The Albany Pine Bush on a clear spring day, really is one of the best places to be within the city limits, with birds chirping, beautiful views of the mountains, lupine blooming and butterflies flying around. This is the view off of Overlook Dune, near the Discovery Center.
Taken on Saturday May 18, 2019 at Burnt-Rossman State Forest.
Out walking, bird watching at the Albany Pine Bush.
Taken on Sunday May 31, 2020 at Albany, NY.
We’ve all probably uttered that word, sometimes more then we’d be proud of it. Yet, sometimes somethings are just truly vulgur like tearing down sand dunes to build McMansions.
The first part of any housing development in the Albany Pine Bush appears to be the leveling of the land, and the carting off the sand to fill in other areas. To make the landscape flat and boring, so a suburban street grid, driveways, and foundations can be laid.
It involves tearing down tall beautiful pitch pines, removing habitat that might be restored if fire were to touch it once again, to sterlize the landscape for generations to come.
People need places to live, places to farm, places to use. But do they really need to tear down magnificent sand dunes? If they had to build, couldn’t they have left more of the trees standing, and built on the dunes, and preserved the terrian?
It might be easy and cheap to bulldoze sand. There is no rocks to blast away at. But making it all flat, just to stick tacky, plastic and plywood houses for the wealthy just seems so vulgur and awful.
Two weekends ago, I went for a hike up Pine Cobble outside Williamstown, MA. This is the first time I’ve really been hiking in the Berkshires, formally, and not just on the New York-Massachusetts line on the Taconic Crest Trail. That said, the Taconic Crest trails runs on such a high ridge compared to the rest of the Taconics, and is closer to the height of the Berkshires, that it is probably in the Berkshires and not the Taconics, regardless of where the state line may rest.
The Pine Cobble starts off a steep road that has the Pine Cobble private development on it. It’s not a gated community, but as close as one can get to it. The parking is limited here, with a lot for seven cars, so if it’s full, as it was on this beautiful Sunday morning on labor day, you will be forced to park on the shoulder.
There is a six-inch asphalt curb you have to jump to get on the grass sholder, but if you have a truck, it shouldn’t be a problem. They didn’t give me a ticket, and lots other did it, so I guess it’s legal. They do have a sign, just past the parking lot, as you go into the development, that says NO PARKING on ROADWAY and it’s posted, but downhill from the lot, seems okay.
The trail head is very well signed. The entire trail is well worn, and the occassional Williamstown Trail Blazes makes it easy to follow the trail.
Parts of the trail are either relatively smooth or steep and rocky. It’s called Pine Cobble, so you would expect to be walking on a lot of rock cobble. It’s not nice small stuff, but big enough that you have to keep a careful eye on where you step.
Three quarters of the way to the top there is this oak tree with three shoots up that provides a perfect little pool where water accumulates throughout the year. It’s quite neat looking. Talking to other people, this is actually quite a common occurance with a certain type of oak.
A top Pine Cobble, looking at East Mountain.
You’ve almost made it to the top of Pine Cobble. Once you’ve checked it, make sure to take the trail up East Mountain for a 1/2 mile to get some awesome westerly views.
Here is the summit of Pine Cobble. It’s not the most impressive summit, and indeed the best views are along the edges of Pine Cobble, where there are several to be enjoyed.
Looking down at North Adams from Pine Cobble. The city’s high rises are surrounded by the mountains that form Hoosic Valley where the river runs north through Williamstown, Pownal, Vermont, and ultimately Rensselear County, New York into the Hudson.
Here is the Pownal Valley, where the Hoosic River heads up through the corner of Vermont and back into New York State.
West from Pine Cobble, you can see the last range of the Taconics / first of Berkshires, where Berlin Mountain and Mount Raimer. Also in the foreground is a little bit of Williamstown.
On East Mountain there are these exciting views of that same range, but with the addition of lots of bright white marble rock, cairns, and at least on this blue day, a deep blue sky.
When you reach the top of East Mountain, there is sections of the Appalachian Trail that remind me a lot of the look of Albany Pine Bush, minus the sandy soils. The Berlin Mountain range in the distance pull some kind of emotion into my heart, just like looking at the Heldebergs from the Albany Pine Bush.
The Applachian Trail sign on East Mountain.
At the Massachussets and Vermont (Green Mountain National Forest & Long Trail) border.
A beautiful day for sure.
Here is a map of the hike.
