Good evening! Clear and 58 degrees in Westerlo. There is a south breeze at 5 mph. Not a half bad evening for hanging out in the back of my pickup truck, at my parents house. Sure I wish I still was in the Adirondacks but tomorrow it’s back to work to make more money. Spent enough it this weekend, although honestly I’m pretty set for groceries at least a few days into the week — then maybe mid-week I will go wash my truck and get some more groceries then.
Tonight will be mostly clear, with a low of 43 degrees at 5am. Three degrees above normal. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening. In 2016, it got down to 35 degrees under partly clear skies. The record low of 25 occurred back in 1965.
Sunday dinner at the parents house was tacos. They were good. I brought raspberry ice cream and cookies which I though were pretty good too. Shop-rite has a good selection of desserts for Sunday dinner.-
I figured get one more night sleeping in the truck before I head home from my parents house. I much prefer the fresh air to being in my bedroom at home, although I certainly would be able to leave my windows open while sleeping at home of the week. But it’s a change sleeping in the camper shell, and honestly, everything works well with the new low voltage disconnect and new battery.
Waning Crescent Moon tonight with 16% illuminated. The moon will rise around 3:30 am. The New Moon is on Wednesday night with mostly cloudy skies expected. The Full “Flower” Moon is on Wednesday, May 10th. The sun will rise at 6:00 am with the first light at 5:30 am, which is one minute and 29 seconds earlier than yesterday. Tonight will have 10 hours and 11 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 2 minutes and 37 seconds over last night.
Tomorrow will be sunny, with a high of 69 degrees at 3pm. Seven degrees above normal. Light north wind. Hard to complain about that forecast. With the dew points in the 30s, expect very clear, deep blue skies. A year ago, we had partly sunny skies and a high of 58 degrees. The record high of 81 was set in 2001. 1.2 inches of snow fell back in 1967.
Been uploading pictures and videos from the past weekend. Don’t worry, there is much more to showcase in the new few days. But it’s a preview of the weekend that has been. It might have not been perfect weather but I still had some fun in the wilderness.
Next weekend should be okay but maybe not awesome. We will have to watch it to see if it goes more in the direction of a washout or more sun. Saturday, partly sunny, with a high near 73. Maximum dew point of 51 at 12pm. Sunday, a chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 71. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Maximum dew point of 52 at 5pm. Typical average high for the weekend is 64 degrees.
In four weeks on May 21 the sun will be setting at 8:17 pm, which is 30 minutes and 6 seconds later then tonight. That’s the Sunday before Memorial Day Weekend. In 2016 on that day, we had fog and temperatures between 69 and 45 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 71 and 49 degrees. The record high of 92 degrees was set back in 1941.
Looking ahead, Mother’s Day is in 3 weeks and Father’s Day is in 8 weeks.
I’m off to sleep in the bed of my pickup truck. I’m tired. Good night.
Not a terrible week ahead, fairly warm the second half of the week. Low dew points so it won’t be real oppressive. Some of the days will be rainy and some will be sunny, but that’s to be expected this time of year. Get out and enjoy the nice days when you can — Monday looks to be a particularly beautiful day, with deep blue skies and a low dew point so it will be very clear.
"This man is without experience, and it's showing," said Robert Dallek, the presidential historian and author of multiple books on presidents, from Roosevelt and Truman to Kennedy, Nixon and Reagan. "Particularly in his dealings with Congress, he's been an utter failure in the sense that he's gotten nothing passed. He's issuing all sorts of executive orders, like immigration limits; they're failing. The attempt to get health care reform failed. I'd give him failing marks for his 100 days."
This shows where I camped this past weekend on the East Branch of the Sacandaga River. It was nice up there, this is one of my favorite campsites along NY 8 -- it's out in the middle of nowhere but still right on an asphalt road.
Good afternoon! Sunny and 58 degrees in Wells. There is a southwest breeze at 5 mph. Definitely a really nice afternoon after a fairly cold and wet weekend at the Adirondacks. I hate it when the best weather is the time your going home but still it was a pretty nice somewhat extended weekend in the Adirondacks.
