26 Nights of Camping

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We are now 75 days out from the first day of summer, which began on June 21. Of those 75 summer nights, I spent 26 nights and 34 days total out camping on state and national forests. Nights that are starred it rained at least part of the day or night. It’s been a very wet and cold summer, but at least I got to see a lot of good country.

Camp

Trip 1: Burnt-Rossman Hills State Forest. Hiked Vromans Nose, got fresh strawberries at Borhinger’s Farm Stand, swam at Mine Kill State Park.

1) Saturday, June 24 – Upper Betty Brook Campsite, Burnt-Rossman Hills State Forest, Summit, NY

Very Wet Saturday

Trip 2: Independence Day Weekend at Moose River Plains. Hiked back to Cascade Falls in Eagle Bay, paddled on the Cedar River Flow.

2) Friday, June 30 – Campsite 67, Moose River Plains, Inlet, NY *
3) Saturday, July 1 – Campsite 67, Moose River Plains, Inlet, NY *
4) Sunday, July 2 – Campsite 67, Moose River Plains, Inlet, NY
5) Monday, July 3 – Campsite 67, Moose River Plains, Inlet, NY

Camp

Trip 3: West River Road outside of Wells near the former “White House” camp. Hiked around “White House”, paddled the Main Branch of the Sacanadaga River on Auger Flats, above Auger Falls, swam at Wells Beach

6) Friday, July 14 – West River Road, Wells, NY
7) Saturday, July 15 – West River Road, Wells, NY

Campsite

Trip 4: Finger Lakes, visited several parks in the Finger Lakes, Montezuma Wildlife Refuge, Paddled and fished Lamoka Lake, climbed Sugar Hill Firetower.

8) Friday, July 21 – Cherry Ridge Camping Area, Charles Baker State Forest, Brookfield, NY
9) Saturday, July 22 – Mathews Road, Finger Lakes National Forest, Hector, NY *
10) Sunday, July 23 – Mathews Road, Finger Lakes National Forest, Hector, NY *
11) Monday, July 24 – Chicken Coop Road, Finger Lakes National Forest, Hector, NY *
12) Tuesday, July 25 – Chicken Coop Road, Finger Lakes National Forest, Hector, NY *
13) Wednesday, July 26 – Chicken Coop Road, Finger Lakes National Forest, Hector, NY *
14) Thursday, July 27 – Chicken Coop Road, Finger Lakes National Forest, Hector, NY *
15) Friday, July 28 – Chicken Coop Road, Finger Lakes National Forest, Hector, NY *
16) Saturday, July 29 – Chicken Coop Road, Finger Lakes National Forest, Hector, NY

Camp

Trip 5: Burnt-Rossman Hills State Forest. Fished the Schoharie Creek, swam at Mine Kill State Park.

17) Saturday, August 5 – West Kill Road, Burnt-Rossman Hill State Forest, Blenheim, NY

Camp is cleaned up, next stop Erie

Trip 6: Partial Eclipse Viewing trip at Presque Isle State Park in Erie, Penna. Camped at Allegheny National Forest, visited Taughannock Viaduct, French Azulm Historic Site, Colton Point State Park, then went back to Watkins Glen in the Finger Lakes.

18) Saturday, August 19 – Asaph Run Camping Area, Wellsboro, PA *
19) Sunday, August 20 – Forest Road 160, Allegheny National Forest, PA *
20) Monday, August 21 – Forest Road 160, Allegheny National Forest, PA *
21) Tuesday, August 22 – Chicken Coop Road, Finger Lakes National Forest, Hector, NY *

Dinner last night

Trip 7: Weekend trip to Piseco-Powley Road. Hiked back to Spectacle Lake, Good Luck Lake, and Good Luck Cliffs from NY 10. Drove the length of Piseco-Powley Road. Hiked from Piseco-Powley Road along Edick Road Extension, explored the well hidden Edick Road Campsite 1.

