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Paw Paw and Heading North 🐾

Good morning! Happy Saturday. Today I Head North! Cloudy ⛅ and 67 degrees in Canaan Heights, WV. Super mild! There is a south-southeast breeze at 13 mph with gusts up to 25 mph. 🌬️ That wind is roaring around, unstable weather coming. But I’m heading off the Appalachian Front shortly.

Up at six o’clock taking camp down. 🕔 Still quite dark out. To get a jump start on the day and limit pee breaks, 🚽 I hard boiled eggs 🥚 last night and will have two eggs for protein with a banana 🍌 for sugar and some peppers maybe later on. ☕ If I decide I really need coffee I can get some in Keyser this morning. Took the tent down last night ⛺ and packed and organized as much as I could last night, including writing much of this blog post last night. 📝

Today will likely rain ☔ , mainly after 3pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 67 at six AM. Southwest wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning with more sun in the afternoon. The high last year was 55 degrees. The record high of 78 was set in 1971. 2.0 inches of snow fell back in 1952.❄

Today it’s off to Paw Paw Tunnel and ultimately Maryland then onward Pennsylvania. 🚲 The tunnel, part of the C – I Canal National Park Trailway looks neat, it’s a canal through a mountain. Sunday’s forecast looks very wet, so I don’t know if I’ll bother to go to Asaph Run in hoping to bike the Pine Creek Rail Trail after a quick overnight camp. ⛺

It’s possible that I’ll decide to either do my overnight at County Bridge Campground or maybe if time allows, Long Pond State Forest in New York State. 🛣️ The later is free 🆓 and probably more on the route home, plus come Sunday it’s less than 2 hours home from there. If I do the later, I would probably take Interstate 80 from I 99 to I 81.

Or I could possibly overnight at the Paw Paw Campground, I’m just worried about of the drive in one day. 🚘 We’ll over six hours driving Interstate 81 which goes through several big cities like Harrisburg and Scranton versus the relatively quiet I-99. Really don’t want to drive more than four hours a day, with one hour play time and four hours to hike, bicycle or visit parks. 🏞

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:40 pm with sun having an altitude of 34.3° from the due south horizon (-36.5° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 8.8 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 5:16 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (246°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (253°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:55 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 2 seconds with dusk around 6:23 pm, which is one minute and 24 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Full 🌝 Moon in the east-northeast (75°) at an altitude of 6° from the horizon, 232,615 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:58 pm. At sunset, look for mostly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 63 degrees. The dew point will be 51 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 13 mph. Tomorrow will have 10 hours and 30 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 37 seconds over today.

Yesterday, I hiked 15 miles in Dolly Sods. 🚶 Not a bad day but most of the day was grayer then I would have hoped. 🌥 Lot of haze too. Hiked in from the Canaan Valley Wildlife Refuge and along much of the ridge overlooking the wildlife refuge. It was good, I visited some of the more remote places in the wilderness, though still a lot of people exploring there. Sort of hoped to make it across to the top of the Allegheny Front and maybe Bears Rocks 🐻 but time was tight with the early sunset 🌇, no overnight parking 🅿 signs where I was parked and simply the trail I planned to cross the Red Creek with – Dobbins Grade is low water crossng not the case this week. 🐸 Plus the beaver dam. In the evening around sunset walked the new boardwalk in the wildlife refuge off Freeman Drive. Headed back to camp, had a nice dinner and some beer 🍻, took down the tent and organized my gear.

I haven’t posted many pictures 📸 to either Facebook or the blog due to connection issues here but also because I’m trying to maximize my remaining time here in West Virginia. Time is precious. ⌛ I figure all next week I can go through my photos and start sharing them, bringing back memories of what was on my trip.

Tonight will have mostly cloudy ☁, with a low of 41 degrees at 6am. Six degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around October 11th. Northwest wind 8 to 13 mph. In 2022, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 29 degrees. The record low of 19 occurred back in 1969.

Sunday will rain starting around dawn. 🌧️High near 45. Northeast wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

I’m expecting a wet ending to my vacation both Saturday night and definitely Sunday for the last leg of the trip home. 🏡 It’s fine, it rained ☔ on the way down here too at least through New York. The colors probably are pretty much gone for the return trip home I would assume. Then it looks to be cold next week once I’m home. Hoping to ride to work a few more times both ways before the time change but I’m not holding out my breath for too many days next week. 🚲 Might even need to turn the heat back on in my apartment. In contrast, it’s been so warm in West Virginia that I only used the propane heater on Sunday evening and Monday morning ♨️, the rest of the week it’s been shut off and locked 🔒 up.

