Here is a Map of Albany showing the stockade in 1695, overlaying the contemporary arerial photo of Albany. At the top of the hill, was Fort Frederick sitting atop State Street Hill (Capitol Hill) it replaced the earlier Fort Orange along the Hudson River, offering protection for Pearl Street and lands below it. John Wolcott told me that Pearl Street was likely a corruption of "Peril Street" due to the risk of being shot by invaders down from the top of the hill.
This 1952 aerial photo shows the neighborhood in Albany that would be demolished for the Empire State Plaza, between South Swan Street and Eagle Street. Long forgotten streets, like High Street and South Hawk Street can be found in this dense urban neighbohood which within 10 years would be out by the state, and within 15 years would be entirely carted off to dumping grounds in Glenmont behind Erastus Corning's house near the intersection of US 9W and NY 32.
A 3D rendering of the coming together of the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers.
Below is the listing of the snowfall that has fallen in various locations of the Capital Region, according National Weather Service.
Albany city – NWS Albany (NY-AB-21)
7 inches ☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃ 12pm
Coeymans town – Alcove Res. (ACVN6)
6 inches ☃☃☃☃☃☃☃ 1pm
Colonie town – Albany Intl AP (ALB)
7 inches ☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃ 12pm
Colonie town – Albany International Airport (KALB)
7 inches ☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃ 12pm
Brunswick town – Troy 2.1 NNE (NY-RN-20)
6 inches ☃☃☃☃☃☃☃ 12pm
Schaghticoke town – Hudson River @ Green Island (TRYN6)
None 12p
While this year was a rainy one, and it rained during many of my trips, I was able to get out for 53 nights in the wilderness — mostly fairly close to home but I also did a trip down to West Virginia in late October with several trips to the Adirondacks, Central New York and summer vacation in the Finger Lakes.
To start out my camping adventures in 2023, I drove out to Charles Baker State Forest and Brookfield Horse Camp. There wasn’t a lot of snow — just a dusting but it was a fun weekend, topped off by a beautiful sun-full glittery hike up Tassell Hill after a hoar frost. Explored Lost Pond and several of the trails in the middle of state forest.
For my fortieth birthday, I took off the Friday leading up to my 40th birthday to cross country ski and winter camp at Rensselaerville State Forest. It was a beautiful weekend with lots of blue skies, sufficient snow for skiing but not so much that was a ton of snowmobiles out on the trails.
I decided for Presidents Day Weekend to do another trip out to Charles Baker State Forest and Brookfield Horse Camp. Slightly more snow then last time but again largely a snow-less winter, with some nice days for hikes through the various truck and horse trails. I hiked around much of state forest, especially the more southern part of the forest.
On Good Friday through Easter I camped at at Rensselaerville State Forest. The snow was gone and it was fairly mild though at times it was a bit cool. Spent a fair amount of time walking around and exploring the new OSI Parcel that has been recently added to state forest and is still largely open fields with sweeping views of the Catskill Mountains.
The first Friday in May I took a half day from work and headed out to Schoharie County to camp at Duck Pond at Burnt-Rossman Hills State Forest. Originally the plan was to camp two nights at Duck Pond, hiking along the Long Path and exploring the state forest and then on Sunday hiking the Catskill Scenic Trail. That part of the trip changed when driving along Duck Pond Road the low tire pressure light came on I found a pallet nail in my truck tire. I was able to top off the truck tire and then change the tire when I got home and got the nail pulled and plugged. But it wasn’t the best way ever to end a trip early.
After visiting the folks on Mother’s Day Weekend, I decided to do a quick overnight hammock camp on Cole Hill State Forest in Berne. Nothing fancy or formal, it was as much a way to test out sleeping in my hammock with the bug screen. Kind of a chilly night, I took camp down fairly and headed home early in the morning.
This year I decided to eschew the Adirondacks and Greene Mountains for Memorial Day Weekend due to the black flies, my desire to look at bicycles, and work I had to do on the Saturday morning leading up to the holiday weekend. I decided to hammock camp again Cole Hill State Forest in Berne. This was a three-day two night trip, so it it gave me a chance to bring more gear up the mountain, set up a more formal camp. Cooked on the fire, hiked around the forest. It was a warm weekend, but I enjoy the solitude, along with having good cell service for listening to podcasts and watching videos.
