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.
Rode down to the hardware store bright and early this morning, to get some hardware to mount the bike lock on. It was refreshing but cold. It was a good excuse to get some exercise and feel the cold on my face, even if they didn’t have size bolt that I need.
Good morning! Partly cloudy and 17 degrees in Delmar, NY. ⛅ Calm wind. Things will start to thaw out at tomorrow around 8 am. 🌡️ No weather above freezing though for this weekend. And maybe snow later on. I’m still hoping that it stops early enough that I can ride in tomorrow, as yesterday the snow was gone off the bike trail, though I do need to top off the brake fluid on my bike as my front brake sin’t working.
Today will be mostly cloudy 🌥, with a high of 32 degrees at 3pm. Six degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around January 15th. Cold but not that cold. Calm wind becoming south around 6 mph in the afternoon. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 33 degrees. The record high of 61 was set in 2015. 8.2 inches of snow fell back in 1968.❄
Solar noon 🌞 is at 11:52 am with sun having an altitude of 24.1° from the due south horizon (-46.7° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 13.4 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 3:38 pm with the sun in the southwest (231°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (239°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:24 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 25 seconds with dusk around 4:54 pm, which is 16 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waining Gibbous 🌖 Moon in the northeast (54°) at an altitude of 4° from the horizon, 234,367 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:31 pm. At sunset, look for mostly cloudy skies ☁ and temperatures around 31 degrees. There will be a south-southeast breeze at 5 mph. Today will have 9 hours and 7 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 26 seconds over yesterday.
Tonight will snow likely, mainly after 1am. Cloudy 🌨, with a low of 27 degrees at 8pm. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around December 2nd. Southeast wind 3 to 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of around an inch possible. In 2023, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became light rain by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 33 degrees. The record low of -11 occurred back in 1917.
I am thinking about taking off the second half of the week to go camping, 🏕 or at least spend less time in the office, as the year comes to a close. So far the second half of the week looks nice, though maybe snowy. ⛄ Winter camping is fun, as long as I’m somewhere I don’t have to worry about getting stuck. And it’s not too cold with the wind. Regardless, I have to use the time up before the end of the year, so if it’s really cold and wet, I can stay home and read. 📕
On December 15, 1967, the Silver Bridge collapsed under the weight of rush-hour traffic, resulting in the deaths of 46 people. 🌉 Two of the victims were never found. The Silver Bridge was an eyebar-chain suspension bridge built in 1928 and named for the color of its aluminum paint. The bridge carried U.S. Route 35 over the Ohio River, connecting Point Pleasant, West Virginia, and Gallipolis, Ohio. Investigation of the wreckage pointed to the cause of the collapse being the failure of a single eyebar in a suspension chain, due to a small defect 0.1 inches (2.5 mm) deep. Analysis showed that the bridge was carrying much heavier loads than it had originally been designed for and had been poorly maintained. The collapsed bridge was replaced by the Silver Memorial Bridge, which was completed in 1969.
Also, today in 2000, was an the end of an era at the infamous Chernobyl Power Plant generating power. ☢ Reactor No. 4 was the site of the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, and the power plant is now within a large restricted area known as the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Both the zone and the former power plant are administered by the State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management. The three remaining reactors remained operational after the accident; all three were eventually shut down by 2000, and the plant remains in the process of decommissioning as of 2019. Nuclear clean-up is scheduled for completion in 2065. The toxic legacy remains, long after the nuclear power plant stops generating.
As previously noted, next Sunday is Days are Getting Longer ☀️ when the sun will be setting at 4:27 pm with dusk at 4:57 pm. On that day in 2023, we had partly cloudy, rain showers and temperatures between 34 and 19 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 36 degrees. We hit a record high of 60 back in 1990.
I was quite happy about that. I missed riding into work this week and wasn’t looking forward to having to get another one.
Good morning! Happy Saturday. Finally the weekend! Sunny and 22 degrees at the Black Creek Marsh WMA. 🌞 Calm wind. Frosty for sure with the mercury not expected to reach above freezing, at least here in Voorheeesville. 🥶 Things will start to thaw out at Monday around 8 am. Brr.