In 1956, Elvis Presley receives a polio vaccination on national TV. 💉This single event is credited with raising immunization levels in the United States from 0.6% to over 80% in just six months.

Then next Saturday is Daylight Savings Time Ends 🛥️ 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.

Already thinking next week about potentially a four day trip out to Madison County. 🐮 Probably Stoney Pond and peddle around Cazenovia and the Cazenovia – Chittenango Rail Trail and possibly some of the single track mountain bike trails at Alfred Woodford and Tassel Hill. 🚲 Maybe take off the Monday before Election Day for a four day weekend as far away from politics as possible. Or the following Friday is Armstice Day aka Veterans Day Observed, so if I took off either Thursday or the following Monday, it’s another four day weekend. I want to get away one more time before rifle season 🦌.

Today was a great day up on Canaan Mountain ⛰

Morning started out cold and so was the evening but tons of sunshine by midday and beautiful deep blue skies with temperatures in the low sixties by afternoon.

Good evening! Clear and 45 degrees in Canaan Heights, WV. Calm wind. The skies are full of stars. ✨

It was a nice day though it started out cold ❄ with a hard frost. As the previous night it was cold and I got here late, spent the morning pitching the tent and setting up camp for the week, gathered firewood 🔥 , then a nice lunch of salmon 🐠 , broccoli 🥦 and onions. 🧅 Dinner was rice and lentils with too much garlic and some beer. But I enjoyed most of all was the many cups of coffee ☕ ☕ ☕ and eggs and vegetables. 🍳 I mean the hard boiled eggs and banana 🍌 limited piss breaks on the way down but I was all for having a real breakfast this morning.

I spent a lot of time getting camp set up for the week, ⛺ organizing gear and food. Laid back in the hammock for a while. It’s vacation, and this year I’m determined not to spend every waking hour rushing from point A to Point B. It’s not like I’m planning fewer adventures but I’m trying to explore more what is close to camp but have previously overlooked then the crowded tourist trap kind of places like Spruce Knob, Dolly Sods and Seneca Rocks. I’ve been to all those places many times before, no reason to go back. Truth is though I kind of want to go back to the Dolly Sods 🌾🌲🌳 but I don’t like the crowds or the rough steep road up there and it’s a bit out of the way. I guess I’ll decide later in the week.

Did a leisurely bike 🚲 ride along a portion of upper Canaan Loop Road and then hiked down to Blackwater Falls State Park 🏞 spending some time at the scenic overlooks before hiking back through the mountain and giant laurel lined trail. With the giant laurel so tightly growing in Canaan Heights there wasn’t much of a chance of loosing the trail.

Tonight will be mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 30 degrees at 5am. South wind 5 to 7 mph. Colder then Albany but also tomorrow will be warmer than back home. Lots of sun too. In 2022, we had mist 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 58 degrees. The record low of 19 occurred back in 1981.

I’m starting to upload photos 📸 but with spotty cell service I’m having trouble. You might have to wait until next week to see more photos of my adventures, though I might upload some to Facebook in the meantime. Plus I’d rather be out doing fun things then messing around with social media on vacation.

Tonight will have a Waxing Gibbous 🌔 Moon with 76% illuminated. The moon will set at 4:17 pm. The Hunter 🏹 Moon is on Sunday, October 29. The darkest hour is at 12:40 am, followed by dawn at 7:01 am, and sun starting to rise at 7:33 am in the east-southeast (105°) and last for 3 minutes and 1 seconds. Sunrise is one minute and 12 seconds later than yesterday. 🌄 The golden hour ends at 8:09 am with sun in the east-southeast (112°). Tonight will have 13 hours and 17 minutes of darkness, an increase of 2 minutes and 43 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 69 degrees at 3pm. Calm wind becoming south 5 to 8 mph in the morning. A year ago, we had light rain in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 59 degrees. The record high of 75 was set in 2017. There was a dusting of snow in 1962.❄

The plan for tomorrow is to drive down to Davis 🛻 then to Blackwater Falls State Park and hike out to Lindey Point. Then poke around the village, 🏘️ and then ride Camp Seventy Road along the Black River to Canaan Wildlife Refuge. Then get milk, ice, coffee grounds and paper towels at the Stop and Shop Express or Dollar General, the only real choices you have here.