To kick off summer, I did my usual Juneteenth weekend camping trip, tacking on some days on the Juneteenth Holiday Weekend. It was a bit of a cool and rainy weekend to kick off summer, one that would actually be followed by many cool and rainy weekends where I would stay home. Camped at House Pond for the first three nights, spending time down floating in the tube on East Branch while the final night I camped up at Powley Bridge site and kayaked along the East Branch. Really, like often is the case, the best weather was the day I took down camp.
After several months of researching and visiting various bike shops, I finally got a mountain bike. I decided it would be fun to do as much of the Catskill Scenic Trail as I could before my summer vacation got underway. Actually did quite a bit of riding and hiking that weekend — started out hiking Pratts Rock’s then riding from Grand George to Hobart. Sunday, I rode from Fultonham to Middleburgh on NY 30, doing a quick climb up Vromans Nose, then stopping at the farm market then going to Mine Kill State Park to swim. Monday I rode from Hobart down to Bloomville, getting caught in a major thunderstorm and downpour a few miles north of Bloomville with no shelter in sight. The trail became super boggy, then I went to Mine Kill State Park for one more swim, and then out to folks house for Sunday dinner a day later then usual.
Every year for nearly a decade and a half I’ve been doing summer vacation out in the Finger Lakes — camping in the National Forest and exploring as much as possible during my days there. The past few years I’ve been driving there on a Friday, to get a better campsite before they’re taken by the weekend campers. This year was no exception. With Blackie, my mountain bike, I did nearly all of the bike trails in the near vicinity, from the Black Diamond Trail to the Cayuta Valley Trail to Dresden – Penn Yan Canal Trail. Kayaked on both Cayuga and Scenic Lakes, swam many days at Watkins Glen State Park and Taughannock State Park, explored the Cornell Campus and Botanical Gardens on my bike. Got some good ice cream at the Spotted Duck, explored the Geneva Waterfront along with the Cayuga-Seneca Canalway. Some rain but compared to the wet summer that was, this was a pretty good week.
The next few weeks for rainy and by the time I got away for one more long weekend, it promised to be fairly nice weekend but turned out to be fairly cool and cloudy with some rain. Back at the House Pond Campsite, did some swimming in East Branch, but with the mercury in the 60s most of the weekend, I didn’t spend a lot of time in the water. Hardly what I had dreamed when the I planned the weekend. Rode Blackie up to Goldmine Stream Falls and relaxed down by the falls for a bit, also sat down by the swimming hole off of the Old Edick Road Snowmobile Trail, watching the rain fall, bemoaning the wet and cold weather. Still it was good to get away for a bit, and I did do a fair amount of reading in hammock, under the protection of the bug net, as the bugs were bad after such a wet summer.
I took the Friday off before Labor Day to get a jump on the holiday season travel, and set up camp at the site I really enjoy up at Perkins Clearing overlooking the mountains. Did a fair amount of riding along the various dirt roads of Perkins Clearing, including over to Mason Lake and on Sunday rode most of the way to the Spruce Lake Trailhead, though didn’t make it there in time as I got a bit of a late start as I spent the balance of the day reading and swimming in the Jessup River Bridge swimming hole. Labor Day, I rode around the Spectulator Tree Farm, doing a large loop, through the tree farm, past the north end of Elm Lake, then down to Austin Falls and Old Route 8B. I had hoped to get ice cream, but by the time I got to the ice cream shop they were out of soft-ice cream, and there was a long line. Summer was dragging to a close.
With time being fairly tight and the weather only so-so I decided to do a two night trip close to home out in Rennselearville to ride some of the gravel trails, explore the OSI Parcel further and just enjoy an early autumn weekend camping.
Columbus Day Weekend was cold and rainy for the first half of the weekend, but the Sunday heading into Columbus Day was nice, so I decided to head out to Rensselaerville for a quick overnight at the campsite on CCC Road. Leaves were late this year, so not a lot of color, but it still was nice to get away for a night and ride some of the trails around.
