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.
I think hope of the drought ending soon isn’t in this week’s forecast 🤔
At least not so hot this week with ample sunshine. Maybe it’s a chance to get better at getting my steps in every day. I just feel better, less achy and more energetic when I walk.
It looks like it will be a decent weekend to get out of town, maybe the last chance to spend a Saturday totally off the grid until November. No emails or work one day would be nice.
Labor Day Weekend I might head up to the Spectulator area but it would be a working trip as I’m sure I’ll be busy. Might want to hike up Pillsbury Mountain Labor Day Saturday after dark to see the fire towers all lit up.
Looking below at the chart, you can see how much daylight we are losing in the plunge. But as God takes away, come April and May he will bring it back along with a ton of black flies.
Today. Feels like …
August 3rd.
Mostly sunny.
Light and variable wind.
and
83 degrees
,59 max dew point,
7:58
sunset.
Tonight. Feels like …
August 30th.
Partly cloudy.
Calm wind.
and
58 degrees
,
6:01
sunrise.
Tuesday. Feels like …
July 15th.
Mostly sunny.
Calm wind becoming northeast around 6 mph in the afternoon.
and
84 degrees
,58 max dew point,
7:57
sunset.
Tuesday Night. Feels like …
August 20th.
Mostly cloudy.
Light northeast wind.
and
60 degrees
,
6:03
sunrise.
Wednesday. Feels like …
September 5th.
A slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Partly sunny.
North wind 6 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
and
78 degrees
,58 max dew point,
7:55
sunset.
Wednesday Night. Feels like …
August 30th.
A chance of showers before 8pm. Mostly cloudy.
Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Good morning! The second half of August come back around again. 🌻
How fast the seasons come and go. As did the weekend. But I’m hoping to get out of town this weekend and I might take off Friday.
Partly sunny and 56 degrees in Delmar, NY. 🌅 Calm wind. The dew point is 53 degrees.
A nice cool start to the morning. 😁 I though there was going to be clouds and rain showers this morning but I was wrong about that. Out for my morning walk 🚶 at six am which is the best way to assure me that I get my steps 👣 in. Since vacation I’ve been averaging 11k or 12k a day over the week but it’s not been every day like I was doing back in June.
Yesterday I did an evening 🌃 hike up Bennett Hill after Sunday dinner at the folks house 👪. Very clear evening but it got dark quickly. The 9:15 pm dusk 🌆 is all but a memory now. In a few weeks even the morning walk 🚶 at six o’clock will need to be postponed until the time change in eleven weeks unless I want to walk in darkness in the morning.
Besides getting milk ☕ for my coffee I really should get to the store 🏬 and get groceries and wash my truck. 🛻 While Red will get dusty heading out of town on Friday I’d rather wash him down and get any caked on mud off, which I should have done last week but I was busy.
Not too much humidity, maybe even a bit cool for mid-August but I will take it after all the hot weather. Going to be hotter again come the second half of the week. Next weekend might be perfect for one last weekend at the potholers, especially if I can get at least part of Friday off. Labor Day Weekend, in three weekends, I am figuring I will probably go up to Mason Pond / Speculator area as I can do remote work from there as I have good cell service.
Today. Feels like … August 28th.
Sunny.
Northeast wind 3 to 5 mph.
and
80 degrees
,54 max dew point,
8:00 sunset.
Tonight. Feels like … September 3rd.
Partly cloudy.
East wind 3 to 5 mph.
and
57 degrees
,
6:00 sunrise.
Monday. Feels like … September 1st.
Isolated showers after 1pm. Mostly sunny.
North wind around 6 mph becoming east in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
and
79 degrees
,57 max dew point,
7:58 sunset.
Monday Night. Feels like … August 30th.
Mostly cloudy.
Northeast wind around 5 mph.
and
58 degrees
,
6:01 sunrise.
Tuesday. Feels like … September 1st.
Scattered showers, mainly after 2pm. Partly sunny.