My day explained in emoji lol. There is much to do today though first I’m pausing at Five Rivers Environmental Education Center for a walk and nature observation until 8:30 when I head back home.
Good morning! Partly sunny 🌞 and 57 degrees at the Five Rivers Environmental Education Center. Calm wind. The dew point is 55 degrees.
I could have walked 🚶 in the neighborhood this morning but I was thinking with Blackie 🚵 the ride to Five Rivers Environmental Education Center 🐸 is but twenty minutes away and it’s been a few weeks since I’ve been out here. Figured check out the cows 🐮 and the farm landscape on Meads Lane and see what Meads has for sale. 🍅 Those heirloom tomatoes look good. It looked like they had some nice flowers 🌻 but I can’t eat that. And freezer beef 🥩 something to keep in mind but not for today. 🐦 Time is tight at Five Rivers though by 8:30 need to be back on the road to be home before nine 9⃣ to shower 🚿.
Breakfast was oatmeal and banana pancakes 🥞 topped with Maine blueberries 🫐 and sugar free syrup. Decided to experiment using night before oatmeal – I let the oatmeal soak in water overnight in the fridge to let it expand and soften before blending with the mixer today, and also added some stevia for sweetness (unneeded) and also some vanilla for a vanilla flavor (also probably not needed). Chia seeds for protein. Fresh coffee ☕ with milk and I added a glob of fat free plain Greek yogurt. Good breakfast.
Lunch today is going to be good ol spike your blood sugar with couscous 🍚 mixed with chia seeds, edamine and chopped red onions. On the whole not so bad as I included protein, fats and fiber as the edamine is unshelled and couscous cooks 🧑🍳quickly unlike brown rice or anything whole grain. I treat chia seeds as a band aid for all wrong in my diet lol but they’re kind of fatty too. 🩹 Time is tight and I’m out of cooked rice. 🕒 Looking at the label for couscous it really is junk food though at least it is fat and added sugar free. But all carbs no vitamins at all except a tiny amount of iron. But it’s done in five minutes after boiling water 💦 which cooks the edamine.
Today will have showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm, mainly after 4pm. Otherwise, partly sunny 🌦, with a high of 80 degrees at 2pm. Three degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around August 28th. Maximum dew point of 68 at 6pm. Light southeast wind becoming south 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, remaining cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was 79 degrees. The record high of 99 was set in 1944.
At nine 9⃣ I plan to shower 🚿 and load Blackie into Big Red. 🚲 Gas up Big Red ⛽➡ 🛻 and at ten o’clock drive out to Stanton’s Farm Market in New Scotland 🫑 to see what they have. Peaches, hot peppers more zucchini and sweet corn 🌽 are on the short list. Bringing a cooler with ice to keep things fresh. Then visit Goodwill in Guilderland to see what they have for clothes that might fit me well with my smaller size. 👕👖 I’m not that hopeful, they’re small and I’ve heard their men’s section is tiny and they’re over priced – often no cheaper than new at Walmart. Then mountain biking in the Albany Pine Bush 🚵 which is allowed on preserve trails. Nothing crazy, no jumping steps or roaring through the preserve, just a nice easy ride for observing nature. 🔭
Solar noon 🌞 is at 1:01 pm with sun having an altitude of 62.4° from the due south horizon (-8.4° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 3.1 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:24 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (285°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (292°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 8:03 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 6 seconds with dusk around 8:32 pm, which is one minute and 24 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 9:12 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and thunderstorms 🌩 and temperatures around 72 degrees. The dew point will be 67 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 7 mph. Today will have 14 hours and 6 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 28 seconds over yesterday.
After one o’clock I want to run up to Salvation Army in Schenectady off of Central Avenue. 👖 They have a much bigger selection and are much more affordable. I used to go there when I was starting out my career for affordable dress clothing. 🕴🏻If time doesn’t allow I’ll go there after visiting John Wolcott but it makes sense to go before due to the location and trip route, plus I saw online they often close early due to a lack of staff. 🧓 Then visiting John Wolcott. He’s been home from the hospital for nearly two weeks but he’s not doing that great I’ve heard so time is precious. Then depending on time and the weather and the order I visit Salvation Army a possible bike ride from Five Mile Reservoir or the Erie Canal Trail in Niskayuna. 🚲 Might be raining ☔ by then. Then Walmart or another grocery store in search of pearl onions and another big bag of sweet onions, plus frozen fruit, frozen spinach and kale.🛒
Tonight will have showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 10pm. Some of the storms could produce small hail, gusty winds, and heavy rain. Patchy fog before 1am, then patchy fog after 2am. 🌧 Low of 65 degrees at 5am. Three degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 68 at 6pm. 🏖️ South wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. In 2022, we had cloudy skies. It got down to 59 degrees. The record low of 43 occurred back in 1957.