The banner trip of the year was my trip down to West Virigina. While it started and ended in rain, it was a very enjoyable trip with lots of new adventures this year. Camped the balance of the week — 6 nights in Canaan Heights — doing day trips from that area. Overnighted one night driving down at County Bridge Campground in Pennsylvania, and a on the way back camped overnight at Long Pond State Forest in New York. Adventures in West Virginia included hiking at Dolly Sods, mountain biking at night in the sods of Canaan Heights, riding up and hiking to Table Rock, exploring Blackwater Falls State Park on the mountain bike, MonPower Mountain Bike Park, Thomas Rail Grade and the Olson Firetower. Rode part of the Great Allegheny Trail through the Cumberland Passage, and the two sections of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canalway, including the Paw Paw Tunnel.
A little over a week back from West Virginia, I headed out to Madison County to ride the Tassel Hill Mountain Bike Trails at Alfred Woodford, the Chenango Canal Trail in Hamilton and Erie Canalway from Chittenango to Green Lakes State Park and then to Canastota and Wampsville. The first night was cold at Stoney Pond but the subsequent nights were quite pleasant and mild.
![Old Canal Warehouse in Chittenango [Expires November 19 2023]](https://andyarthur.org//data/photo_005914_large.jpg)
Strangely enough, I had never been up Prospect Mountain. So I decided the day after Thanksgiving (Black Friday) to hike up Prospect Mountain, and then spend the next two nights camping on East Branch of the Sacandaga River. The Saturday and Sunday was fairly cold, so I ended up spending the bulk of day hanging around camp, doing a bit of hiking around Fox Lair. Sunday, evening around 8 PM it started to sleet, then snow, then rain, Monday morning, it turned into a white globby snow, and I ended up taking down camp fairly early after discovering I was out of propane and then spent much of the day exploring the Hudson River Special Management Area – Buttermilk Falls.
On the days leading up to Christmas I decided to take a second trip to Madison County. I was originally planning to camp two nights at Stoney Pond then two nights at the Charles Baker Horse Camp but my family’s holiday plans were cancelled due to illness in my family, so I ended up staying an extra night at the horse camp, through the day after Christmas. On Friday, I rode the Erie Canalway from Canastota to East Verona, nearly to Rome. On Christmas Day I rode around many of truck trails at Charles Baker with my mountain bike, leaving my face splattered with mud. Many of the days were fairly cold and cloudy, but that’s too be expected in late December. Still it was a special way to spend Christmas.
Day by day. The fact that Thanksgiving Day Week is basically the week after next week shows how fast the year is coming to a close. While maybe it would have been nice to get out of town this weekend, I’m thinking today I’ll ride to Peebles Island and have some fun closer to home while trying to hold the line on expenses, though I’ll probably end up taking the 18 bus back home and will probably need to get to the grocery store and or Walmart this evening as I’m eating myself out of house and home again.
Good morning! Partly clear 🌅 and 41 degrees in Delmar, NY on this Veteran’s Day. 🏵 There is a northwest breeze at 6 mph. 🍃. Temperatures will drop below freezing at around 10 pm. ☃️ Not so cold for a mid-November morning, though it won’t warm up that much and it will be breezy.
Up a bit before six o’clock ⏰ though I was awake before then. Decided to do oatmeal-banana pancakes with chia seeds today, 🥞 topped with shredded apples 🍎 mixed with boiled apple cider, cinnamon, ginger and heated in the microwave. It was good. I have to admit I also had a bit more of that soup I made up last night — chicken soup I guess — 🍲 though it was more of a stew with rich earthy overtones with lots of cumin and ground chili spice. Also finally getting around to cooking some chickpeas, 👩🍳 might make hummus or just have them with various meals. Mom was suggesting putting them in soups. I also like them with fresh fruit, kind of like a trail mix without as much as fat as nuts, though they can certainly be good mixed in a handful of almonds, blueberries, and raspberries. 🥜
Today is Veterans Day, which will will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 46 degrees at 1pm. Five degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around November 23rd. Northwest wind 6 to 11 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, which became rain by afternoon. It became somewhat humid as the day progressed. The high last year was 69 degrees. The record high of 70 was set in 2002. 3.0 inches of snow fell back in 1906.❄
I am thinking about riding out to Peebles Island State Park in Cohoes. 🚲 It’s about 17 miles or an hour and a half ride each way. I am thinking I would likely ride up to the park, bring a lunch, walk around Peebles Island and maybe a little bit in Cohoes along the Canal. 📷 Going to be a nice sunny day with blue skies for pictures. Then ride back to Albany via the Empire Trail, and catch the 18 bus back home. 🚌 as I expect by then I’ll probably be running low on daylight and pretty tired as it’s a big trip. 🌆 Days are so short come mid-November. I am thinking my next out of town adventure will be in a little under two weeks — the day after Thanksgiving through the following Monday, probably Route 8 on East Branch. Some quiet time off the internet.