Today in 1973, President Richard M. Nixon agrees to turn over subpoenaed audio tapes of his Oval Office conversations. 📼 Nowadays politicians rarely tape themselves in preparation for writing books in retirement 📝 though apparently George Romney’s son is a profilic journal writer.

While so far every night I’ve camped has been below freezing in the High Country, there are 3 weeks until Average Night Below Freezing back in Albany 🌌 when the sun will be setting at 5:06 pm with dusk at 5:33 pm (Standard Time) here in West Virginia. On that day in 2022, we had partly cloudy and temperatures between 49 and 36 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 50 degrees. We hit a record high of 69 back in 1964.

I Guess Columbus Day Weekend Isn’t a Complete Washout 🌧 🤛🏻 ⛵ 🍂

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. 🍃. 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 ☕ 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. ☔

Today will have showers and possibly a thunderstorm. ⛈ 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 🏅 starts at 5:51 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (257°). 📸 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. 🌇 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. ⛅ 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. 🏕 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. 😀 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. 👖 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 🚂 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. ♨️ ⛺ 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. 👪 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 🗺 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, 🖨 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. 🥩 🥛 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 🗺 🤖 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 💰 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. ☃ 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. 🏕 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 🛥️ 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.

September 18, 2019 Night

Good evening! Clear and 53 degrees at the Delmar. 🌟 Calm wind. Going to be a cold night. I thought about closing my windows but the heat is off and it’s not expected to get below freezing in Albany. I’ll just enjoy the hot coffee ☕ come morning.

Tonight will be mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 42 degrees at 5am. Eight degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around October 8th. Calm wind. In 2018, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It was somewhat humid. It got down to 60 degrees. The record low of 32 occurred back in 1959.

Tonight will have a Waning Gibbous Moon 🌖 with 70% illuminated. The moon will set at 11:46 am. The Last Quarter Moon is on Friday night. The Hunter Moon 🌝 is on Saturday, October 12th. The sun will rise at 6:38 am with the first light at 6:09 am, which is one minute and 5 seconds later than yesterday. 🌄 Tonight will have 11 hours and 38 minutes of darkness, an increase of 2 minutes and 51 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will have patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, sunny 🌞, with a high of 71 degrees at 3pm. Typical for tomorrow. Calm wind. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. It was sticky. The high last year was 75 degrees. The record high of 90 was set in 1946.

Doug Bullock’s Speech to Save the Pine Bush was quite good. 📢 No bull horn this time. He will be missed in the county legislature – he’s still on the Working Families line but I think most people know it’s time to move on. He can continue his activism in new ways. I helped him out on his first campaign 12 years ago but the democrats in his district apparently wanted a change – and his progressive advocacy never won him much in the way of corporate contributions.🌲I don’t agree with Doug on every issue but he’s a good guy in politics, for all the right reasons. ✊

So it looks like the proposal to re-power the ANSWERS plant and generate electricity is officially dead. 🏭 They’re going to tear it down instead build more solar on the plaza and in Oneida County and replace more of the lighting with solid state fixtures. It was so weird that they announced it during the Save the Pine Bush Dinner 📢 while Doug Bullock was speaking a two days before the climate march. Doug has been very vocal about opposing the plans as has the folks in PAUSE and the No Fracked Gas pipeline people. 🌎 At this point, we really shouldn’t be investing in more fossil infrastructure and the truth is that they didn’t really need the co-generation plant – it was wish list type thing 📃. Can they build the hundreds of acres of solar needed to go 100% solar for the Plaza? Only time will tell. A hundred million dollars once allocated to build the co-generation plant 💵 can buy a lot of panels. I do wonder though about outsourcing the panels to Oneida County.

I probably would have been involved with Doug’s campaign but I don’t get involved in politics much any more. 🏤 Some of its my work takes a lot of my time but also I’m less interested in politics than in years past. I’m more interested in self improvement and investing in my own future. 💰 Those who fight the good fight are doing God’s work but I don’t want to be part of the messy nature of politics. I just want to buffer myself from the harm of climate change and eventually own my own land out in the country in a freer state. 🐷

In four weeks on October 16 the sun will be setting at 6:12 pm,🌄 which is 48 minutes and 27 seconds earlier then tonight. In 2018 on that day, we had partly sunny and temperatures between 56 and 36 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 60 and 39 degrees. The record high of 88 degrees was set back in 1947.