Yesterday rode to work 🚲 after riding to my dentist appointment 🦷. My teeth are in excellent shape for age forty, though I was worried 😯 after all that ice cream 🍦, lemons 🍋 and hot peppers 🌶️ out in the Finger Lakes with reduced milk 🥛 consumption but more Greek yogurt. After work rode to Voorheesville for 32 miles ridden for the day. 🚲 Nice evening, beautiful out at the Voorheesville Park 🏞 before heading out past the high school and library then back on the rail trail.
Tomorrow I’m thinking 💭 about riding out to Indian Ladder Farms to see what they have in stock 🍏, probably apples from last year but I wonder what else. Looking forward to fresh apples come the autumn from sure from Indian Ladder. Signed up for their newsletter 📰 last night. Then out to the folks house 👪 though in Big Red and not on Blackie for that. 🛻
As previously noted, there are 2 weeks until National Dog Day 🐩 when the sun will be setting at 7:41 pm with dusk at 8:09 pm. On that day in 2022, we had humid, partly cloudy and temperatures between 83 and 62 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 81 degrees. We hit a record high of 98 back in 1948.
Lately I’ve been weighting the pros-and-cons of getting into the map business, especially after looking at the beautiful aerial photograph / map that Save the Pine Bush has printed at AccuPrint in downtown Albany. I really think the map I made of the Albany Pine Bush with the 2019 NAIP Aerial Photography with points representing newly built buildings is absolutely beautiful.
Probably the biggest thing holding me back is the high cost of both producing, printing, and shipping maps not at scale. Running the numbers, it is difficult to envision printing at a print shop and shipping a large-scale color 36×24 map for less then $50 and that leaves zero pay for my time or travel in preparing the map. If I add I figure an hour of labor for design of the map, I should add at least $20 for that plus $5 for taxes. So that gets me up to at least $75. That’s kind of expensive.
Obviously, if I could mass produce maps and sell enough I could drive down costs. One option for inexpensive maps would be to own my own large-format printer. There are many older, obsolete models, for sale within 100 miles that can be picked up for under $500. Businesses want to get rid of them, as many of the older printers don’t have actively maintained Microsoft Windows drivers — like the HP Large Format 5000 printer but still have ink carriages, paper and parts still available. I don’t care about the Microsoft Windows drivers as long as CUPS has decent support under Linux. But I don’t really have the space right now to have a large format printer in my apartment. They’re kind of big.
But there are options out there. Still I struggle to figure out what makes good business sense. I don’t want to spend all of my free time making maps for very little money, then having to go through the whole printing process. Or have to deal with taxes or incorporating a business. But it’s also good to know that for some time in the future I have that as an option, especially if I could develop enough of a market to have repeat sales of the same map over and over again. If I could sell a dozen copies of a map — or even hundreds of them — it greatly reduces both my time and labor costs, along with being able to get lower print shop costs, and even potentially making sense to have a large format printer at home for the lowest cost printing option of large-format maps.
Good evening! Partly clear in Delmar. 🌉 Sixty two degrees. There is a west-northwest breeze at 6 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 47 degrees. All things considered, a pretty pleasant evening.
I told myself that I should work outside today ☀ with the great weather but I was super busy with work so I didn’t go outside except for my morning stroll around the Swift Preserve. And then in the evening, a walk around the Albany Pine Bush. 🌲🌲
Also attended the Save the Pine Bush protest at Guilderland Town Hall 🏛️ and held up signs wearing masks. 😷 Town leaders were so afraid 😨 of the public and a bunch of senior citizens 👵🏻 and television reporters 📺 they had to enter the back door 🚪 of Town Hall by police escort. 👮🏼 Not sure why the town planning board is so afraid of a bunch of elderly 👵🏻 seniors with paper signs.
