Good afternoon! Mostly sunny and 77 degrees on our way up to 82  degrees at Moss Island in Little Falls. Calm wind. The dew point is 65 degrees. The muggy weather ends tomorrow around noontime. Feels like a summer afternoon here at Moss Island. 

Tonight will be mostly clear, with a low of 59 degrees at 5am. Eight degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 66 at 6pm. West wind around 6 mph becoming north after midnight. In 2016, we had partly cloudy skies. It got down to 55 degrees. The record low of 32 occurred back in 1959.

The sun will set at 7:06 pm with dusk around 7:34 pm, which is one minute and 49 seconds earlier than yesterday. At sunset, look for mostly clear conditions and 75 degrees. The dew point will be 65 degrees. There will be a west breeze at 5 mph. Today will have 12 hours and 25 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 54 seconds over yesterday.

Tomorrow will have patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, sunny, with a high of 83 degrees at 3pm. 11 degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 63 at 11am. Southeast wind 3 to 5 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. The high last year was 78 degrees. The record high of 89 was set in 1942.

Rather amazing how quickly it warmed up this morning, although with temperatures expected to reach into the mid 80s by afternoon, I guess it’s really not all that surprising in the grand scheme of things. Really feels and looks like a muggy summer day here on Moss Island. 

Last night was really nice by the campfire, even though it meant setting up in the dark, and the nights were long. I still stayed up to 11 PM, which seems a lot later now that the sun is setting at 7 PM.

A few times last night the low voltage relay kicked in but I thought it was from the voltage drop from all the lights I had connected before I had the propane lantern on. Turns out that the accessory battery is no longer charging in the truck. I thought maybe the crimp connector was lose on the switch in the truck — I disconnected it and twisted it in with a second wire to power the CB radio relay last week, so I replaced that crimp connector. Took 30 seconds to do. Nope. Not sure what the issue is but I’m thinking now that the issue might that the in rush current that we’re caused by laptop charger hooked to the relay caused the fuse to blow between the starting and accessory battery. I am going to need the voltage meter and possibly the socket set to replace the fuse if neccessary. I’m toying with the idea of replacing the fuse with a breaker, as I’ve blown too many fuses over the years due to occasional in rush currents. I’m not going to be able to fix that until I get home on Sunday though, so my truck cap will be dark and my campsite will have to use the lantern with no Christmas or other lights. But’s fine. It’s more of a wilderness experience. Lantern is working fine, despite accidentally dropping it yesterday.

The colors are changing a bit up on Piseco-Powley Road but little change down here in Little Falls. That’s fine, I didn’t expect much color in the valley right now. Saw a hunter with a 22 heading back on the Big Alderbed Trail, inevitably in search of squrriels. I think this time of year, you would be better off with a shotgun and even seven shot, but I guess not everybody likes breaking their teeth on leadshot.

This morning I looked under my truck and saw something hanging down from it. I thought it was a stick but looking more carefully it looked like a rather thick, but old looking wire. Upon closer inspection, I discovered it was a snaking, hanging out from the frame. I wonder if it came all the way from Delmar. I touched it and then tried to get a picture but by the time I got my cellphone out it was gone. Oh, well, too bad.

All I can say is it is definitely a nice morning here at Moss Island. Just starting to explore it on foot now, will put the kayak in at the lower boat launch and paddle around later. Assuming I have enough time I want to visit the Potholers this afternoon, although I do need time to gather firewood when I get back and want to go for an evening paddle on the East Branch. I guess we will see how time goes. 

Looking ahead, there are 7 weeks until Beaver Moon when the sun will be setting at 5:46 pm with dusk at 6:16 pm. On that day in 2016, we had mostly sunny skies and temperatures between 53 and 31 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 53 degrees. We hit a record high of 76 back in 1994.