Tomorrow evening I’ll run to the store and get a camp chair, and maybe boots 👢 and get packed up for the weekend. I plan to head north as soon as the Pine Bush hike is over on Saturday. Should be a really nice evening.

I’ve gotten a few maps and done some more research 🗾 on the New River Gorge. Most of the other places in West Virginia I’m quite familiar with so I don’t expect to need much research but I did also get a map for hiking Dolly Sods. I got to get out my big West Virginia Monongahela National Forest map – I think I know where it is in the crawl space – and do some more planning. I have one of those free maps from AAA of West Virginia Roads outside of the National Forest but I’m thinking about getting a better quality Rand McNally map too for better details. This year’s trip I want better planned then in 2017 which was kind of a mess as I was dealing with my mom being in the hospital 🏥.

Looking ahead, More Night then Day 🌌 is in 1 weeks, Average High is 65 🍂 is in 2 weeks, Day After Election Day 🛀 is in 7 weeks, Average Night Below Freezing 🌌 is in 8 weeks, Average High is 40 🌨 is in 11 weeks, Christmas 🎅 is in 14 weeks, New Years Day 2019 🎉 is in 15 weeks, National Bird Day 🐦 is in 17 weeks, Winnie the Pooh Day 🍯 is in 4 months, 37th Birthday 🎉 is in 19 weeks and Inauguration Day 2021 👴🏻 is in 70 weeks.

March 21, 2019 Morning

Good morning! Happy Thursday. Today is the first full day of spring. Next Thursday the Average High is 50 󞀮 Mostly cloudy skies and 38 degrees at the Elm Ave Park & Ride – CDTA. ☁ There is a south-southeast breeze at 7 mph. 🍃. Nice morning walking down to the Park and Ride. Temperatures will drop below freezing at tomorrow around 11 pm. ☃️

Definitely seems like the weather has moderated a bit and the walk to the express bus was pleasant. 🚏The bus was on time. Hit some traffic going into city on the old 787 but I really don’t have that many complaints. I’m not driving. Kind of gray though for sure. I thought the news on NPR 📰 was kind of depressing 😔 but what bleeds leads. I guess. I think the democratic party 🎉 is shooting itself in the foot 👣for 2020 but that’s to be seen.

Lately I’ve had very few complaints about the bus service 🚍, the buses are nearly always on time ⌚ it close to it. The real time bus info has gotten better in recent years as drivers properly key 🔑 in the block numbers 🔢 into the buses and the radio GPS units work better. Transit information ℹ in Google Maps 🌐 has gotten better in recent years.

Definitely nice not having to wear a suit and tie to work today. 👔I could walk down to the express bus 🚶 and it’s a lot more comfortable and more myself than the alternative. It just makes for a much more relaxing day and easier to walk during my lunch hour.

Today will rain likely, mainly after 2pm. Cloudy 🌧, with a high of 46 degrees at 2pm. Typical for today. South wind 7 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. A year ago, we had cloudy in the morning, which became partly cloudy by afternoon. The high last year was 37 degrees. The record high of 78 was set in 1921. 6.0 inches of snow fell back in 1905.❄

The sun will set at 7:09 pm with dusk around 7:37 pm, which is one minute and 10 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for rain showers 🌧 and temperatures around 43 degrees. There will be a southeast breeze at 7 mph. Today will have 12 hours and 13 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 55 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will rain. 🌧 Low of 35 degrees at 6am. Five degrees above normal, which is similiar to a typical night around April 3rd. Southeast wind around 6 mph becoming north after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible. In 2018, we had cloudy. It got down to 27 degrees. The record low of 2 occurred back in 1875.

Tomorrow will rain and snow, becoming all rain after 9am. 🌧 High of 42 degrees at 3pm. Three degrees below normal, which is similiar to a typical day around March 16th. West wind 9 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. A year ago, we had cloudy in the morning, which became partly cloudy by afternoon. The high last year was 45 degrees. The record high of 81 was set in 2012. 7.0 inches of snow fell back in 1887.❄

I thought 💭 about turning off the heat 🔥 in my apartment but it still gets fairly cold at night and the start of the weekend is expected to be pretty cold. But soon I should be able kill it for the year, well until November most likely. Looking forward to the fresh air in the morning and also getting out, camping, traveling and exploring again.

