Good morning. It’s 74 degrees with the fog starting to burn off this morning at Long Pond in Smithville Flats. Look for 81 degrees later with thunderstorms expected to bring rain. Hazy, hot and humid.

It rained a lot last night. A few thunderstorms and lightening late but mostly just rain from 9:30 p.m. until day break.

Taking down the campsite with a goal of leaving by 10 AM. I am hoping to get to Ithaca by around 11 AM. Just having a quick breakfast. Still it’s a lot more work when you got to take down and fold the tarp. The tarp was soaked and all the gear is a bit muddy. The tarp felt like squeezing a sponge when I rolled it. I figure I will need the tarp up this evening and hopefully by the time I leave the Finger Lakes on Wednesday or Thursday, the tarp will be dry.

Last night the truck battery wasn’t charging again, this time I think the relay between the batteries got stuck closed from yesterday’s heat and humidity. I have replaced nearly every other component and it’s obvious that power wasn’t getting to the second battery. Alternator was putting out plenty of power. That or its mystery forces that reveal themselves every time I come to Long Pond. God only knows. It charged fine this morning. Hopefully this is the last of the problems – ever since I fixed the voltage regulation issues it has been charging and working really well.

It didn’t really matter. My accessory battery was fully charged to start out the night so with a little power conservation, I had sufficient power for the night. Then again, I used the lower wattage Christmas lights and just the night stand clock radio,and only occasionally the LED flood. Didn’t light up the flag. I had candles and my white gas lamp for additional power. It worked. Skipped the campfire as I used charcoal to cook and wood is in short supply at this state forest.

Off to Ithaca now. Later, to Buttermilk Falls or maybe the state beach on Cayuga Lake for a swim..