Along the Trail

Deep in the Grand Canyon Gorge, although up here, the gore widens as Darling Run hits the Pine Creek Gorge, with Ansonia in the distance.

Taken on Tuesday November 9, 2010 at Tioga State Forest.

The World Is Studded With Artificial Mountains

The World Is Studded With Artificial Mountains

From atop the jagged mountain, cars, people, and houses appear as tiny versions of themselves, the noise of their day to day activity muted so high in the air. Scrubby vegetation grows from cracks in the rock, soaking up the sun and rustling in the slight breeze. Birds caw as they alight at the top of a slope, observing the expanse below them.

The mountain is just another part of the topography to those that live near it, but it is not a natural part of the landscape. The mountain is completely artificial, a colossus formed not by eons of geologic change but the vigor of industrial concrete production. Artificial mountains have sprung up all over the world, the result of hellish manufacturing processes, piled construction and mining waste, or in some cases built deliberately to add a humongous new feature to the horizon.

Why I am so excited about finding a FSTopo WMS Feed !! πŸ—Ί

Why I am so excited about finding a FSTopo WMS Feed !! πŸ—Ί

While I have most of the forest service data that I can put together my own maps with my own styling, the raster feed sure is convenient for making quick and beautiful maps, especially overlaid with additonal campsite or hillshade data.

November 19, 2020 Morning

Good morning! Happy Cold Thursday. ❄ Next Thursday is Thanksgiving πŸ¦ƒ. Both regular season and Thanksgiving are late this year sure to the way that the calendar falls. Partly sunny and 21 degrees in Delmar, NY. πŸŒ… There is a south-southeast breeze at 6 mph. πŸƒ. The current wind chill is 9. Things will start to thaw out at around 10 am.🌑️

It doesn’t seem that cold outside but I left the heat turned up a bit before bed πŸ› and this year it seems to be working better than in years past. ♨ Of course it’s not really that cold out. The truck started up nice and easily this morning — now that the leaves are off the trees, the solar panel is dumping all the extra sunlight not needed for the battery bank into the starting battery.

Up early this morning as I have to run back to the shop πŸ”§ now that they have the stickers in to finish up the state inspection. But first I need to get fuel β›½ and then I’ll probably work down at the library for a bit depending on how cold it is once the sun is up. Might not be too bad with the bright sun β˜€ expected for most of the day. It will be nice when I have my phone set up as a hot spot at home 🏑 although I’m going to wait another month for that. I’ve been reading πŸ“– up on the fine print but I think it will work well enough for me if I’m a bit careful with my data use. It seems like a really good deal all together, and offers the flexibility I need — I’d rather do it the old way walking down to the library or park after work once the panademic is over.

Today will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 43 degrees at 3pm. Four degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around November 27th. South wind 6 to 15 mph. A year ago, we had light snow in the morning, remaining cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was 38 degrees. The record high of 71 was set in 1921. 4.2 inches of snow fell back in 1914.❄

Solar noon 🌞 is at 11:42 am with sun having an altitude of 27.8Β° from the due south horizon (-43Β° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 11.4 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour πŸ… starts at 3:48 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (236Β°). πŸ“Έ The sunset is in the west-southwest (244Β°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:30 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 14 seconds with dusk around 4:59 pm, which is 45 seconds earlier than yesterday. πŸŒ‡ At dusk you’ll see the First Quarter πŸŒ“ Moon in the south-southwest (193Β°) at an altitude of 23Β° from the horizon, 237,066 miles away. πŸš€ The best time to look at the stars is after 5:36 pm. At sunset, look for partly clear skies πŸŒ„ and temperatures around 42 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 14 mph. Today will have 9 hours and 36 minutes of daytime, a decrease of one minute and 58 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be mostly cloudy πŸŒ₯, with a low of 33 degrees at 6am. Two degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around November 12th. South wind 10 to 13 mph. In 2019, we had light drizzle in the evening, which became light snow by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 34 degrees. The record low of 6 occurred back in 1986.

Sunday looks cloudy but Saturday should be nice. πŸ˜€ Saturday, partly sunny, with a high near 49. Northwest wind 5 to 8 mph. Sunday, mostly cloudy, with a high near 46. Typical average high for the weekend is 46 degrees.

Probably this weekend will be like other recent ones. 🚢🏻 Five Rivers walk on Saturday and out to the folks house on Sunday. That’s fine I’m saving money by staying home, bidding my time until summer returns again. πŸ– I am sure it’s not that long until the black flies return.

As previously noted, there are 3 weeks until 7:15 AM Sunrise βŒ›οΈ when the sun will be setting at 4:22 pm with dusk at 4:53 pm. On that day in 2019, we had rain showers, mostly cloudy, mild and temperatures between 52 and 35 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 38 degrees. We hit a record high of 64 back in 1966.

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