Burnt-Rossman Hills State Forest, spanning an impressive 10,588 acres, proudly holds the distinction of being Schoharie County’s largest state forest. This natural haven has garnered immense popularity among enthusiasts of outdoor pursuits such as hiking, camping, and various recreational activities.
Traversing a segment of this expansive landscape is the Long Path, a trail adorned with aqua blazes, stretching over 350 miles. Within this forest, the Eminence Lean To stands as a notable point of interest along the Long Path, positioned roughly 0.5 miles to the east of Old Cemetery Road. A crossing of Old Cemetery Road can be spotted just to the south of an ancient burial ground.
Among the captivating features of the forest are the campsites discreetly nestled along Betty Brook Road, as well as the inviting spots found at Duck Pond, situated along Burnt Hill Road.
For those with a penchant for angling and boating, Looking Glass Pond, located along Rossman Hill Road, offers an inviting prospect. This charming pond not only facilitates fishing and boating but also boasts well-maintained fishing platforms courtesy of the Fulton Fish and Game Club.
To imagine I was angry that I forgot to buy tofu this week while shopping. 🛒
I realized how much I’ve changed in my forties. I’ve always been a bit on the dour side of things but I can’t imagine half the ways I’ve changed in my forties. The world is changing quickly but so am I too.
Good evening! Clear 🌃 and 49 degrees in Delmar, NY. Calm wind. Just saw a shooting star 🌟.
That shooting star was bright as it burned on up in the atmosphere. 💫 Things are changing in the world today 🌎, although not all things are bad like the preservation of the lands off Cheese Hill Road as forever wild as an addition to Rennselearville State Forest. Found some more ticks on me after exploring more of the Hillcross Farm Parcel but I think I got them all off. 🐜
Tonight will be clear 🌃, with a low of 28 degrees at 5am. Seven degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 23rd. Calm wind. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 36 degrees. The record low of 21 occurred back in 1974.
I was thinking once it warms up and gets green out, I want to hammock camp ⛺ at the Hillcross Farm Parcel, now that it’s state land and sit down by the pond one summer evening and look at the stars over the Catskill Mountains.
Tonight will have a Waining Gibbous 🌖 Moon with 84% illuminated. The moon will rise at 11:48 pm. The Pink 🌸 Moon is on Wednesday, April 26. The darkest hour is at 12:58 am, followed by dawn at 5:56 am, and sun starting to rise at 6:25 am in the east (79°) and last for 2 minutes and 57 seconds. Sunrise is one minute and 41 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌄 The golden hour ends at 7:03 am with sun in the east (85°).Tonight will have 10 hours and 49 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 2 minutes and 49 seconds over last night.
Going to be a very mild week coming up, 🌸 first real preview of spring. Should be nice, so excited about sleeping with the windows open but not until tomorrow night. 🔳 Now that the evenings are longer it will be nice in the park, 🏞 to say nothing about sitting out back.
Tomorrow will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 65 degrees at 4pm. Eight degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 27th. Calm wind becoming northwest around 6 mph in the morning. A year ago, we had light rain in the morning, which became light rain by afternoon. The high last year was 49 degrees. The record high of 86 was set in 1922. 5.7 inches of snow fell back in 1961.❄
Tomorrow my truck gets serviced 🔧 with a whole bunch of stuff due for 100k. It’s running decently well this year and I want to get more years out of it if at all possible. 🛻 Going to paint or at least prime over the really rusted parts of the undercarriage and wheel wells probably next weekend.
Already giving a little thought about my next vehicle, once again thinking about a small car or Prisus for easier parking 🅿 and saving money on longer trips but mostly because I don’t want to spend a fortune on a new vehicle and may want to switch over to more tent camping and backpacking as my health improves. 🏕 Big trucks are so expenses these days, or maybe I’ve just grown more cost sensitive in my advanced age. Priorities in your forties are different and a decade really is just a blink of an eye 👁🗨.
In four weeks on May 7 the sun will be setting in the west-northwest (294°) at 8:03 pm,🌄 which is 31 minutes and 48 seconds later then tonight. In 2022 on that day, we had mostly cloudy and temperatures between 59 and 45 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 69 and 45 degrees. The record high of 92 degrees was set back in 1930.
