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.
A few weeks back I was in the Genesee Valley at Letchworth State Park, poking around some of the little farm towns. The Genesee Valley has long been the joke of little kids and remarked upon by the authors of books for the smells of the dairy business – the sweet smell of the chopped silage and freshly cut hay, the sour smell of spoiled silage and cow manure, being stored than returned to the fields to bring nutrients back to the land.
The Genesee Valley and even some of the uplands around it are some of the great agricultural regions of our state. Once the bread basket of the nation, wheat blight and the Great Plains replaced it as did the high cost of living, leading to specialization largely in the dairy industry. Cows have to be fed year round and dairies produce milk and year round by carefully planning calving so there are always calves and milk being produced. That means farm families get milk checks year round from their processors.
The valleys and areas with the best soils have the biggest and most modern farms, often with hundreds of not thousands of cows complete with modern free stall barns and slurry holding tanks that allow the farms to apply manure only when it’s most likely to be uptaken by crops and not washed away as pollution.
It’s easy to root for the small marginal dairy up in the hills with a hundred or so milking head. The truly small business with a tie stall barn that has old fashioned gutter tracks and hay storage up above. But the truth is that the large dairy, run by a family and their employees probably is a better stewart of the land with their scientifically driven CAFO plan – even if the kids yell our – what’s that smell.
I really didn’t spend all that much time in the Genesee Valley, heading back to Allegany County hills where most of the farms are small. Where the occasional smell of petroleum from the century old industry, still stripping a little high quality oil from the land remains, often situated on the same farms that produce the crops that feed the cows that produce the milk I like to drink.
Monday will be the first time I’ve worked n Menands since the time change.
I started working up in Menands after Martin Luther King Jr Day last winter, and was able to ride my bike into work come the last week of January because there was just enough daylight at end of day with the lights I felt comfortable riding down to the express bus stop, roughly two miles from work. Then come President’s Day, when it was snow-free enough, there was enough light to ride all the way home.
This autumn, after the time change, I plan to continue to ride to work as much as possible, and then ride down to the express bus stop. I ordered extra back up lights for my bike, so I always have a set charged and ready to go, with maximum brightness for safety. I will continue to wear the blaze orange safety vest, and be up to two flashing taillights which I was at until one failed a few months back. I also want to get more DOT tape — particularly white DOT tape to add to front of my bike to improve reflectivity on the sites and front
I don’t love idea of riding down to express bus at dusk or even at dark, but what is the alternative? Not riding to work? I probably won’t do the Water Street bridge but instead take Erie Boulevard (which unfortunately is unlighted) over to Broadway. But with lights and caution it should be relatively safe. While it’s true that it’s harder for drivers to see you at night, it’s also true it’s easier for you to spot oncoming cars due to the headlights.
It feels good to do it myself. 🔧 It’s not hard and doesn’t take long to do, as long as you can get the oil and filter which was hard to find during the pandemic. I go back and forth about what things I should do myself and what you should pay somebody to do for you. What is the value of your time? ⌚ What can you do as well as a professional? What leaves you feeling satisfied doing it yourself?
During the pandemic years I used to take my truck to the shop 🧑🔧to get it done but it’s so hard to get an appointment these days and the time spent making an appointment, driving it to the shop, paying for it doesn’t make it worth it when the stores actually have oil and a filter in stock. But if you are going to three or four stores to find six quarts of 5w-30 it changes like during the pandemic the calculation. Plus motor oil has come down in price a bit.
I was at 33% oil life, I try to avoid getting below 40% though one time when it was newer I let it go to about 23%. 🔧I always use good quality full synthetic and a quality filter as after all it’s an infamous 5.3, lol. Some day I’m sure the engine will throw a rod but it’s been a good ride and I figure enjoy it while you still can. It’s like my eventual eviction from my apartment, 🏡 just enjoy it while you can, save enjoy things before it’s gone.
I do want to get a new air filter installed but I didn’t get one at Walmart. 🛻Maybe next weekend, or before my next trip. Just need to make sure I can find a star key to install it. Not difficult but I need that. Then I’ll do the tire rotation when the truck is inspected. I should take the burnt up old air filters that I keep saying I’m saving as a grill for camping in my truck but keep getting snagged on things. That used motor oil will be fun up at camp for perking up fires, 🔥 lol. That is if it ever rains. ☂️ Hoping for rain next weekend. Or sooner.
I don’t think I’ll head out of town next weekend, 🏕️ as I want to have some rain first for fire safety, plus the second half of the weekend looks rainy. Veterans Day Weekend looks better, I might tag on a few extra days to either end of the weekend to enjoy vacation. I’m leaning towards the Green Mountains though I’ve thought about Long Pond State Forest in Chenango County or Stoney Pond in Cazenovia. Maybe ride more of the Canalway.
Absolutely beautiful day! The sun is shinning, it’s fairly mild and the wind is not yet picking up.
It will be good weather for doing the oil change on Big Red. 🔧 It’s been a while since I’ve done one — it was hard to get oil during the panademic — but should go smoothly as Red is pretty easy to do an oil change, assuming the filter and oil pan drain plug come out relatively easily. Then it will be done, and I shouldn’t have to do it one until next summer. I’ll have the shop rotate the tires the next time I’m in there for state inspection during the beginning of December. 🧑🔧 I think the new trucks are too difficult to do oil changes on — heck they don’t even have dip sticks — so this may be one of the last automobiles I do oil changes on.
