Mason Lake

Mason Lake, nestled in Speculator, offers a serene escape for outdoor enthusiasts. This picturesque lake presents ample kayaking opportunities, inviting you to paddle through its tranquil waters and savor the surrounding beauty. Beyond the lake, adventure awaits with easy access to the nearby bike trails in Perkins Clearing, providing a chance to explore the lush landscapes on two wheels.

For those seeking a camping retreat, Mason Lake delivers free roadside camping options both near the lake and along Mason Lake Road and Perkins Clearing Road. These convenient camping sites enable you to immerse in nature without compromising comfort. Whether you’re drawn to the water’s edge or prefer a more secluded spot along the roadsides, Mason Lake provides a unique and enriching outdoor experience for those seeking relaxation, exploration, and the joys of both kayaking and biking in the heart of nature.

Island on Mason Lake

Paddling around, looking at the beauty of the island that reflects into the water on this great day.

Taken on Wednesday August 11, 2010 at Mason Lake.

June 22, 2020 Morning

Good morning! Happy Average High is 80 πŸ–! Sunny and 73 degrees at the Horseshoe Lake. 🌞 There is a south-southwest breeze at 5 mph. πŸƒ. The dew point is 63 degrees. A very pleasant morning up but muggy here like everywhere else.

It’s a Monday and it’s back to work remotely πŸ’», using the laptop and my phone πŸ“±. The nice thing about the internet is nobody knows if you are a dog 🐢 or are hiding out in St. Lawrence County unless of course you post about it.

Been years since I’ve been in the North Country, 🌲🌲🌲 I forgot how wild and beautiful the land is north of Blue Mountain Lake 😍 and how many deer, turkey and other wildlife you see on the road at six o’clock on a Monday. With the fog lifting 🌁 it was an incredible beautiful morning. I should get up early more now that the sun is rising so early. It won’t be that long until sunrise πŸŒ… is closer to 7:30 am rather then 5:30 am.

Why did I decide to wake up so early and head north? 🌲🌲🌲Partially because I could but also I had some concerns about staying at that campsite 14 another night at Jessup River Road. I’m tired of it and that area, I’ve been there too much lately. Plus while that site has oodles of solar power it would have been ungodly hot under the sun β˜€. And I was itching for something different. I knew I would have pretty good cell phone reception πŸ“Ά on Horseshoe Lake so I could easily work here and most of the campsites are close to the lake. I’m hoping to do a little paddling after work 🚣 and maybe some fishing 🎣 but it depends on the weather and how late I have to work. πŸ“

Today will have a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2pm. Mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 88 degrees at 4pm. Eight degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 63 at 8am. Southwest wind around 6 mph. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 80 degrees. The record high of 95 was set in 1954.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 1:01 pm with sun having an altitude of 69.2Β° from the due south horizon (0Β° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 2.3 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour πŸ… starts at 8:02 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (297Β°). πŸ“Έ The sunset is in the borthwest (305Β°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 8:46 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 36 seconds with dusk around 9:22 pm, which is 10 seconds later than yesterday. πŸŒ‡ At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Crescent πŸŒ’ Moon in the west-northwest (296Β°) at an altitude of 8Β° from the horizon, 236,519 miles away. πŸš€ The best time to look at the stars is after 10:11 pm. At sunset, look out for thunderstorms 🌩 and temperatures around 75 degrees. The dew point will be 63 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Today will have 15 hours and 31 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 5 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 7pm. Patchy dense fog after 1am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy , with a low of 65 degrees at 5am. Six degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 65 at 9pm. South wind 3 to 5 mph. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. In 2019, we had mostly clear skies. It got down to 55 degrees. The record low of 44 occurred back in 1940.

Cooler with showers for the weekend. πŸ’¦ Saturday, a 40 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 75. West wind 6 to 11 mph. Maximum dew point of 57 at 8pm. Sunday, a 50 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 81. Southeast wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the morning. Maximum dew point of 60 at 8am. Typical average high for the weekend is 81 degrees.

I could keep going north and seeing more of the Adirondacks or I could head home 🏑 before or after work. πŸ“ You know I don’t know. I’m watching the weather to see when the heat wave down in Albany will break before making any decisions.

Untitled [Expires July 31 2024]

June 21, 2020 Morning

Good morning! Happy Sunday. Mostly sunny and 64 degrees at the Mason Lake. Calm wind. The dew point is 61 degrees.

Today I plan to do some kayak fishing 🎣 on Mason Lake to start out the day then back down to Speculator to get ice ❄ and maybe paddle on the Sacandaga River before cooling off in the lake and maybe briefly visiting the library before setting up camp through Wednesday.