Looking ahead, Average High is 60 🌷 is Next Sunday, 8 PM Sunset 🌇 is in 4 weeks, Mothers Day 👩 is in 5 weeks, Fathers Day 👨 is in 9 weeks, Last Sunset After 8:30 PM 🌆 is in 14 weeks, 6:30 Sunrise 🌇 is in 22 weeks, Constitution Day 📜 is in 23 weeks, October 🎃 is in 25 weeks, Average High is 65 🍂 is in 26 weeks, Average High is 40 🌨 is in 8 months, Earliest Sunset of the Year ⌛️ is in 8 months, 7:15 AM Sunrise ⌛️ is in 35 weeks and Christmas Eve 🎅 is in 37 weeks.
Not a long drive but a busy week ahead. This afternoon I am going to visit the folks for Easter dinner 🍲 and then go grocery shopping 🛒 for the week and wash my truck. 🛻
Tomorrow my truck gets serviced – a big list of things that need to be done for preventative maintenance as 100k some of which should have been done last year but I didn’t drive much. 🛠
Work this week in the office 🏢, but who knows how things will progress. I could have to work next weekend or there will be late nights but I expect they’ll do a budget extenter 📝 tomorrow for another week. I’m thinking the week of April 17th will be crunch time in the office. I’ve been wrong before, I thought last Monday the budget would be done after an all nighter. 🤷♂️
Next weekend I plan to stay in town, do a spring hike possibly out to Blodgett Hill, 🚶 a 20 mile loop. Enjoy the warm spring weather 🌷 especially the nights sleeping with the windows open.
The lord has risen and children have learned lifelong unhealthy habits with fistfuls of overly sweet chocolate, once granted to celebrate the end of lent but now mostly because its good for the marketers profits.
Sunny and 47 degrees at the Rensselaerville State Forest. 🌞 There is a north-northwest breeze at 6 mph. 🍃. Finally not so cold the day I’m taking down camp. ⛺ The relaxed breeze really helps with the warmth of the sun.
I took camp down and walked back to the Hillcross Farm Parcel of Rennselearville State Forest. 🏞 Just to spend more time taking in the mountains ⛰ and pulling ticks off my body. Between today and yesterday I have pretty much fully explored the new state land and feel fairly confident I can make some really nice maps up. 🗺
Yesterday turned out to be much colder than I certainly expected. 🌬️ Sunny but gusty winds made it difficult for it to get warm. The sun angle is high as we are in April but the melting snow and moisture from the wet ground made it quite chilly. Friday’s red flag 🚩 warning ⚠ was a joke out in this country but then again I was less than a mile from the end of the Red Flag zone. But Friday was super windy for sure, even worse than today.
Besides hiking all around Hillcross Farm Parcel yesterday 🐦 I also hiked out to the Mount Pisgah Hill overlooking more of the Catskills. And that definitely is a hill to climb. It’s just impressive looking as you head up the summit.
More healthy, delicious camp meals yesterday. 🐠 Salmon, brown rice, lentils, asparagus, onions and broccoli 🥦 for dinner. I broke out the blueberries I bought as a midday snack and finished off the yogurt with them. It was warm and less windy last night so the fire 🔥 I had was nice.
When I camp, I always like to have a fresh supply of fish, meat, vegetables, milk and cheese. I’ve long used two coolers in the warmest part of summer, one for drinks like bee, and condiments that are less critical to stay cold, and one for milk and meat which must remain cold for the weekend but only will be opened occasionally over the trip.
This year, I am changing a few things….
Old Plastic Coffee Containers rather then Milk Jugs The coffee containers when snapped shut, generally do not leak water at all. They do “sweat” from the moisture being attracted to the cold, but they don’t leak or leave the bottom of the cooler swamped with water.
Salt-Water rather then Regular Water
Salt water freezes at a lower temperature then regular water. That means more energy is stored in the water, which means it will thaw out slower, drawing more energy out of the surrounding foods, keeping them cooler longer then they would otherwise be, ensuring that even on the hottest long-summer weekends, the coolers will remain cold.
I am the kind of person who often over estimates costs and underestimates income and revenues. I tend to take a very conservative approach to life, I’m always worried about the worse case scenario maybe a bit too much. Catastrophizing.
Inflation is a bit of an annoyance now but my real concern is how much it is stealing from my future. Every dollar I spend now on more more expensive gas and food is a dollar that I don’t have for my future to grow and eventually buy the big things I want – land, equipment, animals. And the thing is I’m particularly hard hit by inflation because I drive a big jacked up truck and food because I have very basic tastes.