As I had mentioned previously, I decided I would go out early today to search 🔎 for my bike 🚲 lock 🔒. I was very happy that I found it. Truth is though I wasn’t completely disappointed about not riding in this week – the trail would be rough with all the ice ⛸️ on it plus it’s super dark in the evening for riding back to the bus stop 🚏 downtown. And cold. 🥶
Today will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 31 degrees at 1pm. Light and variable wind. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, becoming cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was also 31 degrees. The record high of 63 was set in 1901. 12.5 inches of snow fell back in 1956.❄
I kind of miss having the almanac data 🧭 so I decided to bring it back at least for today. It’s kind of fun to look at life, considering the weather. I’m not sure if I’ll always do it, sometimes the National Weather feed breaks and I can’t use it. 🤷♂️
Solar noon 🌞 is at 11:52 am with sun having an altitude of 24.1° from the due south horizon (-46.7° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 13.4 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. Sun is low this time of year. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 3:38 pm with the sun in the southwest (231°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (239°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:24 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 25 seconds with dusk around 4:54 pm, which is 13 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Full Cold 🌝 Moon in the east-northeast (64°) at an altitude of 13° from the horizon, 231,775 miles away. 🚀 Maybe you’ll see a drone. The best time to look at the stars is after 5:31 pm. At sunset, look for clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 30 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Today will have 9 hours and 7 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 31 seconds over yesterday.
Tonight will be mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 12 degrees at 5am. 11 degrees below normal. Calm wind. Another cold night ahead. In 2023, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 16 degrees. The record low of -8 occurred back in 1874.
Today in 1994, started construction begins on the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze river. 🏞️ The Three Gorges Dam has been the world’s largest power station in terms of installed capacity (22,500 MW) since 2012. In 2014, the dam generated 98.8 terawatt-hours (TWh) and had the world record, but was surpassed by the Itaipú Dam, which set the new world record in 2016, producing 103.1 TWh. Also, today was a notable date in civil rights history, with the release of the Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States, 379 U.S. 241 (1964), ♥️ a landmark United States Supreme Court case holding that the Commerce Clause gave the U.S. Congress power to force private businesses to abide by Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination in public accommodations. ⚖️
While today is cold, next Saturday is officially First Day of Winter ☃️ when the sun will be setting at 4:27 pm with dusk at 4:57 pm. We’ve already gained some time in evening. On that day in 2023, we had mostly sunny and temperatures between 34 and 16 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 37 degrees. We hit a record high of 62 back in 2018.
I really don’t have much of a desire to visit any cities. I’m much more comfortable in the wilderness, on the dirt road out in the sticks. While I enjoy urban life – especially the ease of mass transit and cycling to get around, cities aren’t really a place I would want to visit recreationally. Instead, cities are place to get together with others, to meet, collaborate, work and share time together.
I was hearing again on the radio that there is a movement to allow more students to waive or reduce their college loans for free. I think that’s a complete slap in the face to people like myself who didn’t rack up any debt in college but chose the lowest cost options when attending college.
The problem with waving college is that it’s both unfair and rewards wasteful spending. Why economize at college if the government is going to waive your costs it just away? I took a lot of steps to save in college – including attending Community College then a college I could commute to from home. When I attended SUNY Plattsburgh, I waived all optional fees that I could, bought the smallest meal plan I was allowed and parked on the street rather than pay the parking fee. I didn’t have my own laptop, instead I used the computer lab or typed up papers on my parents old typewriter (in 2006). I did work study and then worked down in Albany, taking off semesters and commuting from home.
I certainly support making college more affordable by increasing government support for public colleges and rewarding schools that stay within a spending cap with additional aid. Steps should be taken to make it easier for students to opt out of optional fees, and providing additional discounts for online classes that don’t require providing a physical plant such as a classroom with desks, heating and lighting. Larger class sizes are also possible online, saving on staffing costs.
Public colleges could reduce tuition and fees to an affordable couple thousands a year if they aggressively persued efficient online learning with a much smaller physical plant. While some classes and laboratories are best done in person, most universities have significant physical plant and they don’t have to be constantly upgrading. Colleges can make do with older buildings, older technologies and still provide a cost effective education to students.
Students that got into significant debt should be held accountable for their actions. Instead of bailing them out, we should focus on driving down college costs – not just by increased funding but also reduced spending at colleges.
One thing I miss not having internet at home is not having access to web mapping services (WMS). These internet services are handy layers for mapping without downloading individual tiles for aerial photographs, hillshades or topographic maps. I particularly like WMS now that I found the Forest Service topographic WMS service and several state’s hillshades derived from 1m or 2m DEM.
I like the math of politics more then the politics … 🔢
Most politics is rooted in statistics and polling these days. While people are showing their ideological tints on social media – myself included – what I find most fascinating is numbers that go behind winning an election, both the polling and final results. While often you don’t hear much about the math and theory behind the game, I do really enjoy listening to the FiveThirtyEight podcast and how the numbers game is played.
