REI promotes that so they can sell you more outdoors gear. I don’t need any more junk, I’m just ready to head out of town to the mountains to hike, camp and spend a few days away from the internet.

Good morning! Mostly cloudy and 40 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☁ There is a west-northwest breeze at 10 mph. 🍃. The current wind chill is 29. Temperatures will drop below freezing at around 4 pm. ☃️

That five hour energy shot ☕ really wakes you up, combined with cream of wheat 🌾, strawberries 🍓, banana 🍌 and some Greek Yogurt🥤 for protein. Also had some edamane for extra protein boost as I’m hiking. Goal 🥅 is to be on the road before eight. 🛻

Today will be partly sunny, with a temperature falling to around 32 by 5pm. Northwest wind 10 to 14 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with a few breaks of sun the afternoon. The high last year was 49 degrees. The record high of 70 was set in 2014. 8.8 inches of snow fell back in 1898.❄

Today I’m heading up to Prospect Mountain ⛰ for a quick hike up there and then to the Adirondacks to camp for four days. ⛺ Packed the microspikes as I may want them for Prospect. Probably taking the steep trail from Spring Street in the village to the summit. Going to be a cold night ahead ❄, sunset comes early 🌇 and I’m worried 😯 about the snow depth requiring me to drag gear back to camp so I want to make sure I get an early start both up and down the mountain and then to set up camp ⛺. Plus I need to stop and get groceries like eggs and fresh fruit to eat up at camp. 🥚 🍏 🛒

Solar noon 🌞 is at 11:43 am with sun having an altitude of 26.9° from the due south horizon (-43.9° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 11.8 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 3:44 pm with the sun in the southwest (235°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (243°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:28 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 16 seconds with dusk around 4:57 pm, which is 36 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Full 🌝 Moon in the east (93°) at an altitude of 23° from the horizon, 231,220 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:33 pm. At sunset, look for partly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 34 degrees. There will be a west-northwest breeze at 14 mph. Tomorrow will have 9 hours and 30 minutes of daytime, a decrease of one minute and 45 seconds over today.

Thanksgiving 🦃 dinner with the folks was good but kind of bland and ordinary, the pie 🥧 was very sugary. Still I treasure the family 👪 dinner 🍽 as it may very well be the last or one of the last with mom’s cooking. She cooked all day 👩🏼‍🍳 and did her best to make a delicious 😋 meal. I enjoyed it in the context of what it is. I think I’ve gotten more and more into spice while my parents like things with less of a kick. ⏳ Definitely when I start cooking Thanksgiving dinner myself I’ll use a lot more spice and less sugar and fat. Gravy is so bland and fatty unless you really amp it up with spice. Time spent with your parents, enjoying their home cooking in your forties is so precious.

Tonight will be mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 22 degrees at 6am. Seven degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around December 17th. Maximum wind chill around 17 at 4am; Northwest wind 7 to 10 mph. In 2022, we had partly cloudy skies in the evening, which became light rain by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 40 degrees. The record low of 2 occurred back in 1938.

Going to be even colder up north ❄, talking the single digits by morning. I got a fair amount of propane so I should be good. ♨ Bringing the thermal underwear, insulated bib overalls and full face mask in preparation for a cold night ahead. 🧤

Tomorrow will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 40 degrees at 1pm. Five degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around December 9th. Northwest wind around 6 mph becoming south in the afternoon. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with a few breaks of sun the afternoon. The high last year was 49 degrees. The record high of 64 was set in 2004. 21.8 inches of snow fell back in 1971.❄

That should be good for charging the batteries 🔋 as it’s going to be cold. Saturday and Sunday plan to just hike around camp ⛺ and do some reading 📖, listening to podcasts 📻 and relaxing away from it all. Need to tune into the weather radio to keep an eye on how much snow will arrive Sunday night into Monday and then decide if I should head home early. 🏡

Looking ahead to Sunday, a chance of rain after 1pm. Partly sunny, ☀ with a high near 43. South wind 5 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Typical average high for the weekend is 45 degrees.

Looking ahead, next Friday is December 🎄 when the sun will be setting at 4:24 pm with dusk at 4:54 pm. On that day in 2022, we had mostly cloudy and temperatures between 40 and 32 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 43 degrees. Cue the cheesy Christmas 🤶 music 🎶. We hit a record high of 67 back in 1934. Well before my time.