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I Guess Columbus Day Weekend Isn’t a Complete Washout 🌧 πŸ€›πŸ» β›΅ πŸ‚

Totally bummed out about this weekend, but maybe I shouldn’t be. It didn’t rain until quite late into the night and this morning the rain has slackened up quite a bit. Maybe it will be nice enough to go for a bike ride to Voorheesville or Five Rivers — and it might be pretty to check out the Pine Hollow Arboretum which amazingly enough I’ve never been there. Almost rain free-enough to make me wish I had headed out of town to get camping. Maybe tomorrow but it’s likely going to be cold and windy, and probably still damp. We’ll see come the morning, I got to start working on packing and thinking about West Virginia sooner rather then later.

Good morning! Happy Saturday on this rather Rainy Start to Columbus Day Weekend! Rain showers, at least a few drops of rain here and there and 65 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☁ There is a south-southeast breeze at 7 mph. πŸƒ. The dew point is 63 degrees. The skies will clear tomorrow around 10 am.

I slept in until 5:50 AM when my alarm went off ⏰ got up and make oatmeal-banana pancakes to start off my morning. 😡 Lots of coffee β˜• so I waited a while before heading out in case I had to piss up a storm, and ended up deciding bicycling was a safer option lest I needed to pee 🚽 or the sky opened up with rain. β˜”

Today will have showers and possibly a thunderstorm. β›ˆ Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Temperature falling to around 57 by 5pm. Southeast wind 7 to 9 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New rainfall amounts between 2 and 3 inches possible. Yeah, even though it’s not raining right now, I’m glad I’m not camping in that kind of crap. That’s a lot of rain. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning, remaining cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was 71 degrees. The record high of 89 was set in 1963.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:44 pm with sun having an altitude of 42° from the due south horizon (-28.9° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 6.7 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour πŸ… starts at 5:51 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (257°). πŸ“Έ The sunset is in the west (263°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 6:28 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 56 seconds with dusk around 6:55 pm, which is one minute and 43 seconds earlier than yesterday. πŸŒ‡ The best time to look at the stars is after 7:29 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 56 degrees. The dew point will be 54 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 11 mph. Tomorrow will have 11 hours and 27 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 50 seconds over today.

Tonight will have showers, mainly before 1am. 🌧 Low of 47 degrees at 5am. Two degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around October 3rd. Northwest wind around 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. In 2022, we had partly cloudy skies. It got down to 38 degrees. The record low of 21 occurred back in 1964.

For tomorrow, Sunday, things may improve. β›… A slight chance of showers before 8am, then a slight chance of showers after noon. Partly sunny, with a high near 59. Southwest wind 8 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. That wind will make it cool but maybe I should plan to do some biking and camping out of town. πŸ• I heard there is some pretty good color in the Catskills. And for Columbus Day, cool but mostly sunny, with a high near 59. South wind around 9 mph. That does seem like an improvement over earlier forecasts. πŸ˜€ My parents are out of town this weekend, so I won’t be visiting them this weekend, so I am kind of free to do whatever I want this weekend both days and I don’t have to rush home. I have enough clothes for the upcoming week for work, as it’s going to be cool and I wore t-shirt and shorts all last week, including the day I was off. πŸ‘– I will have to go to the laundromat later in the week though before I head down to West Virginia. Assuming that’s where I end up — if it looks truly cold and wet for the following week I could change my plans to be closer to home, but regardless I plan to camp for the full week. 🀷‍♂️

I am watching the forecast for both here in Delmar, Wellsboro Penna and Thomas WV, 🌧 and I’m not pleased with how much rain I’m seeing, though 7 days out it really is just a crap shoot. The rain numbers are quite meaningless at this point as so much could change. If it rains on my drive down to WV it’s not the end of the world, I don’t need to take a million different side trips. I’ll skip the Pine Creek Rail Trail πŸš‚ and the C-O Canal Trail 🚲 until later in the week or not at all, and mostly just drive down, and hunker down at camp. 🚘 Once I’m in West Virginia once camp’s set up the rain is less of an issue. Indeed, the 8-14 day outlook suggests especially in West Virginia in the mid-Atlantic states it might be a fairly dry week but cool. 😎 I’ll take that as long as there isn’t snow. ❄️

I will be bringing my heater, and can hot tent if it’s really cold up in Canaan Heights but I want to have sunny days for hiking and bicycling, plus it makes the scenery better. ♨️ β›Ί I hear they’re getting their first likely frost in the high country this weekend, so by next weekend it should still be close to peak color, without the crowds of Columbus Day Weekend. πŸ‘ͺ There is a reason I waited to later this year, plus it seems like autumn is occurring each year a bit later — and the High Country of West Virginia is more like the Hilltowns climate-wise then the mountains of New York due to the more southerly location.