Today will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 82 degrees at 3pm. Three degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around July 2nd. Maximum dew point of 63 at 8am. Calm wind becoming south 5 to 8 mph in the morning. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning, which became mostly sunny by afternoon. The high last year was 78 degrees. The record high of 97 was set in 1938.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 1:00 pm with sun having an altitude of 69.9Β° from the due south horizon (highest of the year). The golden hour πŸ… starts at 7:59 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (297Β°). πŸ“Έ The sunset is in the borthwest (304Β°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 8:43 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 33 seconds with dusk around 9:18 pm, which is 13 seconds later than yesterday. πŸŒ‡ The best time to look at the stars is after 10:06 pm. At sunset, look for partly clear skies πŸŒ„ and temperatures around 76 degrees. The dew point will be 60 degrees. There will be a south-southwest breeze at 5 mph. Today will have 15 hours and 25 minutes of daytime, a decrease of one second over yesterday.

Tonight will have patchy fog after 5am. Otherwise, partly cloudy 🌀, with a low of 61 degrees at 4am. Two degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around July 3rd. Maximum dew point of 62 at 10pm. Southwest wind 3 to 5 mph. In 2019, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 55 degrees. The record low of 37 occurred back in 1940.

East

I don’t think the Donald Trump tiktok allegations about children buying up all the tickets for his Tulsa rally pass the laugh test. πŸ‘Ά

I don’t think the Donald Trump tiktok allegations about children buying up all the tickets for his Tulsa rally pass the laugh test. πŸ‘Ά

  • For one political rallies try to pack themselves with supporters not hecklers
  • The first round of tickets clearly go to party insiders, well known political activists and those who are engaged local supporters
  • Any other tickets sold to the public are screened, at minimum checking the voter file to see if folks are registered Republicans
  • They probably also screen against criminal databases and possibly look at issue scores based on commercial data to see if applicants are stronger supporters
  • Additional Secret Service databases are probably used to screen applicants to rallies
  • People who aren’t found in databases are probably not issued tickets and usually the demand is higher than actual seats so they have the ability to be selective in who gets tickets.

Moreover, all the evidence suggests people have good reason to get cold feet about the rally

  • Eight campaign staffers setting up the rally are in quarantine after testing positive for Coronavirus
  • The Coronavirus waiver in the ticket application process got a lot of media attention
  • The rally date changed meaning it could have interfered with people’s plans
  • A lot of people who attend rallies are elderly, more likely to die or get very sick from Coronavirus
  • President has been making other excuses too, like saying the threat of protests discouraged rally goers
  • Plus the firing of the Southern District of New York prosecutor on the night of the rally seems like it was intended to be a distraction to discourage news coverage of the feeble rally attendance

June 20, 2020 Night

Good evening! Clear and 69 degrees at the Mason Lake. ✨ Calm wind. The dew point is 61 degrees. Last night at this campsite at Mason Lake as it’s already been three nights here.

While I definitely got some good beach time in today 🏊 it’s been quite busy with work, having spent more than half of the day working and that doesn’t include the unbilled time this evening sending emails to clients πŸ“§ for sign off. But it’s been nice.

Set up the hammock tonight and the colored lights at camp πŸ”₯ and had a small fire for a while. But it’s pretty dry. I was going to go fishing 🎣 this evening at Mason Lake but there was some thunder ⚑ and lots of little work things to do.

Tonight will have isolated showers and thunderstorms before 11pm. Patchy fog after 4am. Otherwise, partly cloudy , with a low of 60 degrees at 5am. Two degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around June 27th. Maximum dew point of 62 at 11pm. Calm wind. Chance of precipitation is 20%. In 2019, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It was somewhat humid. It got down to 59 degrees. The record low of 41 occurred back in 1970.

Tonight will have a New 🌚 Moon. The Buck 🦌 Moon is on Saturday, July 4. The darkest hour is at 1:00 am, followed by dawn at 4:41 am, and sun starting to rise at 5:17 am in the northeast (56Β°) and last for 3 minutes and 32 seconds. Sunrise is 11 seconds later than yesterday. πŸŒ„ The golden hour ends at 6:01 am with sun in the east-northeast (63Β°). Tonight will have 8 hours and 34 minutes of darkness, a decrease of over last night.

Tomorrow will have a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, mostly sunny β˜€, with a high of 82 degrees at 3pm. Three degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around July 2nd. Maximum dew point of 63 at 9am. Calm wind becoming south 5 to 8 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning, which became mostly sunny by afternoon. It became very sticky as the day progressed. The high last year was 78 degrees. The record high of 97 was set in 1938.

Tomorrow I want to take down camp relatively early and get out on Mason Lake to do some fishing 🎣 and then maybe Lewey Lake. I will also need to get ice. Then assuming that I can get the campsite I want with the good cellphone reception πŸ“Ά I’ll set up there for the next three nights. Then on Wednesday night I might go up to Horseshoe Lake although not set in stone. I remember having good reception up there years ago.

In four weeks on July 18 the sun will be setting in the west-northwest (300Β°) at 8:34 pm,πŸŒ„ which is 8 minutes and 6 seconds earlier then tonight. In 2019 on that day, we had humid, mostly cloudy, mist and temperatures between 80 and 70 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 83 and 62 degrees. The record high of 100 degrees was set back in 1953.

Looking ahead, Inauguration Day 2021 πŸ‘΄πŸ» is in 7 months.

Wildflowers Along Duck Pond

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Working on a Saturday evening is more fun from a hammock in the Central Adirondacks.