22) Friday, August 25 – Piseco-Powley Road, Stratford, NY
23) Saturday, August 26 – Piseco-Powley Road, Stratford, NY

Trip 8: Labor Day Weekend at Branch Pond Road in Kelly Stand, VT. Hiked back to Bourne Pond from Branch Pond. Poured on September 3rd.

24) Friday, September 1 – Branch Pond Road, Kelly Stand, VT
25) Saturday, September 2 – Branch Pond Road, Kelly Stand, VT
26) Sunday, September 3 – Branch Pond Road, Kelly Stand, VT *

The Faucet

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So I was pretty pissed to see my landlord removed the bathtub faucet from my shower when he fixed the leaky bathtub faucet. Not because I ever took baths, but that was how I filled my water containers for camping. As he ended up replacing the entire faucet and ripping out the wall while making the he also installed a cheap waterproof wall over the sheet rock, that doesn’t match the rest of the shower stall which is yellowed plastic. I guess it doesn’t really matter, as the rest of my low rent apartment is falling apart, and honestly I’d rather pay less in rent then have a fancy bathroom. I did figure out how to use my kitchen sink to fill the water container. I’m not sure if my landlord would be happy to find I’m taking 3 or 6 gallons of water each time I camp, but I figure it’s probably a net savings to him, because I’m not flushing toilets or taking a shower while I camp. My lease (which has long been on an auto-extender clause) bans outdoor watering and car washing, but is silent on filling water jugs for camping.

I know a lot of my colleagues have much nicer apartments then I do. But I like my location and like how it’s cheap. I can get free Internet by walking down to the library or the park, I have public transit to take to work, and plenty of places to walk to get some exercise. While things are wearing out in my apartment due to age and somewhat my neglect after living there for ten years, renters don’t normally fix up their buildings themselves, and landlords only fix what is critical when a tenant resides there. No need to nice appearances when you not renting to a new person. I’m fine where I live, and in recent years have gotten the mold under control by using excessive amounts of concentrated bleach.

Dripping shower faucet turned out to be a bigger project than landlord expected

Some people dream of owning a house with marble kitchen tops, a big screen television, and hardwood floors. I’d rather own a house where I can burn my own trash, heat with wood I harvested, and power things with wind, sun, or micro-hydro. I also don’t mind firing up a gas powered generator – I’d rather burn gasoline that I bought for actual electricity used then send a check to an invisible entity plus a bunch of connection fees, that are bulk of my bill. Raise animals for meat, hunt and shoot on my own land. Sending your garbage to landfills and expensive trash fees suck. I hate sending my check every month to some distant utility, where they burn large quantities of natural gas, coal, and nuclear material to keep the lights on. I do pay a surcharge for so-called green energy like wind and small-scale hydro, but ultimately I recognize it all comes from the same big industrial pool known as the grid. I do support greening the grid and fixing urban problems like increasing recycling – but in the mean time, I’m all for making my own life more sustainable and less reliant on the urban systems.

My apartment is just a cheap place to stay when I’m making money in the city. I rarely spend time there except to sleep at night. I keep investing and saving money that will ultimately be used for buying land, and an inexpensive cabin or micro-home, somewhere that is low tax and regulation. I really prefer to spend my weekends in the wilderness, camping by a fire, listening to the birds and the wind. I like the colorful lights and music, and just enjoying those long summer nights – or the cold winter nights which seem to be eight months out of the year. I look at camping as my temporary home, a place where I can practice for my future to be.

Bourne Pond is Scenic But Crowded

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Bourn Pond is a scenic pond overlooking Stratton Mountain. It’s about 2¾ miles from the end of Branch Pond Road, along a nice trail that isn’t too steep and for the most part is decently well drained.

I enjoyed hiking back there, but for a wilderness area it certainly seemed crowded and very not-wilderness. It’s not wilderness if as soon as you take off your headphones, you hear somebody talking or passing you by on the trail. It’s not wilderness if you see campsites and tents in the distance.

I get the idea of wilderness but when a wilderness area is crowded and overused, it’s not wilderness but intensive use. There may not be a flyover ramp or mall located there, but if your fighting the crowds, your not getting a wilderness experience.

Bourne Pond from South Shore