I found my West Virginia maps including the Monongahela National Forest πŸ—Ί along with the Pine Creek Rail Trail and several other Pennsylvania State Parks I may want to visit on the way down assuming it’s not raining. I am going to print up at work a few small scale maps of Canaan Heights and some other trails in the Otter Creek and Dolly Sods Wilderness at work, πŸ–¨ assuming I can find a printer that still works in the office, lol. 🀣 No-ones going to care if I print up like four pages, assuming that the machine still works as nobody prints much anymore work-related. Then it’s just clothes and supplies to pack for camping. I will bring a fair amount of food with me, but only one cooler as it will be cool enough that most fruits and vegetables don’t need cooling, and I don’t eat nearly as much meat and dairy as I once did. πŸ₯© πŸ₯› I’m not a vegetarian but healthier, whole foods that are low on saturated fats really don’t need as much refrigeration.

The past few days I’ve been getting a ton of blog traffic πŸ—Ί πŸ€– I think with people looking for places to camp and hike for the Columbus Day Weekend. One day I pulled in over $10 in ad revenue, and I’m in the low-$30s of what I’ve pulled in over the past week and a half of running ads. I think I will be close to $70 by the end of month, and while I won’t get paid until I rack up $100 in revenue, I think by December 1st I’ll probably be getting my first check πŸ’° which could easily be above $130 by my own estimates, though it depends how much demand drops for my blog as the winter season approaches. β˜ƒ Traffic usually drops fairly low in December and January. Maybe I need to do more maps relating to skiing and snowmobiling or winter camping locations. πŸ• But it will pick up again come April and May, having looked at my old web logs. It’s good because the $540 check to the web host goes out tomorrow for the next three years. Hopefully, within a year I’ll made enough from blog ads to be made whole, all while enjoying telling my story.

Looking ahead, there are 4 weeks until Daylight Savings Time Ends πŸ›₯️ when the sun will be setting at 5:46 pm with dusk at 6:14 pm. On that day in 2022, we had sunny, warm and temperatures between 71 and 46 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 54 degrees. We hit a record high of 76 back in 1994.

Catskills

A Potential Autumn Trip Idea πŸ‚

I am thinking about taking off the the third week of October — the weekend after Columbus Day to that following week. While it’s possible I will be past peak color, especially in the high country, I’d rather avoid the crowds around Columbus Day and enjoy more solitude in the woods.

This isn’t the only option, but it’s an idea that I currently have, though I don’t necessarily love how long the drives are. But if I stay in the same location for multiple days, and don’t spend a lot of time ramming as much as I can into a vacation, I can enjoy more of it before heading home.

  • Saturday 10/14 – Drive down to Asaph Run Campground in Wellsboro PA, ride part of Pine Creek Rail Trail
  • Sunday 10/15 – Spend all day riding along the Pine Creek Rail Trail, do a second night at Asaph Run.
  • Monday 10/16 – Break camp early, head down to Cumberland MD, explore some of the C&O Trail in Cumberland then head down to Canaan Heights WV
  • Through Saturday 10/17 – Camp up at Canaan Heights – Table Rock outside of Davis WV, then do a lot of the bike trails and hiking up around Canaan Heights and Canaan Wildlife Refuge and Blackwater State Park – maybe Dolly Sods or the Otter Creek Wilderness but I don’t want to spend my whole vacation driving. I like setting up and having a home base, and not rushing from place to place, but instead kicking back at camp.
  • Saturday 10/18 – Head back up through Pennsylvania, overnight-ing at County Bridge Campground. I almost wish I could make the trip back home in one day but that’s not a practical option. Probably stop at a few Pennsylvania State Parks along Interstate 99 or maybe visit Penn State on the way back.
  • Sunday 10/19 – Head back home, maybe stopping at Chenango Forks State Park or Robert Riddel, though at this point I’ll probably be ready to head home and unpack.

