August 28, 2016 2 PM Update

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At sunset, look for partly cloudy conditions and 78 degrees. The dew point will be 69 degrees. There will be a southwest breeze at 10 mph. A humid ending to a nice weekend but possibly a colorful sunset. 

The sun will set at 7:37 pm with dusk around 8:06 pm, which is 1 minutes and 42 seconds earlier than yesterday.

Waning Crescent Moon tonight with 22% illuminated. The moon will rise around 3:07 am and set around 4:22 pm. The New Moon is on Thursday at 9:03 am with mostly clear expected. Good for enjoying the stars. The Full “Corn” Moon is on Friday, September 16th at 7:05 pm.

August 28, 2016 Afternoon

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Good afternoon! Partly sunny and 76 degrees in Mayfield at the Northampton State Beach. There is a south-southwest breeze at 7 mph. The dew point is 66 degrees. The muggy weather ends tomorrow around 8 pm.

This afternoon will have a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high of 83 degrees at 4pm. Five degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 69 at 5pm. Southwest wind 7 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. The record high of 98 was set in 1948. 

The sun will set at 7:37 pm with dusk around 8:06 pm, which is 1 minutes and 42 seconds earlier than yesterday. Today will have 13 hours and 19 minutes of daylight, a decrease of 2 minutes and 48 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a chance of showers and thunderstorms before 3am, then a slight chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low of 67 degrees at 4am. Nine degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 69 at 6pm. Southwest wind around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. The record low of 34 occurred back in 1982.

On this day in 1968, where the riots during the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

There are 2 weeks until September 11th when the sun will be setting at 7:12 pm with dusk at 7:40 pm. The average high temperature is 74 degrees, with a record high of 98 in 1931.

Stayed on up until around one AM reading John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charlie. Got that book out of the library before vacation last month, but really didn’t spend much time reading it until last night. A good story, a time capsule into America circa 1960. Of course now it makes me want to get a cow caller for my truck – so I can pull a lever and all the ladies look at you. It would be fun at the Walmart parking lot. America was a beautiful place at the time but very much changing in the era of tail fins and a bit scary down south. 

The wood I found around camp for the most part was rather punky. Some had a lot of sap and burned quite smokey. It really wasn’t all much of a fire and I had to keep perking it up. At least it kept the mosquitoes away. Didn’t matter that much, I was totally captivated by reading Travels with Charlie. I really enjoyed Steinbeck’s work. I wonder if I should read some of his earlier works like his most famous Grapes of Wrath. I really like reading books about people traveling the back roads of America in pick up trucks. I wonder why? 

Eggs again for breakfast. Melted more of the glass dome on my percolator. Darn camp stove gets so hot at times. It’s great for boiling water as long as I don’t melt the pots. Last night making pasta I also overheated the aluminum pot a bit and started to smell the aluminum cooking. Turned it down and had some good pasta and meatballs with a good pesto sauce. Same thing I had last weekend but fortunately the meatballs were still good despite forgetting to freeze them. 

Nice breeze and quiet in the woods this morning. Slowly getting packed up. I  guess I should hurry but I’m just enjoying the morning. 

August 27, 2016 Evening

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Good afternoon! Partly sunny and 79 degrees in Speculator Beach. There is a south breeze at 5 mph. The dew point is 59 degrees.

Tonight will be partly cloudy, with a low of 59 degrees at 4am. Two degrees below normal. Maximum dew point of 61 at 7pm. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening. The record low of 42 occurred back in 1982. The sun will set at 7:39 pm with dusk around 8:09 pm, which is 1 minutes and 42 seconds earlier than yesterday. Waning Crescent Moon tonight with 29% illuminated. The moon will rise around 2:23 am. The New Moon is on Thursday at 9:03 am with partly cloudy skies expected. The Full “Corn” Moon is in 3 weeks.

Tomorrow will have a chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 3pm. Partly sunny, with a high of 79 degrees at 3pm. Two degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 66 at 2pm. Southwest wind 5 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. The record high of 98 was set in 1948.

In four weeks on September 24 the sun will be setting at 6:49 pm, which is 50 minutes earlier then today. The average high is 69 degrees, and the record for that date is 87 degrees was set back in 1961. Autumn will be here before you know it. 

Sitting on the shore of Lake Pleasant  listening to Cat Steven’s Tea for Tillerman. I was swimming but came out when the sun dipped under a cloud. 

I’m under impressed by the Speculator Beach. It’s just very shallow and while sandy isn’t that much fun. No life guards so you got to keep an eye out for people yelling at you. Not that it’s stopping anyone and nobody has come by yet to yell at us. Lifeguards are probably back at college. At least the beach is sandy. In some ways I wish I had just gone down to Mine Kill State Park. I know they’re open until September 6th. Maybe next weekend for the long weekend. 

I’m kind of bored with Moose River Plains for the holiday weekends. Been thinking of wilderness tent camping in the Northern Catskills next week. Then I don’t have to find an established campsite. Not really backpacking but camping back in the woods  Just 150 ft back in the woods, haul back a table and gear and the establish my own temporary leave no trace campsite. I think it would be fun to take a piece of wilderness and totally make it mine for the weekend, then fully restore it after I leave. Depends on the weather and my work schedule. 

I’ve gotten really bored with always camping in the same place, and increasingly are looking for new adventures. But it gets difficult as there are only so many choices nearby. I got to come up with new ideas. 

It was a pretty nice quiet evening. Bar the hunting camp up the road, where they are always shooting guns, lighting off fireworks, driving quads and cutting down trees like all good Americans. They have their land and do there own thing. I still like my little campsite on Pumpkin Hollow Road. 

Pumpkin Hollow Road wasn’t too much of a drive but I stopped at Stewart’s to buy some wood as I wasn’t sure if I could beat darkness. I did People think it’s silly and expensive to buy kiln-dried wood in a burnable plastic bag but the truth is its convenient, always burns well and can be legally brought across state lines or more than 50 miles. I’ve never been stopped by a forest ranger and had my wood checked but you never know. Usually I camp in remote places where nobody bothers me. I didn’t burn it this weekend but I’ll keep it in my truck for next week. Or maybe if I wilderness camp next week, I’ll save it  for the fall. 

Paddling the Kunjamunk Bay down from Lake Pleasant was very scenic. It was pretty shallow, so I didn’t do any fishing, despite bringing my rod. Maybe tomorrow on Lake Algonquin near the dam. 

Managed to misplace my sunscreen, so I fully expect to be somewhat burnt and crispy tomorrow. I didn’t realize it was gone until I was out a while on the water. It must be somewhere in my truck. I will recover and hopefully won’t get skin cancer next week. 

Propane splitter plastic ring developed a crack but isn’t leaking. I’m going to have to replace that, especially before hunting season and camping in those long dark nights.