period in Allegheny National Forest — no permits are required.

Forest Road 160/259 is the most popular dispersed camping area near Jakes Rocks and the Allegheny Reservior. Above are some campsites in this area. Many of these campsites have gravel parking areas and hardend campsites.

There are several campsites along Loleta Grade, south of Lamonaville (FR 131). This is on the backside of Buzzard Swamp Wildlife Refuge, and is a much more wilderness experience. Many of these campsites have gravel parking areas and hardened campsites. Some of the campsites along the Gurgling Run can be buggy during the summer month, but get much less use then the Jakes Rocks area. Be aware that Forest Road 131 from Loleta Recreation Area to Forest Road 288 is permanently closed due to damage after Superstorm Sandy.

There is a handful of campsites along Fire Road FR 137 along the Dry Run and Whitney Creek near the Willow Creek ATV Area.

There are a handful of campsites along the East Tionesta Creek south of Kane/Shefield.

There are many other roads that have camping but these are some of my favorite locations.

More About DCNR Motor Vehicle Camping …

On Pennsylvania State Forests there are a variety of back country roads, offering primitive roadside camping.

Camping is by free permit which can be requested online

I have not done a lot of DCNR Motor Vehicle Camping, but above is a picture from 2012 when I spent half a week truck camping at Painter Run in the Tioga State Forest near the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon. There are many other opportunities as can be seen above, if you plan ahead and get your permit.

Also, see the DCNR Interactive Map if you are interested in fee campgrounds. They have several “rustic” campgrounds which are inexpensive at $10 night, and do not require reservation. These are traditional campgrounds with hand pump water, pit privies and no electricity but often are well maintained and quiet — although the campsites aren’t spread out like back country camping. Many of these campsites are lightly used off-season and are often a good place to spend a night when traveling.

Allegheny National Forest Dispersed Campsites are free-to-use with a 14-day stay limit in any 30 day period. Many of these campsites are informal areas used for camping, others like along Forest Road 160 and 259 near Jake's Rocks and along Lolita Grade have enhanced gravel pads/parking areas. Unlike New York State, they do not have formal markings at the sites. More detailed map.

PA DCNR Motor Vehicle Campsites are free to stay at with a permit which can be obtained from the local DCNR Forestry office (click on the black dot) during ordinary business hours or by emailing/calling their office with your license plate and contact information.

October 5, 2019 Night

Good evening! Partly clear and 50 degrees at the Allegany National Forest. There is a south-southeast breeze at 13 mph. 🍃. Chilly night, I’m glad I bought firewood for sure. I probably could have gathered wood but by the time I set up camp it was getting pretty dark.

Chilly night for sure. 🔥 Glad I have a fire. Regardless of where I stayed tonight I was going to be in Pennsylvania – if I had stuck to my original plan I would have camped at the County Bridge Campground but with my plans to stay in Pennsylvania multiple nights I drove all the way out to the Allegheny National Forest where I can have a campsite all to myself and not have to worry about making too much noise or smoke with my fire. ⛺ West Virginia via US 219 is still a possibility but first I’m going to wait out the rain at the Allegheny National Forest. Technically I can stay at this campsite all week, I could do that, I’m undecided. Going to take it one day at a time and make decisions come Monday. New River Gorge seems unlikely but maybe possible. I think they may have to wait until 2020 or 2021 but that’s just next year. So who knows! I could see doing my West Virginia trip in November 2020.

Tomorrow I’ll fine firewood for Sunday and Monday night. I fully expect the next two days to be fairly rainy and gray but so be it. I’ll probably pitch a tent tomorrow ⛺ so I can warm up next to the heater when it’s raining. Might go for a drive tomorrow just to top off the batteries as I’m not expecting much solar through Monday.

Today was cold enough I left the truck alternator connected all day to the accessory batteries. 🔋 Didn’t smell any sulfurization and honestly the alternator dropped the voltage after several hours of driving. It never got above 55 degrees according to Big Red’s DIC. That said, I did drop the voltage low enough that the low voltage disconnect did kick in briefly so I ended up starting my truck briefly to restore the lights. 💡 I thought about installing a override again to the low voltage disconnect but that never happened. I removed the switch after my last wiring project with the truck.

It’s wasn’t a bad day but it’s an awful long drive from Albany to the Allegheny National Forest. It wasn’t a bd trip except for the part through Binghamton when there was just a lot of busy traffic although it was moving. I ended up stopping both in Cobleskill and Oneonta in search of mantels for the lantern 🏮 but ultimately I found them in Oneonta. They don’t sell them at every Walmart. In the future I’ll just have to plan ahead and order online. The lantern is still burning rather yellow – I think the generator tube in it that pressurizes the gas is clogged with dirt. I wonder if I can order the part online. I wish I had brought carburetor cleaner – I have some at home, if it continues to smoke and not burn real bright 🔆 I’ll have to look at that. I have such problems with camping gear getting plugged with dirt – propane lines and everything else it seems. That said, ever since I used the other type of filter with the propane heater it has been quite reliable and the stove is good since I replaced the burners. I do use my equipment a lot – but happiness for me is nights in the wilderness.

