Two nights on the East Branch Sacandaga River came and went what seemed like much too quickly. I miss doing the long weekends but between work and the weather it didn’t seem like it was going to cooperate.
Partly clear and 66 degrees in Delmar, NY. There is a southeast breeze at 5 mph. 🍃.
I thought long and hard about going up to Stewart Landing or maybe Piseco Powley Road south of the gate 🚧 but ultimately settled on my ordinary choice for kicking off the summer travel season – East Branch Sacandaga River. 🏕️ Campsite 5 which is good during muddy spring due to being gravel and elevated and without nearby trees or grass to the large stone fire ring so fire risk is low.
It really is rare these days that I head out of town for only two nights, especially since the pandemic. ⛺ But with remote work done, and work busy this time of year it’s hard to get away for more than a weekend. 🏢 Maybe in the summer there will be a chance to be remote occasionally but I have my doubts. 💻 Stupid to require in person work though all the time, especially when there is downtime and with laptops and cellphones there is the ability to work from wherever. Senate still does hybrid, especially on non session days.
It was a nice weekend although certainly Saturday morning was chilly when the sun came up and so did the breeze. 🌬️Sunday had less wind but still was rather cold. All weekend was quite clear which was kind of nice, as the nights were quite starry. ✨
Friday night I got up to camp ⛺ around 7:30. While the day was quite windy by dusk the wind 🍃 had slackened and the ground was damp enough and with the temperature failing I had a small fire 🔥. None of those crazy fires I sometimes have to kick off the summer season. Had less stuff to burn as I was green and went to the transfer station ♻ and did the recycling thing two weeks ago. 💦 Plus I wanted to keep the fire small enough it could be easily soaked and made cold to the touch before bed. 🛏 During the summer months I’ll usually let the coals burn themselves out but not when so dry.
Saturday I started the morning with a road hike 🚶 not wanting to be up to my waist in mud 👢 and because often walking along the East Branch is a good place to see wildlife. I hiked down to the Cod Pond Parking Area, some three miles east, exploring old alignments of NY 8 and the abandoned concrete bridges. 🚘 I tell you, parts of that old road were so narrow – most of the fully intact bridges couldn’t have been more the 15 feet wide at most. The old road wasn’t paved, probably just a carriageway. Saw a red tail hawk, pine warbler Blue Jay and heard but didn’t see a gobbler. Stopped down by the river a few times, saw a salamander swimming in the river. I’ve heard the East Branch doesn’t have a lot of fish due to the significant fluctuations in water levels – in the summer it’s common for the river to all but dry up. Explored the Shanty Brook trailhead and campsite but didn’t cross the East Branch to hike the trail, even though with my muck boots and the low water levels I probably could.
Came back to camp, 🥪 had a grilled cheese sandwich, a few beers and took a a nap. In the afternoon I hiked up the East Gorge Trail to the falls at the end. Flushed out a turkey 🦃 but didn’t see if it was a Tom. Not a lot of water 💦 coming over the falls for spring time, although the East Branch varies a lot even with a little rain and the past few days have been dry. Read 📖 a book about Great American Hunters, hiked down through the ruins of Fox 🦊 Lair and the tannery around dusk, 🌆 but didn’t see a lot of wildlife. Came back to camp and around dusk had another small fire. 🔥
Sunday morning was remarkably cold but it warmed up quickly 🌞 without the wind. Made corn bread pancakes 🍳 and took down camp. Truth is I kind of too the morning slow, as I didn’t want to hit the trail until afternoon time when the spring turkey hunt was done for the day. Hiked back along Georgia Brook, was hoping to get back to Cotter Brook Swamp and maybe Pine Orchard but that Georgia Brook bridge was in bad shape. 🌉 Hiked a bit further back on Georgia Brook trail but it was swampy and the valley was deep, so after a bit of nature observing, walked back to the truck. Then hiked along the east side of the Sacandaga River up to Auger Falls via Old NY 8A. Then headed home.
I might have stayed longer up north, 👕 but I had to run to the laundromat to clean my work clothes and do work stuff when I got home. Worked 2 hours from the laundromat then the library until dark when I finished up my work projects. I probably could have done some of that up north, but I didn’t have cell service and things kept popping up for work after I got back into reception. 📲 Just a busy time at work.