This afternoon will be sunny, with a high of 64 degrees at 4pm. Two degrees above normal. West wind 5 to 7 mph. A year ago, we had mostly cloudy skies and a high of 64 degrees. The record high of 87 was set in 2007. 2.4 inches of snow fell back in 1956. Goblers and the birds are definitely enjoying the nice weather.
The sun will set at 7:50 pm with dusk around 8:21 pm, which is one minute and 10 seconds later than yesterday. Today will have 13 hours and 50 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 43 seconds over yesterday. By Wednesday we will be up to 14 hours of daylight. Not bad. But the sun sure seems to rise early.
Tonight will be mostly clear, with a low of 37 degrees at 4am. Three degrees below normal. West wind 3 to 6 mph. In 2016, it got down to 35 degrees under partly clear skies. The record low of 25 occurred back in 1965.
Looking ahead for all you mothers (pun intended), there are 3 weeks until Mother’s Day when the sun will be setting at 8:14 pm with dusk at 8:47 pm. On that day in 2016, we had fog, rain and temperatures between 73 and 46 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 69 degrees. We hit a record high of 93 back in 1900.
This past weekend I camped at one of the campsites down the road Fox Lair on NY 8. Same campsite that I previously camped in many times before. This campsite is nice because it’s an old homesite that is well drained and gravel with high dirt berm and a mountain on one side which is good for safe shooting. My shoulder is a bit sore from the recoil. I didn’t damage state property. Anything not fully burnt to a crisp was packed out. This campsite is protected from the wind, especially compared to the beautiful but often windy Fox Lair campsite.
Camping at NY 8 us great off season but it’s hardly wilderness camping with semi trucks roaring up the start of the hill leading up to Eleventh Mountain. I don’t mind the noise but especially on Friday night there were trucks rumbling along all night. The campsite is above and well screened from the road but still the noise of cars and trucks in passing gear echoing in the valley. A lot of folks with their big diesel pickups were towing their campers up to camp. A loggers hauling logs to the mill in Ticonderoga from Perkins Clearing. Saw a bunch of folks scoping out turkey for spring turkey which starts two weeks from Monday. I certainly heard and saw gobblers up at camp. They’ve done pretty good in this portion of the Adirondacks.
I cannot lie the first half of the weekend was pretty cold. Today with the sun out is much warmer but for the first half of the weekend camping it was on and off rain with clouds and temperatures around 40. Pretty much what you would expect for the Adirondacks for late April. Spring doesn’t come to the Adirondacks until about May 15th. There still was snow and ice in the campsite. Spring peepers were out though on Saturday night and especially once the wind went quiet. Indeed the stars were great once the sky cleared. Sometimes as the weather gets progressively better on your trip you get to have more warm and fuzzy memories of it.
Really nice how much longer the days have gotten. It was nearly 8:30 and it wasn’t pitch black where I was camping in the Adirondacks. True evidence that summer is coming. While the only evidence of spring in the Adirondacks was the rapidly melting snow. Only five weeks until Memorial Day Weekend when Moose River Plains will open. That said this year again I’m thinking about going back up to Vermont for Memorial Day Weekend. We’ll see. I’m sure in the summer I’ll head up to Moose River.
It was rainy on Friday although not a heavy rain most of the time. Once I got the tarp up and got a smokey campfire I was good to go. I was able to coax the heater up which kept my chair toasty but I am having trouble with the quick connect hose and I may have to replace that. I am probably just going to go the route of the conventional LP hose and the replaceable filter modules. I don’t like the idea of disposable filters but I rather have them then a more expensive plugged regulator. It tough keeping the LP hoses which get greasy in cold weather from condensation and the mud and dirt from camping. The heater didn’t work on the hose at all on Saturday. I could run the heater off a 1 lb disposable bottle but I don’t like refilling them because of the scary warning printed on the bottle and because honestly I’ve never had much luck refilling them anywhere near capacity.