As I noted yesterday, the Pine Bush Dinner was fascinating but depressing last night. 💥There are so many dangers out there in the world 🌍, especially impacting people of color and the poor. And there are no good solutions but to do everything you can to avoid getting into those situations – social class isn’t as guaranteed as one might imagine.😩 Maybe I should live more of a high consumption life for today but I see so many scary storm clouds in the distance tomorrow. ☁ At least the lasagna was really good and I could take a bunch home to reheat for lunch. 🍲

I sat out back for a while when I got home last night. 🌕 The full worm moon was nice although I didn’t stay out back for long as with the breeze it wasn’t that warm. It’s still March. By the pink moon next month I’ll probably be able to sit out back for longer and enjoy the night 🌃. Inside it was a very comfortable 62 degrees for sleeping. I just wish it was a bit warmer to enjoy the fresh air with the windows open.

Ever since I retired my Facebook account more and more people are talking about missing it. 💻 I don’t know if I’m now popping up in people’s feeds more now that I’ve stopped posting there or people are just noticing my absence. That said I really enjoy not being bombarded with so much news 📰 and memes, and so much divisiveness. I like the solitude that is my blog. If I see something worth sharing on Facebook I can always embed it in the blog – a venue that is free of advertising – and I control the placement of content.

The bathroom sink was plugged again yesterday but I poured in some drain cleaner and it’s moving again. 🚿 Plumbing has always been problematic in my apartment, I always keep a plunger handy for the bath tub and drain cleaner for the sink. Part of living in an affordable apartment is not everything is perfect.

It looks like like Sunday will be the best weather for the weekend. 😎 Saturday, a chance of snow before 8am, then a chance of snow showers between 8am and 11am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 37. Breezy, with a northwest wind 22 to 25 mph, with gusts as high as 45 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Sunday, sunny, with a high near 54. Typical average high for the weekend is 47 degrees.

People where asking if I was thinking about going camping this weekend ⛺, which would be more of a possibility now that my niece’s birthday party is postponed 🎂, as she has a cold. But I’ll think I’ll wait and save the money until it’s a bit warmer. I might go to John’s house on Saturday 📃 or maybe a hike out to Five Rivers Environmental Education Center 🌲and Sunday do a bigger hike somewhere there isn’t much snow. I’d like to get up to the Adirondacks to camp but I’m waiting for the snow to go up along NY 8 East Branch before I head up that way. 🗻

This autumn I’m still considering my options for a fall trip.🍁West Virginia sounds appealing as does the national forest in Southern Ohio, although the later is a lot longer trip. 🌎I do like the Monongahela National Forest a lot, and I could see spending more time around Dolly Sods and the Cannan Mountain. 🗻 On the other hand I kind of want to spend some time poking around Western NY, it’s been a while since I’ve spent much time out there.

Looking ahead, Pink Moon 🌕 is in 4 weeks, Easter 🐰 is a month away, Average High is 70 🐮 is in 8 weeks, Independence Day 🇺🇸 is in 15 weeks, August 🌻 is in 19 weeks, State Fair Opens 🎡 is in 5 months, Average High 70 🎑 is in 6 months and Last Sunset After 7 PM 🌆 is in 28 weeks.

October 15, 2015 update

I decided to leave West Virgina on Tuesday, in part because I wanted to stay at a developed campground where I could get a shower, and because I was getting awful tired of the narrow, steep roads of West Virgina. I’m sure not every road is awful in West Virginia, but it sure seems like I have been driving up them – from Dolly Sods Road to Spruce Mountain Road – to say nothing of the somewhat larger but much heavier traffic of US 33 as it crosses Judy’s Pass to Franklinton then again over Shenandoah Mountain. I just hate the steep climbs, the descending in low gear, and the traffic wanting to blast pass.

Shenandoah National Park was on my list to see. I figured if I was going to be in West Virginia, I better also swing east to Skyline Drive and the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. I was generally heading that way from Grandy Creek, the other alternative was to head south to WV 22 and out that way, but I wanted to see Spruce Mountain, which there is a road that takes you up 4,823 feet to the highest point in West Virginia. You certainly can’t drive that high anywhere in New York on a public road, and only the highest of high peaks take you up there. The summit of Spruce Mountain is remarkably beautiful and mostly undeveloped besides a narrow paved road that takes you to the top, a small picnic area and observation platform. The drive down Spruce Mountain was so steep though.