Solar noon 🌞 is at 11:40 am with sun having an altitude of 30° from the due south horizon (-40.8° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 10.4 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 3:57 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (240°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (247°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:38 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 10 seconds with dusk around 5:07 pm, which is one minute and 3 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:42 pm. At sunset, look for mostly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 43 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 10 mph. Tomorrow will have 9 hours and 56 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 16 seconds over today.
Money is just kind of tight 💳 after vacation and renewing my blog contract and all the trips I’ve been taking. ⛽ I ended up transferring in $750 from savings to ensure I had enough money to pay my credit card bill and maintain adequate balance in my bank account through the money. It’s not a pay week but come Wednesday, $1,300 goes out to the credit card. Already earned $135 from blog advertising, though I won’t get paid until mid-December under the Google Ad Sense rules that require a $100 minimum unpaid balance at end of the month to get paid, and then they hold your check for three weeks to verify it and collect interest on it. 🏨 I know, it’s kind of obnoxious but I’ll probably earn at least another $30 or $40 bucks before the month is done to tack on the $135. Web advertising is a bit of a mystery, based on bidding — one day I earned like $11 in ad revenue which is crazy compared to a buck or two most days and when you multiply it out over the months, especially for a small little blog like this. It’s good I’m staying home this weekend.
Truth is I have a lot of money coming in, 🔀 but the thing is as soon as it comes in a lot goes out. I am continuing to invest heavily into my retirement accounts 👴 as now is the time to do it while I’m relatively young and making good money, 💵 and also into my investment accounts so they can continue to grow and own my own land eventually. While interest rates are up on my savings account — close to 5%, with inflation I figure it’s better to be going into the stock and bond market, especially over the long term. There will be a recession 📉 but eventually we’ll come out of it and things will grow. I am hopeful I can pay back my savings account in the next few months, especially as some of those short term expenses like vacation come and go, though soon I’ll have heating bills, though so far I’ve avoided using the heat, though yesterday ♨️ I finally put the screens in my window and patched the air leaks around the door, 🪟 as I know I’ll need the heat before long. I have the heated blanket ready to go but I haven’t put that on the bed yet, though I will be ready when those days come.
Tonight will be mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 26 degrees at 6am. Seven degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around December 3rd. Northwest wind 5 to 7 mph becoming calm in the evening. In 2022, we had light rain in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It was somewhat humid. It got down to 49 degrees. The record low of 15 occurred back in 1976.
Yesterday, I rode out to Voorheesville 🚲 and spent a lot of time reading and watching video and reading material for yet another Udemy class that I get free from the library. 📱 Last week I finished a class called the Fundamentals of Remote Sensing and Geospatial Analysis, now I am a few hours into a class on Remote Sensing and QGIS. Basically it’s all about using data collected from satellites 📡 to learn about what is happening on the earth’s surface. 📚 I was going to go down to the library last night but I was tired and comfortable in my bed, after enjoying that soup that I made earlier int he day. 🛌 I figure this is the time of year to learn more, and Remote Sensing is only going to improve my GIS skills, especially combined with the use of raster math both in QGIS and R programming language.
As previously noted, next Saturday is Regular Deer Season in Southern Zone 🦌 when the sun will be setting at 4:32 pm with dusk at 5:01 pm. On that day in 2022, we had partly cloudy skies, snow showers and temperatures between 43 and 28 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 48 degrees. Opened this morning in Vermont. We hit a record high of 71 back in 1928.
It’s a guess a spooky thing being October and Halloween in three weeks but whatever. Cold start to the morning but at least it’s clear and I’m out walking.
Good morning! Yeah, it’s Friday the 13th! Clear and 42 degrees in Delmar, NY. 🌞 There is a northwest breeze at 8 mph. 🍃.