Saturday wasn’t quite as rainy but it still was pretty cloudy. As planned I drove down to Garnet Lake and went for a walk along the shoreline then out fishing on Mill Creek. Didn’t catch anything but it’s possible that the DEC hasn’t stocked it yet for the year. They say on their website that it’s stocked for trout and there are many access points but I didn’t have no luck. Beautiful area though and I was able to top off my batteries in the truck driving down there.
Sitting back in the woods last night next to the campfire I was listening to Glen Campbell’s Galveston and thinking about how much fun the good ole days most have been in the Adirondacks. But then I remember back then I would have never had the lights and pickup truck camping would have been a much different experience. I certainly wouldn’t be listening to Glen Campbell through my smartphone played through the Bluetooth Speaker.
Sunday morning to start out was very cold, there was ice on the windows of my truck cap. I could have really used the heater this morning. Ended up getting out of bed to take shit in the bucket, and then quickly heading back to the truck for a few more hours of sleep. When I woke up, lots of much desired blue skies and by breakfast time it warmed up a lot.
The gobblers are definitely out there all horney and impregnating then the hens. I saw a hen crossing the road yesterday and I awoke to gobble, gobble. The spring peepers are put and making a lot of chirping noise this morning. It really is a great day.
I had a slow breakfast and broke camp and after packing up discovered my day pack was left home, so without my water jug and backpack I decided to skip my planned hike at Moreau Lake State Park in favor of a short hike to Auger Falls. I stopped at Wells but decided I was running late, so I skipped fishing for the day. I’ll be back to hit up the Sacandaga River later in the spring time.
Auger Falls was really raging. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much water running over it. But then again it’s spring, the snow is still melting and we’ve had a lot of rain over the past few days. I also hiked along the river all the way up to the flatwater. Despite all the rain the trails up there weren’t too muddy as the ground is still frozen. Maybe it worked out better hiking here then going up Moreau Lake overlook. Plus I get to avoid driving the Adirondack Northway which I hate driving with a passion especially with all the speeding Sunday traffic.
Went to the library and got out several books to read but I never ended up opening them. It was kind of cold so I was either huddled over the fire or moving around in part to remain warm. I had a lot of podcasts to sit and listen to so between that and listening to NPR that occupied the time. I really enjoy listening to podcasts next to the campfire. And the nice thing is they are all on my phone and they play wireless to my Bluetooth speaker which is waterproof and can play 20 plus hours without needing a charge. I just plug it into one of USB ports in my truck at night to keep it charged.
The new accessory battery has amazing run time and I don’t have to worry about over discharge as the loads are automatically shed at below 12.1 volts, not that I’ve ever gotten it that low with the new battery. I expect a long life with good runtime with this battery as it was a step up from what I had and the low voltage disconnect is preventing abuse. It’s nice not having to monitor the voltage or hear the chirp of the inverter sensing low voltage.
It is nice getting back out camping but I can’t wait until it gets warmer. I mean I could skip black fly season but I just hate having to be so bundled up. I know if you camp in the woods away from the swamps you can avoid the worse of the black flies. I miss the Potholers and Pisceo Powely Road. Those warm summer nights at Powely Bridge can’t be far away.
As much as horrifies my liberal friends I do love my Gadsden flag. You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to own my own Don’t Tread on Me Flag but was too embarrassed to spend the $8 to buy it. I mean I’m a life long liberal Democrat who loves guns and all things fire, but I also think government is too much in our lives. I’ve flirted with the Tea Party because I love the Man (lol!) and his aerial highway patrols as much as the next person, but I also think that Obamacare has helped a lot of people even if I think that the subsidies should have been a lot more generous for middle class families. Why can’t government help people get healthcare and an affordable college education without spying on our emails or beating up on the farmers just trying to do their jobs? Animal rights and environmental extremists have gotten much too much control in our society today. Not every acre of land should be declared wilderness. We can have public lands with great backcountry camping and trails but also have logging. I believe we can have a government that works for the people and promote the common good without treading on people’s rights.
I have lots of great photos and videos to upload this week. Stay tuned for more! Movies are going to be a big part of the blog going forward.
Enjoy this beautiful day! I’m on my way back to the cesspool, aka Albany. But I’m sure I’ll be back to the Adirondacks sooner than later. Big summer ahead!
