Balsam Swamp is a sprawling state forest that stretches almost 5.5 miles east-west across 4 towns. The area is very rural, and the landscape surrounding the State Forest is predominantly forested. Balsam Swamp State Forest is comprised of a mix of native hardwood forests, hemlock swamps, and conifer plantations. There are no designated recreational trails on the forest, but there is ample opportunity for self-guided day hikes to explore the diversity of habitats represented on this State Forest. Additionally, the western section of Balsam Swamp State Forest is adjacent to Five Streams State Forest to the south.
The main attraction of this forest is Balsam Pond. The impoundment is approximately 152 acres and is a popular destination for fishing and paddle boat sports. Balsam Pond is a warm water fishery that contains a mix of largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, chain pickerel, yellow perch, brown bullhead and sunfish. Tiger muskellunge have been stocked in the past with the last stocking occurring in 1995. However, there have been very few reports of anglers catching any of the adult tiger muskies. A shallow gravel boat launch is suitable for launching small fishing boats.
A small rustic camp ground is also located at Balsam Pond. Camping spaces are available at no cost on a first-come, first-serve basis and there is no running water or electricity. A fire ring, outhouse, and picnic table are provided for each camping space. A sign on Balsam-Tyler Road in Pharsalia designates the entrance to the boat launch and camping facility. This is a carry-in carry-out facility. Please do not litter.
Sunny but cold with the wind the next few days going into the weekend 🌬️
Southern Zone deer 🦌 hunters are going to like that assuming they play the wind. Going to really snowy ☃ in Buffalo and the Tug Hill, probably not going to do any trips up that way for a while. Still might warm up after Thanksgiving though. 🦃
Today. Feels like …
December 6th.
A slight chance of rain and snow showers before 2pm, then a slight chance of rain showers between 2pm and 4pm, then a slight chance of rain and snow showers after 4pm. Mostly cloudy.
Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph increasing to 12 to 17 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
and
41 degrees
,
4:32
sunset.
Tonight. Feels like …
December 14th.
Mostly cloudy.
West wind 5 to 8 mph becoming south after midnight.
and
23 degrees
,
6:49
sunrise.
Friday. Feels like …
December 9th.
A slight chance of rain and snow showers after 2pm. Mostly sunny.
Southwest wind 7 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Looking at the radar this morning I decided it was a good one for a walk in the darkness as the rain and sleet kept pouring down. It’s not raining that hard I tell myself.
Sleet, rain and 28 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☁ There is a southwest breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. There is a inch of snow on the ground. ☃ ️Things will start to thaw out at around 8 am. 🌡️
I could be camping 🏕 I tell myself. I remember the sleet and rain we got when I was camping at the East Otto State Forest six years ago this week. Got a propane leak in a hose, sprayed my self with stinky propane.
But regardless I’m up and going. ☕ I could have done breakfast first but I actually like to walk first thing, than have breakfast. I did have a cup of coffee with some hot cocca mixed in before heading out. Sunrise is getting later especially on cloudy 🌨️ days like today. Time change helped for like a week.
In 1947, the United States voided all of the Nazis patents and put all their non sensitive technology and research into the public domain for all to use without restriction.
This was actually a very big deal – the Nazis had some of the world’s best scientists – and their development pushed forward computing, electronics and audio recording enormously.
I don’t think the snow will stick around for long, it’s already quickly disappearing in Albany. The heavy rain from this morning has let up, now it’s just everything is damp outside. Continued cold into the weekend, for the first time this winter we will be talking about the windchill going into the weekend. So be it I guess.
Today. Feels like … December 6th.
Rain, snow, and sleet before noon, then a chance of rain between noon and 4pm. High near 41. Northwest wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. Total daytime snow and sleet accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
and
41 degrees
,
4:33 sunset.
Tonight. Feels like … November 30th.
Partly cloudy.
Southwest wind 3 to 5 mph.
and
27 degrees
,
6:47 sunrise.
Thursday. Feels like … December 9th.
A slight chance of rain between 10am and 4pm. Partly sunny.
South wind 5 to 11 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
and
40 degrees
,
4:32 sunset.
Thursday Night. Feels like … December 7th.
Partly cloudy.
West wind around 6 mph becoming light and variable.
and
25 degrees
,
6:49 sunrise.
Friday. Feels like … December 12th.
A slight chance of rain and snow showers before 1pm, then a slight chance of rain showers between 1pm and 4pm, then a slight chance of rain and snow showers after 4pm. Partly sunny.
Southwest wind 7 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Good morning! What day is it? GIS Day, of course. 🗺
While I wasn’t planning on it this rainy, sloppy morning I decided to walk down to the express bus as it wasn’t raining that hard.
Rain and 34 degrees at the Elm Ave Park and Ride. ☔ There is a northwest breeze at 6 mph. 🍃. There is a inch of snow on the ground. ☃ ️Temperatures will drop below freezing at around 9 pm. ☃️
It snowed for a while last night before turning to rain. 🌨 Kind of just a sloppy mix. Probably the snow will be completely gone by afternoon. But no ice locally though last night the driveway was a bit slippery.
Went down to the library 📚 mostly to return books but also because I had my laptop 🖥 home and figured it would be a good walk down to the library.
It’s GIS Day so I guess I’ll have to think of some creative ideas on maps to make up. 🗺 I am sure there are things I can come up with pretty easily using a few lines of R code. Or maybe I’ll actually open up QGIS and make something real purty. For a while I was doing the #30DayMapChallenge but it became too much work.
There is all this talk about re branding Facebook as Meta and creating some kind of 3D virtual world. But does anybody really want to go through life wearing 3D glasses or some slow, bulky, data intensive interface?
People just want the information they need, without too much bulk or clutter or geegaws.
Why did Facebook originally replace MySpace? The interface was simple and uncluttered, unlike MySpace which allowed for a lot of clutter with users choosing their own pages colors and being able to lard them up with silly tunes, comic sans fonts and garish colors. Facebook with its clean white background, easy read text and fast loading made all the difference.