Such a long drive out here. 🚙 A swear after driving all day I start to get a bit delirious. 😜 I find my attention drifts away from driving. Fortunately in bum fuck Pennsylvania traffic is pretty light and cops 👮 are far between. At any rate I made it hear safely. If I had followed my original trip plan I would have cut two hours or more off today’s drive camping At County Bridge Campground, that ten dollar 💵 a night primative campground outside of Troy on the way to future Interstate 99 and ultimately West Virginia. But I don’t like staying at campgrounds, especially with others around as I like having fires and listening 👂 to music 🎶 that oths may not care to hear.. Wilderness camping is a blessed experience for sure. It’s not only free for the site use but is free 🆓 in the sense of freedom. Much like my off grid property some point in the future.

Tonight will have a chance of light rain after 5am. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a low of 49 degrees at 9pm. Six degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around September 23rd. South wind 13 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. In 2018, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 47 degrees. The record low of 24 occurred back in 1965.

Tonight will have a Waxing Gibbous Moon 🌔 with 63% illuminated with the moon setting at 11:43 pm. The moon will rise at 3:15 pm. The 🌕 is next Saturday with mostly clear skies. The sun will rise at 7:17 am with the first light at 6:49 am, which is one minute and 5 seconds later than yesterday. 🌄 Tonight will have 12 hours and 26 minutes of darkness, an increase of 2 minutes and 47 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will have a chance of light rain before 10am, then showers after 10am. 🌦 High of 65 degrees at 4pm. Two degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around October 1st. Maximum dew point of 57 at 5pm. 🏖️ South wind around 14 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. The high last year was 65 degrees. The record high of 90 was set in 1900. There was a dusting of snow in 1954.❄

Tomorrow I probably will string up a tarp and pitch the tent in preparation of the certain rain ☔. Ironically it looks like West Virginia might only get clouds ☁ and a few drops of rain rather than the soaking rain they need badly. 💦 But the Allegheny National Forest is due for a good soaker. But if that happens I’ll have the tent set up which will keep me dry with a good book 📙 to read. I got four of them out of the library on Friday. 📚 Even if it’s cold and pouring rain, hot tenting will be nice. As I previously said I’ll probably go for a short drive tomorrow – maybe just to Jake’s Rocks to bring up the voltage on the batteries 🔋 on the truck. Not expecting a lot of solar tomorrow.

Looking forward to a quiet day in the Allegheny Wilds tomorrow with a good book. 📚 Life has been so busy lately and the quiet tomorrow will be good, doing a bunch of cooking 🍳 on the camp stove. Life has been so crazy lately I’m looking forward to the quiet.

In four weeks on November 2 the sun will be setting at 6:09 pm,🌄 which is 42 minutes and 2 seconds earlier then tonight. I’m not sure what to think about November although some of my favorite camping trips happened then. In 2018 on that day, we had rain and temperatures between 64 and 48 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 53 and 35 degrees. The record high of 82 degrees was set back in 1950.

Looking ahead, Northern Zone Regular Season 🦌 is in 2 weeks, Election Day 2019 🗳️ is a month away, Small Business Saturday 🛍️ is in 8 weeks, Repeal of Prohibition Day 🍺 is in 2 months, First Day of Winter ☃️ is in 11 weeks, 4:30 PM Sunset 🌆 is in 12 weeks, Winnie the Pooh Day 🍯 is in 15 weeks and 5 PM Sunset 🌆 is in 16 weeks.

It’s almost eleven. While it’s nice sitting by the heater I should think about bed. 😴

June 21, 2019 Night

Good evening! Happy First Night of Summer from the wilderness with a billion stars ✨ above. Partly clear and 56 degrees at the Perkins Clearing. There is a west-northwest breeze at 7 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 48 degrees. Even after building a rip roaring fire 🔥, putting on my blaze orange hoodie and jeans it’s still pretty cool this evening.

It’s been a rough week at work but at least I had today after 7:30 AM off from work so I could take a nap at home then pack my stuff and head up to the Adirondacks. ⛺ I ended up deciding based on the forecast to visit the Speculator area and get my favorite campsite with brilliant views of the night sky, ✨ especially with the modest temperatures, low humidity and clear skies expected over the weekend. Actually most of the work week looks good and I’ll be returning most days to the nine to five schedule rather than nine am to seven am schedule I worked yesterday. I got up here safely but my sleep rhythms are still screwed up, it’s almost midnight but I’m quite awake and lots of sun will be streaming into my truck at four am tomorrow. 🌄 That said it’s nice to be back in the wilderness, it’s been a month now. June just has proven to be a very busy month for me plus I ended up making some big upgrades to my camp electric setup – which seems to work perfectly.

Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌤, with a low of 50 degrees at 4am. Nine degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around May 26th. Northwest wind 7 to 9 mph. In 2018, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 50 degrees. The record low of 37 occurred back in 1940. Should be great weather for sleeping.

Tonight will have a Waning Gibbous Moon 🌖 with 70% illuminated. The moon will set at 10:10 am. The Last Quarter Moon is on Monday night with a chance of t-storms then chance of showers. The Buck Moon 🌝 is on Monday, July 15th. The sun will rise at 5:16 am with the first light at 4:40 am, which is 13 seconds later than yesterday. 🌄 Tonight will have 8 hours and 34 minutes of darkness, an increase of 3 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 70 degrees at 3pm. 10 degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around May 19th. Maximum dew point of 50 at 7am. Northwest wind 9 to 16 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. The high last year was 81 degrees. The record high of 95 was set in 1954.

I was thinking about hiking down to the Miami River and doing some fishing 🎣 but looking at the map it’s a bit more of a walk than expected at two miles. I could drive. Or maybe I could hike Pillsbury Mountain – been eight years since I climbed that or better yet do something new and hike back to Pillsbury Lake in the West Canada Lake Wilderness. 🚶 It’s good to explore new places, especially if I want this to be a summer to remember.

Looking ahead to Sunday, sunny, with a high near 75. Northwest wind 6 to 11 mph. Maximum dew point of 52 at 8pm. Typical average high for the weekend is 80 degrees. Planning to do some kayaking and fishing on Sunday down in Speculator.

In four weeks on July 19 the sun will be setting at 8:33 pm,🌄 which is 9 minutes and 2 seconds earlier then tonight. In 2018 on that day, we had sunny, patches of fog and temperatures between 83 and 55 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 83 and 62 degrees. The record high of 97 degrees was set back in 1904.

Looking ahead, Dog Days of Summer 🌻 is in 2 weeks, State Fair Opens 🎡 is in 2 months, Labor Day Weekend Begins 👨‍🏭 is in 10 weeks and Average High 70 🎑 is in 3 months.

When the Rain Stopped for a While at Moose River Plains

Nobody will kid you about it being a rainy summer. But it seems like no place has been rainier in the past year then Moose Plains. For the past three weekends I spent at Moose Plains it rained. That was Moosefest 2012, last September, followed by Memorial Day Weekend 2013 and Labor Day Weekend 2013. Almost every day, during those weekends, it rained, only stopping momentarily with the sun peaking out occasionally.

Part of the reason why I spent so much time in the rain at Moose River Plains, is I was invested in an idea. Moose River Plains is 120 plus miles from home, so it seems a bit too far to go up there just on a whim, compared to say Piseco-Powley Road at 75 miles or Burnt-Rossman Hills at 55 miles, each way. Often like with Memorial Day Weekend, I get excited about the concept of visiting Moose Plains – the hell with the weather. After all, it had been six months since I had spent any time up at the plains. Labor Day didn’t seem like that much of a wash from the forecast, until it rained almost every day. And the prior year – I knew with my work schedule – that if I didn’t go up to Moose Plains during Moosefest week, in the rain, I wouldn’t be back there until spring time.

So it’s been wet. But I figured spending time at Moose Plains still was better then a day stuck at home – the hell with the gasoline burned to get up there, drive from place to place, or for that matter, to keep the lights burning brightly well into the night. But rain can put a damper into plans. Who really wants to go kayaking on Cedar River Flow in the pouring rain or hiking Wakely Mountain in the rain? Not like your going to see much in the rain, plus dampness makes everything miserable, even if you are plenty warm. Skin chaffs from moisture. So I spend my days under the tarp, reading, listening to podcasts, and watching a smoldering campfire struggle against the rain.

Finally, this past extended weekend, I got a break from the rain. There were blue skies for two and half days, although by Saturday, high clouds and haze at times kind of drowned out the sunshine. A foliage trip, there probably were more hunters on the trails then color on the trees. But as weekend progressed, so did the color. And with the chance to go out and enjoy the outdoors, I finally did get out around to see many places at Moose Plains that I longing to see for some time, once again. I spent two beautiful moonlight evenings, hanging off Wakely Dam, enjoying the stars under the bright full moon. I haven’t camped at Wakely Dam on Cedar River Flow in years. I hiked up Wakely Mountain one day, then paddle around the Cedar River Flow, then Wakely Dam, then Helldiver Pond all in one day. The next day, I camped down at Campsite 56, my favorite wilderness campsite in the plains, followed by a surprising nice day, with good foliage, which gave me a chance to visit Indian Lake, off the Indian River at Moose Plains.

But then again, by 5:30 PM, the rain came again, and once again I camping under the tarp, as the fire struggles to keep up against the rain. I guess rain is just a natural thing.

Shrug.

Andy Arthur.org

Search Results for: photo campsite 13 is my favorite