November 24, 2017 Night

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Good evening! Mostly clear and 32 degrees in Johnsburg. There is a south breeze at 8 mph. Not a bad half evening camping up on the East Branch. I discovered a new campsite, one that is out in open field surrounded by white spruce. Even though it eventually has cooled down, all and all its been a pretty nice evening with modest temperatures and lots of stars. 

Tonight will be partly cloudy, with a low of 31 degrees at 4am. Two degrees above normal. South wind around 8 mph. In 2016, we had light rain and mist. It got down to 35 degrees. The record low of 2 occurred back in 1938.

The Cold Moon is on Sunday, December 3rd. The sun will rise at 7:02 am with the first light at 6:31 am, which is one minute and 12 seconds later than yesterday. Tonight will have 14 hours and 40 minutes of darkness, an increase of one minute and 48 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will have a chance of showers, mainly after 2pm. Increasing clouds, with a high of 45 degrees at 1pm. One degree above normal. Southwest wind 6 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. A year ago, we had cloudy skies. The high last year was 47 degrees. The record high of 64 was set in 2004. 21.8 inches of snow fell back in 1971.

Looking ahead to Sunday, partly sunny, with a high near 34. Northwest wind 8 to 11 mph. Typical average high for the weekend is 44 degrees.

Moxham Mountain is a a really nice hike. Not too steep on the way up with lots of nice places to stop and take in the view. The peak is one the highest around but you don’t really notice it on the way up. The trail is popular but it wasn’t that bad today because it was a little cloudy and cool although it cleared by the time I got to the top. Beautiful view but a lot of haze. I’ll post videos and pictures later on. 

Today was a nice day but I am just having a difficult time adjusting to coming back from West Virginia with the temperatures and daylight dropping so quickly. I am really struggling with another winter underway, with short days and long cold nights. I really liked West Virginia a lot, especially the Swedlin Valley even if the stupid rattle from the failed suspension bushing kept me worried a bit too much. It’s been over a month since I spent a night in the wilderness, and indeed I think I spent too little of my West Virginia trip in wilderness, instead staying more in rustic campgrounds and developed camps then I would like to have done. There is something so rugged and beautiful about the back roads of West Virginia and Pennsylvania that I can’t get back in New York. The Adirondack Wilderness is great but I think in many ways it is overrated when there are many great wild country in other places. 

The roaring campfire is nice tonight under the big starry skies and hiking Moxham Mountain was delightful but it was such a rush today racing dusk. I was still setting up camp and it was pitch black by the time pizza came out of the stove. Maybe I should have gotten up before dawn but that wouldn’t have made the days longer. It’s not really cold tonight but I know colder days are ahead. This nice big site that I discovered for the first time is ringed by white spruce, and while there some traffic noise I’m more than happy to be in the wilderness and able to listen music as loud as I want without headphones. It really a well needed break from the craziness of city life. 

The pizza I cooked in the camp oven was pretty good. I only hung up the one flag because I was rather tired after hiking Moxham. It’s not a bad hike but I’ve really gotten out of shape. The pizza I made was quite good and the roaring campfire kept me quite warm. 

Camping, traveling, hiking in the Adirondacks. But then I do look forward to a life someday not based on escape but on reality. Sure I enjoy traveling and seeing the open country and the wilderness, but defining a life on based on the places a travel on the weekends and a vacation really isn’t much fun. And honestly, I’m getting bored with traveling all the same places over and over again. Today was the first time I have hiked Moxham Mountain and the new campsite was nice. So that was a change but I still want to make bigger changes. Well eventually. I got to focus on smaller goals first like improving my electronics skills, getting the solar panel on my truck cap, and enjoying the freedom I can enjoy while I’m out of town in the wilderness. I don’t have any toy goals for now but I continue to save and invest towards a better future. Read, research and continue to learn. I really should be more thankful for all I have now, enjoy things before they are forever gone. The way I look at it is when that chapter of life gets underway I will be able to skip many of the expenses that suburbanites have, so I can buy the toys I really want. 