I really don’t enjoy vacations anymore where I try to ram as much as possible into the trip. I’d rather set up camp, stay local, hike or ride from camp, or if I do head into town or to trail heads not make it an every day thing where I drive as many miles as possible each day. Gas is more expensive but also I find excessive driving can wear me out too.

Evening In The Pine Creek Gorge

The Mon website says that the forest contains,

October 8, 2019 9 PM Update

Good evening! Clear and 48 degrees at the Allegheny National Forest. There is a east breeze at 7 mph. πŸƒ.

Today was a nice quiet day. 🚢 I did a nice hike from Kinzua Beach to Rimrock and walked on the Cornplanter Bridge. πŸŒ‰ After the hike I sat down by the reservoir for a while with the third book of vacation, this one on the National Security State. I got back to camp, cooked dinner and built a big fire πŸ”₯ before laying back in the hammock. The ample sun today meant the solar panel put out 192 watt hours while I was parked down there – not bad figuring its a 100 watt panel and its the October sun. πŸ”‹ That extra battery helps a lot at camp.

Tonight will be mostly clear πŸŒƒ, with a low of 41 degrees at 4am. One degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around October 10th. East wind 5 to 7 mph. In 2018, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It became humid as the night progressed. It got down to 62 degrees. The record low of 27 occurred back in 2001.

Tonight will have a Waxing Gibbous Moon πŸŒ” with 87% illuminated. The moon will set at 2:37 am. The πŸŒ• is on Saturday night with mostly clear skies. The sun will rise at 7:19 am with the first light at 6:51 am, which is one minute and 6 seconds later than yesterday. πŸŒ„ Tonight will have 12 hours and 34 minutes of darkness, an increase of 2 minutes and 46 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 65 degrees at 4pm. Two degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around October 4th. East wind 5 to 7 mph. A year ago, we had light drizzle in the morning, remaining cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was 81 degrees. The record high of 83 was set in 1949. There was a dusting of snow in 2000.❄

Whats the next step I ask myself? I was thinking I really do crave the scenic beauty of West Virginia and I don’t need to have a fire down there. I have the heater and electric lights which are working well. πŸ—» Tomorrow I morning I could break camp early, take US 219 to Thomas WV and camp there through Sunday. I would stop at Mount Davis tomorrow and then hike Hoyes Crest on Thursday or Friday and the opposite day do a day trip and hike at Dolly Sods and maybe Cannan Valley Refuge. Come back on Sunday, overnight at County Bridge Campground outside of Troy Penna.

The alternative which is probably more sensible is to tomorrow drive down to the Southern portion of the Allegheny National Forest. β›Ί There is this big open campsite outside of Marietta on Loleta Grade that is remote yet has an open canopy for solar and looking at the stars ✨. Good wood supply and I could drive over to the Buzzard Swamp one day. I’d have to get ice and more milk and cheese tomorrow in Warren then maybe take US 62 south. Maybe visit the Tionesta Vista and Nebraska Bridge which is probably not underwater right now. Sunday visit the Elk Center in Benzette and drive the Elk Route along the very scenic West Branch of the Susquehanna River and drive up to Hyner View. Overnight at County Bridge, get home on Columbus Day. That would be a lot less miles and much quieter option but it means no West Virginia until November 2020 or later.

I think I’ll choose the later but I’ll sure be disappointed πŸ˜₯ about not making it to West Virginia. But the leaves by Sunday might be much better in Elk County and they’re really cool 😎 to watch graze. I ‘ll see come the morning. The Elk Drive is a lot of fun and maybe quite beautiful but the rest of the week is kind of bland compared to the alternative.

In four weeks on November 5 the sun will be setting at 5:05 pm (Standard Time),πŸŒ„ which is one hour, 40 minutes and 42 seconds earlier then tonight. In 2018 on that day, we had rain showers, partly sunny and temperatures between 48 and 31 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 52 and 34 degrees. The record high of 75 degrees was set back in 1994.

Looking ahead, Election Day 2019 πŸ—³οΈ is in 4 weeks, 7:15 AM Sunrise βŒ›οΈ is in 9 weeks, Christmas Eve πŸŽ… is in 11 weeks, New Years Eve πŸŽ† is in 12 weeks, Coldest Week of the Year 🌬 is in 14 weeks and Martin Luther King Day πŸ–€ is in 15 weeks.

I set my alarm for 6:30 am well before dawn here so I can take down camp and move onto whatever the next step is. ⏰

Duck Pond from the Dam