Northeast wind 5 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
and
79 degrees
,59 max dew point,
7:57 sunset.
Tuesday Night. Feels like … August 30th.
Scattered showers, mainly before 8pm. Mostly cloudy.
Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Sunny and 56 degrees in Delmar, NY. 🌞 Calm wind. The dew point is 53 degrees. Should be a nice day.
Yesterday, I took the Nature Bus 🚌 to Thacher Park, hiked around 15 miles including starting at the Overlook Parking, then Hop Field, the Hop Field Wetland Trail, then up to Beaver Road, hiked out to Thompsons Lake Hamlet, then down to the boat launch, campground, nature trail. 🏞 From there I took the Salisbury Trail to Perimeter Trail to Fred Schroeder Memorial and then down to High Point, then along the mountain bike trail to Hang Gliders Cliff and then out to Horseshoe Clove. It was a pretty good hike, catching the 6:20 PM bus home, some eight hours later, with a little bit of hammock time.
Today, I am not planning on a real ambitious day, 👣 after walking 40,000 steps or about 20 miles yesterday. I probably should do a morning walk today, but I am not ready to get going yet, plus I have an idea for a project I’m working on for the blog — namely 360 photos that I’ve discovered how to with my smartphone. 📸 New record on the steps.
I should probably do an early morning walk — I was up a little after 6 AM but I am enjoying my coffee. ☕ I should do a little more cleaning and putting away after summer vacation, especially if I am thinking about heading up to the Adirondacks next weekend, maybe the Potholers one last time this summer. With work, I don’t think I can be so far off grid in future weekends.
I will need to get milk 🥛 tomorrow as that plastic jug is about to hit the wastebasket. I do wish I could get milk in deposit glass. I don’t make a lot of trash 🗑 and they burn fine but it seems like such a waste. I drink less milk these days though to try to cut back a bit on the calories. Ice water 💦 is a lot more healthy.
I should think about voting, 🗳 as the early vote center down the road is now open for the Congressional primary race, but I can do that one night after work I figure. 🚶♀️ Plus, on election day, primaries all-day long in New York under some of the reforms the legislature did a few years back to make voting easier.
This afternoon I’m heading out to the folks house for Sunday dinner 🍔 and then will probably hike Bennett Hill. It’s been a few weeks since I lost caught up with them. 🚶 It’s always a nice hike and should be good and clear. The elevation gain gets the blood pumping and at let’s me get some of my steps in for the day. Truth be told I should have done my morning walk but maybe I can do some in the evening. 🌃
I always think it’s a bit weird that longitude is the x axis, while latitude is the y axis, even though we always write latitude-longitude or y axis, x axis. Doesn’t x become before y?
What suggestions do you have for those who don’t send their trash to the landfill? If we let our trash accumulate on the farm we are going to have a major mouse/rat issue.
I didn’t want to be a jerk but my thoughts are they should just buy some garbage cans and stick them out by the barn or otherwise away from the house and save the trash until things green up a bit. Or dig a hole and bury the trash for now. Most farms have tractors with buckets and plenty of manure to bury things in. You can always dig it up later and have a big bonfire. Big controlled burns are a lot of fun. Or listen to the greenies by recycling or taking it to the transfer station to reduce the amount of waste you have to store.
It’s also not farms don’t already have rats around silos and barnyard – they love to eat spilled feed and burrow in manure piles. But you certainly don’t want to encourage them around your homestead by leaving trash as they can be quite destructive to property. Burying might me a good way too temporarily to keep bears out of the waste.
🚨Fire is super dangerous, especially in the spring. 🚨 While I certainly have fires when I camp in the spring, it’s always in existing fire rings away from brush or grass. And if there is leaves around I make sure to clean up around them. When I own land, I’ll make sure my farm trash incinerator is fully enclosed and screened and away from anything burnable and just store the trash during high fire season and just have a bigger bonfire when the burn ban is done.