I am hoping for a mild, relatively snow free winter so I can continue to travel and camp. Few things make me happier than a roaring fire and a night in the wilderness. Sure spring will come eventually but I don’t want to be cooped up in my musty apartment until spring. I am sure I’ll find a way to get out camping a few more times before spring. 

Maybe lately my blog has gotten too political and negative. But it’s just a reflection of the news drumbeat I hear when I turn on NPR each morning. I think things have gone downhill in our country since the election of Donald Trump. I think both the left and right have gone nuts. I just enjoy criticizing my in group then my opponents. I probably should get more active in social justice and protests once again but I don’t want to entangled in politics anymore than necessary. I’ve been avoiding the new more lately, as so much in Trump’s America seems bad. 

In four weeks on December 22 the sun will be setting at 4:22 pm, which is 16 seconds earlier then tonight. In 2016 on that day, we had snow, mist, mostly cloudy skies and temperatures between 39 and 29 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 34 and 19 degrees. The record high of 60 degrees was set back in 1990. I can’t believe that we are only a little over a four weeks away. 

Looking ahead, Ground Hog Day is in 10 weeks and Memorial Day Weekend Starts is in 26 weeks. As much as I hate black fly season, it will be nice when it gets warm again and sunsets are late again. 

November 24, 2017 7 AM Update

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Good morning! Happy Buy Nothing Day! Well I do have to buy a few groceries before going camping and I need another flashlight because I misplaced one and will bring wood because I expect to be running late setting up camp. So I’m not perfect. Mostly sunny and 29 degrees in Delmar, NY. There is a south breeze at 6 mph.

Today will be sunny, with a high of 48 degrees at 2pm. Four degrees above normal. South wind 6 to 10 mph. A year ago, we had cloudy skies. The high last year was 40 degrees. The record high of 70 was set in 2014. 8.8 inches of snow fell back in 1898.

The sun will set at 4:25 pm with dusk around 4:56 pm, which is 34 seconds earlier than yesterday. At sunset, look for clear conditions and 46 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 10 mph. Today will have 9 hours and 26 minutes of daytime, a decrease of one minute and 44 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be mostly clear, with a low of 33 degrees at 5am. Four degrees above normal. South wind 8 to 10 mph. In 2016, we had light rain and mist. It got down to 35 degrees. The record low of 2 occurred back in 1938.

I am just finishing up packing now, making sure I have everything I need to hike, hunt, and camp with the long cold nights ahead this weekend. At least this weekend looks fairly mild for late November. This time of year, if you forget one little thing it can make for some miserable nights. But I think I have everything packed on my list. Leaving shortly, as I want to be on the road by nine, and hopefully on the mountain by no later then 11:30 AM. That will be cutting it close in the evening, but I have a flashlight, and hopefully I won’t be setting up in the dark.

Looking ahead, there are 10 weeks until Ground Hog Day when the sun will be setting at 5:11 pm with dusk at 5:40 pm. On that day in 2017, we had snow, mostly cloudy skies and temperatures between 35 and 18 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 32 degrees. We hit a record high of 53 back in 1981.

November 23, 2017 Night

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Good evening! Partly clear and 28 degrees in Delmar, NY. There is a south-southwest breeze at 5 mph. Thanksgiving was pretty good this year with the folks, especially because I have a feeling it will be one of the last big ones with all the family as my parents are getting up there in years unfortunately. You got to take it one week at time. I skipped desert because after all the food I wasn’t real hungry.  Time marches on. But for now lots of good food and my neice was cute. Got out for my evening walk once I go home and it was nice. 

Tonight will be partly cloudy, with a low of 27 degrees at 1am. Two degrees below normal. Maximum wind chill around 22 at 10pm; Southwest wind around 6 mph. In 2016, we had cloudy skies. It got down to 30 degrees. The record low of 7 occurred back in 2000.