Pumpkin – oatmeal pancakes 🥞 for breakfast. I also have a pot of rice and lentils cooking down 🍲 with lemon – pepper and garlic spice, I wanted a change from the split pea soup for lunch today. Yesterday dinner was tuna with spinach and whole wheat pasta. Haven’t had that in a while. 🐠 Always don’t like the carbs but the fatty fish with the healthy omega-3 fats and vitamins and fiber from the spinach help balance that out. You need some fats to maximize fat-soluable vitamins. Also had a bit more kefir — it tastes like sour milk and is thick but it does help the stomach after all that pea soup I’ve been having the past few days.
Today will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 61 degrees at 3pm. Two degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around October 17th. Northwest wind 8 to 10 mph. A year ago, we had rain in the morning, which became light rain by afternoon. The high last year was 70 degrees. The record high of 81 was set in 1930. There was a dusting of snow in 1934.❄
Caught two mice this morning. 🐭 It’s been kind of bad this year though not uncommon as the cold weather approaches. Probably my kitchen is a good place with all the dropping I’ve missed from all the cooking I do plus all those yummie smells 😋 from bread baking and food on the stove top full of spices. Eventually I’ll get all the mice and things will get better. Usually happens around November. 🚫 Like a girl I ran outside with the second mouse I had with only a shirt and my boxers on, well oops. Not thinking, it’s cold! 😮 That mouse got away, but outside. I should have crushed him, but I was half awake and my face full of shaving cream when I heard him get stuck. Big and fat sucker too. 🐁 Maybe pregnant, which is why I wanted him gone before her babes got breaking into my food and chewing my wires and holes in the walls of my apartment. People are shocked I still stay in my dumpy apartment that I’ve had since I was a researcher 16 years ago, but it’s cheap and I like the location. Plus I’m home so rarely. I’ll put up with the mice and rotting door and all the broken shit I have.
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:42 pm with sun having an altitude of 39.7° from the due south horizon (-31.1° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 7.2 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 5:40 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (254°). 📸 The sunset is in the west (260°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 6:18 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 56 seconds with dusk around 6:45 pm, which is one minute and 39 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 7:19 pm. At sunset, look for mostly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 56 degrees. There will be a west-northwest breeze at 10 mph. Tomorrow will have 11 hours and 11 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 48 seconds over today.
Tonight will have increasing clouds ☁, with a low of 44 degrees at 4am. Two degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around October 8th. Northwest wind 5 to 8 mph. In 2022, we had rain in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 42 degrees. The record low of 21 occurred back in 1958.
I was over at the dungeon yesterday, looking at all the snacks 🍬 in the break room realizing that there was nothing I could eat over there now that I’ve gotten into healthy eating. I’ll have to make sure to bring my own food over there in the future especially next year when I’ll probably spend a lot more time over there. Also yesterday I rode the elevator down one time for the first time since June as I had a meeting to go with a colleague but I did the stairs up and down like usual the rest of the day. Ridden back and forth to work so far three days this week for a total of 45 miles. 🚲 Today I plan to ride in but may take the bus 🚍 home in the evening.
Tomorrow will have a slight chance of rain after 2pm. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a high of 59 degrees at 2pm. Three degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around October 22nd. North wind around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had rain in the morning, which became light rain by afternoon. The high last year was 67 degrees. The record high of 81 was set in 1920.
The weekend isn’t looking so bad at this point. 🤷♂️ But next week is still going to be quite cloudy and rainy, and much worse in West Virginia. 🌧 I definitely will be doing some riding this weekend. 🍏 I might ride out to Indian Ladder Farms and get some apples. I was thinking about going up to the Albany Pine Bush Preserve and then checking Salvation Army and Farmer India’s Market but I think I’m good for now. I might leave next week for West Virginia if the weather is good or possibly consider another trip, but I’m not going to take off time and get burned by the weather again this year. It’s the second time that this has happened in the past month, and it’s not fair to take off time then cancel it to the other director, lest she wants to take off time.
Looking ahead to Sunday, partly sunny, with a high near 57. ☀ North wind 9 to 13 mph. Typical average high for the weekend is 62 degrees. Maybe a bit cool with the breeze, but it’s October so I’ll take it. Where to go is the question? I don’t plan to camp this weekend as last weekend I did Rensselearville State Forest. Maybe somewhere closer to home. Not sure.
One month 📅 from now the be Average Night will be Below Freezing 🌌 when the sun will be setting at 4:36 pm with dusk at 5:05 pm (Standard Time). Average high will be 50 degrees with a low of 32. We loose one hour and 41 minutes of daylight over the next month.