US 33 was quite the climb and descent over the two mountain ranges from where I was to Virginia. It was steep but once you reached the Shenandoah Valley, US 33 cuts through a beautiful section of the George Washington National Forest without a bend in miles. You quickly forget the awful drive you just made over Shenandoah Mountain. To make matters worst, US 33 was being repaved over Shenandoah Mountain, so I ended up getting stuck at the bottom weighting for the pilot car to bring me and a long line of traffic up the three miles up it on the West Virginia side. The Virginia side was just as as steep, but the lanes were wider and despite the hairpin turns,seemed much more navigable.

Harrisonburg, VA is a pretty large city. I had no idea until I arrived downtown and had to fight traffic on six lane roads. The Shenandoah Valley was pretty with a lot of chicken farms and some dairies, but this general area was also rapidly suburbanizing, with houses abutting farms. I’m sure that leads to a strained relationship at times between the farms and the suburbanites. Smelled somewhat like farm country, not unlike around Lowville or any of the great agricultural valleys in New York. Harrisonburg sucked to drive through, but once you got 5 miles out of town it was a four lane road with occasional traffic lights and a fairly heavily volume, but eventually it became open, rolling country. US 33 drops down to 2 lanes with occasional passing lanes as you entered the park. I would like to get down and see more of the Shenandoah Valley away from the city. Maybe tomorrow or Friday.

When I first arrived at Shenandoah National Park I was under-impressed, as the section of Skyline Drive north of US 33 isn’t immediately impressive despite the overviews. The wonderful weather of Tuesday morning had turned to clouds as I headed east into the the front. It might have been sunny and beautiful in West Virginia, but by the time I was east in Shenandoah Valley it had gotten cloudy and hazy. The Shenandoah Valley also suffers from a major air pollution problem, which is somewhat less in West Virginia in the very rural area around Spruce Mountain. The wilderness area around Spruce Mountain and Dolly Sands is very impressive, some of the views at Shenandoah were less impressive.

I decided to camp at Matthew’s Arm Concentrated Camping Operation, the farthest north campground along the parkway – 21 miles from the northern start of Skyline Drive. It was a nice campground although it was fairly rustic. It has flush toilets and running water in the bathrooms, but it refill water containers, you had to drive to the trailer dump station and water filling area (separate faucets, obviously). One thing this campground lacked was showers, which was a disappointment. But they recommended you visit the pay showers 15 miles down the road at Big Meadows. This campground was $15 a night with no taxes or fees, it did not have electricity in the campground. They had heated bathrooms with running water. No hot water at Matthew’s Arm but they did have hot water at Loft Mountain. I had dinner and a few beers and was in bed by 9 PM. They openly allow (and sell alcohol) at the Shenandoah National Park campgrounds which is kind of nice. Still having neighbors and having to keep the music down and being brief with idling the engine to keep the batteries charged, is less nice.

I had to get up early to go to the bathroom, and ultimately decided to get up around 6:45 AM to drive over to one of the overlooks to watch the sun rise. While a somewhat cloudy morning, it was a beautiful start to the day. Broke camp around 9:30 AM and started south on the parkway, stopping at several of the overlooks, then when I got cellphone service, uploaded some photos to share with people, along with previous nights posts. Stopped at Big Meadows Visitors Center and also at the showers at Big Meadows around noontime.

In the nicer weather, spending more time on the parkway, showed how beautiful many of the views are along the parkway. The haze wasn’t as bad in the clear, drier weather, although still notable across the valley. Some of the overviews from Skyline Drive are remarkably beautiful, others less so. The leaves aren’t peak everywhere, but there is some nice colors showing up in various directions. Got a campsite at the Loft Mountain Concentrated Camping Operation. Picked a site high up on the hill, hoping to get cellphone reception and at least good radio reception. The cellphone reception was pretty marginal from camp, but I did have good radio reception for listening to any local radio station within reason. Watched the sun set from one of the overlooks. I retired to bed around 10 PM. Nice flush toilets, hot water, and heated bathrooms. Showers just down the road.

Today’s plan is to head further down Skyline Drive until I reach the Blue Ridge Parkway. I will probably go a ways down the Parkway, and hopefully find some place to camp at a campground along it. When I reach Interstate 64 on the Blue Ridge Parkway, I will take that west back to West Virigina and on Friday night camp on at site along one of the roads in West Virigina. From there I will take I-99 in Pennsylvania to Wellsboro and the Grand Canyon Country, overnight there, and return to Albany on Sunday afternoon.

Andy Arthur.org

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