Went to Walmart, got groceries 🛒 and should be stocked up with good hardy, healthy ingredients for the week to come. 🍏 Apple picking with dad this afternoon then Sunday dinner. I’m bringing out my slop bucket to dump on their compost pile, 💩and then I’ll head home. Next weekend looks like rain, so probably no camping next weekend, 🏕️ but if I wait past next weekend for Veterans Day Weekend, then I won’t have to deal with campaign-related work while at camp, and it can truly be a vacation. ☺️ And that will be nice. Work is tiring, and I just want some time to hang out and relax. Don’t get me wrong I would like get out next weekend, but not with the current high fire danger 🔥 — you know I like burning shit — and rain coming for the second half of the weekend.
Yesterday was fun but darkness approached early, 🌆 so it was a bit of a rush at the end of day, but I spent some time enjoying the cold but beautiful weather at Five Rivers then riding out to Bender Melon Farm Preserve. Saw some deer, chipmunks and turkeys along the way. It wasn’t a bad afternoon, and then I came home and made up soup with everything I had remaining at home — lentils, whole-wheat pasta, canned chicken, onions, and some random vegatables I had hanging around the chicken. And some cornmeal to thicken things up. It was good, 🍻 cracked open a few beers to enjoy with it and passed out dead tired. I still think I have a bit of that residual cold left from two weeks ago.
I am certainly not complaining, but I did not expect it as I was on my way out to Five Rivers Environmental Education Center and who knows on my bike when the sky got darker, the wind picked up and we got a brief but strong rain shower running through.
I certainly wasn’t expecting any rain, and it probably ultimately won’t amount to much 💧 however, it wasn’t really on my mind. Part of the reason I didn’t head out of town this weekend to Rensselaerville State Forest for a long weekend camping is I knew today would be so cool and windy, 🔥 plus the fire danger was a bit concerning in my mind. But mostly I knew today would be bitterly cold with the wind up on the hill, even if the mercury does make it into the low 50s. I dislike the wind more then anything else bar maybe rain when camping. Plus yesterday, was surprisingly busy. I worked much of the afternoon out at Five Rivers, and for a while I had a bit of a pounding headache, I think because I took a sleeping pill or actually two before bed to overcome the sugar-free Red Bull I had in evening at work, ☕️ and then it left my drousy the next day despite the coffee and caffine pills. 💊 Feeling better today.
I think at some point I’ll still ride out to Five Rivers 🚴 but I don’t have bigger plans than that. I got out the wrench 🔧 and tools to change the oil in Big Red 🛻 tomorrow before apple 🍎 picking with dad. Monday I’ll work in the office 🏢 in person because I need to work on the main frame and I need Windows for the VPN for that and it’s so slow on my laptop. 🖥️ Plus it’s good to be supervising my team in person at least a few days a week. Truth is I actually like the state database over the campaign committee database, as I have full control over the system and it’s easier to automate the Unix processes.
Installed more weather stripping over the door 🚪 at my apartment. I’ll probably keep the heat up a bit warmer than this year but it all depends on how cold it is and how bad the moisture problems are. 🐖 Neighbors believe it or not in suburban Delmar are roasting a whole hog and it smells delicious with the wood smoke 🪵and do I wish I had a house with a woodstove and a forest with winter coming. That said, I keep my heat very low so my heating bills are very reasonable in winter. Hopefully I can get well into November without needing anything but the heated blanket on the coldest of nights. Scraping the bottom of the pantry for food 🥫 but tomorrow I’ll stock up at Walmart.
For many years I would never go to John Boyd Thacher State Park. I never really liked the place — I thought it was too developed — too surbanized — too packed the gills with obnoxious people. Not a place to go for relaxation or scenic views but to be run over by joggers and bicyclists while taking in the view or doing nature study.
My hatred of John Boyd Thacher Park wore off over the years. First in 2003, I started go occasionally to the back part of the park off of Beaver Dam Road after my college class let out for the day — usually once a week. It was nice going back there, especially around the ski hill in the evening, as you would never see to many people back there. Mostly undeveloped, wandering around the cleared paths in the brushy woods that were full of wildlife.
Then I “rediscovered” the OSI parcel, which is some “wild” lands to the north of the park. Especially on weekdays, and to certain extend on the weekends this area is quite nice, quite and wild. Most of the surburbanites in their SUVs avoid this area for the developed parcels with the picinic tables and rails to discouage them from heading to close to the edge. But the OSI parcel is a totally different experience.
While I like the OSI parcel with its views, if I have other choices I’ll go to other wild lands with even fewer restrictions. I don’t like how Thacher Park closes at dusk, you can’t go for moonlit walks or camp there like on state forests. There just seems to be so many restrictions compared to other wild lands around to explore.
I think a lot about lead, chromium and arsenic in food. Mainly because I use a lot of spices like cinnamon and turmeric, which are infamous for using lead to enhance color to increase the appearance of quality in food. But on the other hand, the health benefits of eating good quality food, and using spices like cinnamon and turmeric both for taste and health benefits outweight any disadvantages. Processed foods will kill you certainly with all the fats and sugars, small amounts of lead, chromium, arsenic and other metals are far less harmful.