I see inflation every time go to the grocery store, gas up or wash my truck. Everything just seems like it’s getting more expensive. Even recycling at the transfer station is more these days. I make a lot more money than just a few years ago, but I don’t make that extra money to just blow it on today’s inflated prices. I want to save it for a better tomorrow.
Truth be told, my bimonthly savings and investments have been good over the past decade. Things have grown well, much faster than the rate of inflation. Some very well. But it’s getting harder to beat inflation and get good returns with prices going up so quickly. Years ago I bought some energy stocks but stopped adding to it after many years of lackluster growth and endless yearly taxable dividend payments. I probably also keep too much in ordinary “high–er” interest savings and CDs but I want to have something to fall back on should I lose my job, get seriously injured or need to junk my truck.
Lately I’ve cut out all but essential trips like visiting my elderly parents once a week and a one a week drive to the grocery store. In March I drove all of 116 miles, walking 178 miles and riding city buses 278 miles. I’ve had the heat off for several weeks, I avoid having the lights on at night and unplug everything when not in use.
I’ve done the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and even tried lentils. I’m not a big fan of lentils – they’re such a yuppie food and kind of stinky too boot. I mean their not bad, and pretty cheap but by the time you add spices they’re not a big savings. I’d rather just do ordinary pasta. I rarely eat meat and while I’m a big fan of dairy, it just gets harder and harder to cut food expenses especially when even bulk packages at Walmart are increasing in prices.
Ultimately, I do have faith that my variety of investments will grow faster than inflation. Even as I grumble at the grocery store, I’m living within my means even if at times the budget is tight. Lately it hasn’t been quite as crunched although when I start traveling more come summer, costs will escalate. I’m a lot better off than many and if I stay the course, live frugally, a better tomorrow will come even if inflation poses challenges today.
I had the same thought yesterday. Really it figures. That said I’m hopeful by afternoon it will be quite nice, the high sun angle and bright sun helps a lot.
Kind of looking forward to that warmer weather and sleeping 😴 with the windows open again. I’ll have to get the fan out and put away the electric blanket for the season though we could still have a few more cold nights in the second half of the month.
Today. Feels like …
March 8th.
Sunny.
North wind around 11 mph.
and
42 degrees
,
7:31
sunset.
Tonight. Feels like …
February 25th.
Mostly clear.
North wind around 7 mph.
and
20 degrees
,13 max wind chill,
6:24
sunrise.
Sunday. Feels like …
March 19th.
Sunny.
North wind 6 to 8 mph.
and
46 degrees
,
7:32
sunset.
Sunday Night. Feels like …
March 10th.
Clear.
Northwest wind around 7 mph becoming west after midnight.
Slower start to my Saturday then predicted due to the wind. If I had to choose I’d prefer the cold to the wind.
Sunny and a cold 28 degrees at the Rensselaerville State Forest. 🌞 There is a north-northwest breeze at 11 mph. 🍃. The sun is great and making a lot of solar power but the wind sucks.
It’s just cold this morning, 🌬️ though certainly not as bad as mid afternoon last week, when the winds were whipping around at 20-30 mph and howling at times closer to 50 mph.
It’s werid, I hiked 11 1/2 miles today but it felt like a lazy day, hiding out from the wind. 🚶I got an early start which helped a lot, because yesterday morning wasn’t nearly as windy and cold as this morning.
I did see a bald eagle 🦅 up close overhead and a massive buck. And the usual, red headed woodpecker, two mallard on one of the wet areas that wasn’t frozen, tufted titmouse, blue jay, boring old robin.
Still a lot of snow in places, 🌨 at least six inches in protected north slopes, quite muddy but less so by evening with the strong winds and low humidity. Farm boots 👢 vare essential for walking a lot of trails. Campsite was one big soft mud and puddle on Thursday, but it’s dried up a lot today. ⛺
Made some really good meals with asparagus (one of my favorite vegetables), and other yummy things. 🍲 After dark the wind died down and the ground was still quite wet so had a small fire, coals smothered before bed with snow and ice. 🔥
I’m glad I was lucky 🍀 enough to get Good Friday off, as I probably wouldn’t have gotten the drive in campsite I wanted had I come Friday after work as somebody else is camping 🏕 a mile up the road from me. Friday was cold, especially the blustery afternoon but a day in the wilderness beats a day in the city.
I was thinking about hiking over Kenyan Road to Fox Creek Road to the Mount Pisgah Overlook today but it seems rather cold and windy. ❄ I’ll see how much things warm up as the day progreses I guess. Maybe do some more protected hikes in the woods and hollows where it’s less windy.