The fight for the Pine Bush seems endless and thankless against the big developers 🏗️ but it’s worth it because if you don’t fight in the trenches, who will. Even though the battle is ongoing its worthwhile. While eventually when I own my off-grid property 🏚️I’ll probably be non political when I’m in Albany it’s fun to fight the developers the best I can and keep pour wild land wild. 🐦 We got good media coverage tonight. 🎥
The walk around the Pine Bush 🦋 was really nice but it got dark quickly with some clouds pushing in after sunset 🌇. Grass was super high 🌾and I didn’t want to catch Lyme disease🕷️ again so as soon as I got home I took a shower 🚿 because I was wearing shorts while I was walking in in the Pine Bush. 😳
Tonight will have a chance of showers, mainly after 2am. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a low of 54 degrees at 2am. Four degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around September 9th. Maximum dew point of 50 at 6am. Northwest wind around 6 mph becoming light and variable after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. In 2019, we had partly cloudy skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 53 degrees. The record low of 41 occurred back in 1969.
Tonight will have a First Quarter 🌓 Moon with 64% illuminated. At 9 PM, the moon was in the south-southwest (197°) at an altitude of 23° from the horizon, some 231,153 miles away from where you are looking up from the earth. 🚀 At the state speed limit of 55 mph, you’ll make it there by February 18th. Buckle up for safety! 💺 The darkest hour is at 12:58 am, followed by dawn at 5:46 am, and sun starting to rise at 6:15 am in the east-northeast (75°) and last for 2 minutes and 59 seconds. Sunrise is one minute and 4 seconds later than yesterday. 🌄 The golden hour ends at 6:53 am with sun in the east (82°). Tonight will have 10 hours and 36 minutes of darkness, an increase of 2 minutes and 43 seconds over last night.
Tomorrow will have a chance of showers and thunderstorms before 8am, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm between 8am and 2pm, then showers and thunderstorms likely after 2pm. Some of the storms could be severe. Mostly cloudy 🌩, with a high of 74 degrees at 3pm. Five degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around September 11th. Maximum dew point of 65 at 2pm. Southeast wind 5 to 7 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible. A year ago, we had sunny skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 75 degrees. The record high of 97 was set in 1948.
I think I’m happy 😊 with the haircut 💇🏻 I gave myself. That sharper trimmer did a nice job although I may want to trim behind my ears 👂🏻 a little closer. I think next time I might also use a slightly longer cutting guard. My sideburns though are growing in quite gray now. 🧔🏻
I don’t see myself heading out of town the next two weeks ✌️ although I guess depending on how many Zoom Meetings I have coming up I could take a long weekend at some point. I don’t mind using my phone 📱 or the cellular internet on my work laptop but I really need Wi-Fi for Zoom. I guess I could go up to the Spectulator Library. Maybe after the holiday weekend when they crowds filter out from the Adirondack Park. The only concern then is the days are starting to get short and the sun angle is decling which means less solar power.
In four weeks on September 23 the sun will be setting in the west (270°) at 6:50 pm,🌄 which is 48 minutes and 54 seconds earlier then tonight. In 2019 on that day, we had humid, partly sunny, warm weather, rain showers and temperatures between 86 and 66 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 69 and 49 degrees. The record high of 97 degrees was set back in 1895.
I joined a group on Facebook about backyard pig raising. 🐖 Some people raise some beautiful hogs including here in New York. After finishing up that book 📙 I was reading 📖 I find that Facebook group endlessly fascinating. Maybe because farming and homesteading is so much different than my every day work. That said a pair of hogs and two ton of grain run through them can turn some pretty marginal dirt or bare rock into good soil. 💩 I do wonder about invasive species – while grain isn’t likely to introduce them any time you disturb soil it makes it so much easier for them to take root. Next I think I’ll get a book 📙 about goats. 🐐
Looking ahead, Average High is 55 🍂 is in 9 weeks, Day After Election Day 🛀 is in 10 weeks, Veterans Day 🇺🇸 is in 11 weeks, Thanksgiving 🦃 is in 3 months, Earliest Sunset of the Year ⌛️ is in 15 weeks, Tea Party Day 🐍 is in 16 weeks, Festivus 🍖 is in 17 weeks, Boxing Day 🥊 is in 4 months, Bacon Day 🥓 is in 18 weeks, Make Your Dream Come True Day 🏡 is in 20 weeks, Inauguration Day ✅ is in 21 weeks, 5:30 PM Dusk 🌆 is in 5 months, Clean Your Computer Day 🧹 is in 24 weeks and Presidents Day 👴 is in 25 weeks.