The First Quarter Moon is on Sunday night with partly cloudy skies. The Cold Moon is on Sunday, December 3rd. The sun will rise at 6:57 am with the first light at 6:27 am, which is one minute and 11 seconds later than yesterday. Tonight will have 14 hours and 32 minutes of darkness, an increase of one minute and 46 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will be sunny, with a high of 47 degrees at 2pm. Three degrees above normal. South wind 5 to 9 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies with more clouds in the afternoon. The high last year was 40 degrees. The record high of 70 was set in 2014. 8.8 inches of snow fell back in 1898.

Got a lot packed this evening. The water and propane stove and heater are in the truck. Some of my gloves and stuff are packed too. I will do the food in the morning. I got to go grocery shopping before I head north, but I’m still hoping to get an early enough start to hike Moxham Mountain. If not, I might just set up camp and hike on Saturday. It’s tough how early it gets dark this time of year and because it’s cold setting up camp is a lot more work with the tent and the propane heater. Setting up camp isn’t that big of deal after dark but I want to be off the mountain and preferably off the road and starting to set up camp before darkness, especially in case I run into snow tomorrow up there. It doesn’t look like there is any snow up in the Eastern Adirondacks at this point, but who knows.

I’m excited to get back out camping, it’s the first time I’ve spent much time in the wood since I got back from West Virigina. Lately the weekends have had pretty marginal weather and I’ve had a lot of things to do in town each weekend. I love traveling and spending nights out in the wilderness.. It just hasn’t happened lately. All those pictures of friends in the woods make me jealous. 

I have nothing to do with Black Friday tommorow. Yeah, last year I bought my laptop as part of a Black Friday sale — ordered it online to replace my broken laptop — but the truth is I’m super turned off on all that consumerism. While certainly I like the one-stop shopping they have at Walmart, I just hate the consumeristic aspect of it all. I have my toy, Big Red, but I don’t do most of the rest of this silly other stuff.

That’s why I never replaced the DTV tuner that only worked for a year and a half before failing last August. I never watched much commerical television, and after all those various shootings, I was turned off by PBS’ drum beat on more gun control. If you ask me, we need more criminal control, not gun control. If you don’t want criminals and mentally ill using guns, then don’t allow criminals and mentally ill on the street. Put them behind bars if you think they have a chance of rehabilitation, otherwise execute the criminals. The death penality for criminals that can’t be fully rehabilitated need not be a dirty word.

Speaking of guns, yesterday I got in mail the Cabela’s catalog which prominently featured the firearms that they are selling on Black Friday. While I am not planning on buying any more firearms right away, I think it’s bullshit that in most states you can buy handguns just by walking into a store, plunking down your $300 and passing an instant background check, which at least in New York always seems to take a half hour or sometimes delayed multiple business days. But in New York you have to ask a county court judge for permission get a permit, get finger printed, register handguns and then re-register every three years. For a $300-400 product,e even a simple .22 handgun, which is just a small easier to carry thing then the .22 I use to hunt squrriels with at times. Those AR-15s look like a lot of fun to shoot too. 

 It bullshit like so much of New York — from all the restrictions on the Forest Preserve, to the open burning ban, to the very high taxes and regulations on property ownership. You never really own a house in New York, even if you don’t have a landlord, you still pay the state thousands of dollars in property taxes. Just like the gun restrictions, these kind of things aren’t normal in most states. Most states property taxes are a few hundred dollars a year, especially on  rural land. There are many reasons that I would never own a house or make any final plans to stay in New York. When I build my off grid homestead, it certainly won’t be in New York. I’m fine renting and making a lot of money in New York right now. After all, I think that’s the primary reason for staying in the state for most people. New York jobs pay well even if the cost of living is very high. Missouri or West Virginia might be nice but I’d never make the same kind of money there. 

The LED driver is dimming to black. I think that’s a sign that it’s time for bed. The LED lamp is working well, the next step is to build a permanent feature. 

In four weeks on December 21 the sun will be setting at 4:25 pm, which is 51 seconds earlier then tonight. In 2016 on that day, we had mostly cloudy skies and temperatures between 39 and 19 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 34 and 19 degrees. The record high of 59 degrees was set back in 1957.
Looking ahead, National Pie Day is in 1 month.

Good night.