Jessup River Wild Forest

The Jessup River Wild Forest (JRWF) area consists of 47,350 acres of State Forest Preserve lands in the towns of Arietta, Indian Lake, Lake Pleasant, and Wells in Hamilton County. The unit is bounded by Route 28 to the north and Route 30 in the southeast, as well as three wilderness areas: West Canada Lakes Wilderness to the west; Siamese Ponds Wilderness to the east, and Silver Lake Wilderness to the south. The state lands in this unit border, or are in close proximity to, the communities of Indian Lake, Piseco, Speculator and Wells. Route 30 bisects the unit and serves as the main access corridor. Many people enjoy hiking to the fire towers on Pillsbury and Snowy mountains, snowmobiling between Piseco Lake and Indian Lake, canoeing on Fall Stream, or camping on Mason Lake. Hunting, fishing, and trapping are also popular activities throughout the unit but particularly in and around Perkins Clearing, the Jessup River and the Miami River.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/22599.html

Weather Update – October 11, 2021

I know, the best autumn weather had to wait for the end of the Columbus Day Weekend ๐Ÿ‚

Although honestly, all things considered it’s been a pretty good weather weekend for the holiday, the most mild Columbus Day Weekend in recent memory. โ˜€

Columbus Day.
Feels like …
September 28th.

Mostly Sunny

Mostly sunny.

Southeast wind around 5 mph.

and

69 degrees , 54 max dew point, 6:22
sunset.
Tonight.
Feels like …
September 24th.

Partly Cloudy

Partly cloudy.

South wind 3 to 5 mph.

and

49 degrees , 7:08
sunrise.
Tuesday.
Feels like …
September 26th.

Mostly Sunny

Mostly sunny.

South wind around 5 mph.

and

70 degrees , 52 max dew point, 6:20
sunset.
Tuesday Night.
Feels like …
September 17th.

Partly Cloudy

Partly cloudy.

South wind around 6 mph.

and

52 degrees , 7:09
sunrise.
Wednesday.
Feels like …
September 30th.

Partly Sunny then Isolated Showers

Isolated showers after 2pm. Partly sunny.

West wind 5 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

and

68 degrees , 56 max dew point, 6:19
sunset.
Wednesday Night.
Feels like …
September 17th.

Mostly Cloudy

Mostly cloudy.

and

52 degrees , 7:10
sunrise.
Thursday.
Feels like …
September 28th.

Partly Sunny

Partly sunny.

and

69 degrees , 56 max dew point, 6:17
sunset.
Thursday Night.
Feels like …
September 14th.

Mostly Cloudy

Mostly cloudy.

and

53 degrees , 7:11
sunrise.
Friday.
Feels like …
September 26th.

Partly Sunny

Partly sunny.

and

70 degrees , 57 max dew point, 6:16
sunset.
Friday Night.
Feels like …
September 17th.

Partly Cloudy then Chance of Showers

A chance of showers after 2am. Mostly cloudy.

Chance of precipitation is 40%.

and

52 degrees , 7:12
sunrise.
Saturday.
Feels like …
September 30th.

Showers is likely

Showers likely. Partly sunny.

Chance of precipitation is 60%.

and

68 degrees , 56 max dew point, 6:14
sunset.
Saturday Night.
Feels like …
September 27th.

Chance of Showers

A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy.

Chance of precipitation is 40%.

and

48 degrees , 7:13
sunrise.
Sunday.
Feels like …
October 22nd.

Chance of Showers

A chance of showers. Partly sunny.

Chance of precipitation is 30%.

and

59 degrees , 6:12
sunset.

Good Morning – October 11, 2021

Good morning! Happy Columbus Day. ๐Ÿ‚

Partly sunny and 60 degrees at the Catskill Scenic Trail. There is a southeast breeze at 5 mph. ๐Ÿƒ. The dew point is 54 degrees.

You can probably guess where I’m out hiking today. ๐Ÿšถ The part of the scenic trail between Grand Gorge and Stamford that I haven’t done yet. After today, I will have walked most of the trail.

Yesterday I finished reading most of JD Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy. ๐Ÿค  In many ways that book really strikes close to home, a culture I know well but also are somewhat distant from as my parents were college educated.

Weather Update – October 9, 2021

While you can quibble about the lack of sun it’s very warm for the holiday weekend ๐Ÿ‚

Still some patches of blue around especially earlier and the soft light somewhat brings out the colors. Leaves are good at the higher elevations for sure.

Today.
Feels like …
October 12th.

Mostly Cloudy

Mostly cloudy.

Southeast wind around 10 mph.

and

63 degrees , 52 max dew point, 6:26
sunset.
Tonight.
Feels like …
September 24th.

Slight Chance of Showers

A slight chance of showers between 11pm and 4am. Cloudy.

Southeast wind around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

and

49 degrees , 7:06
sunrise.
Sunday.
Feels like …
October 9th.

Chance of Showers

A chance of showers, mainly after 7am. Mostly cloudy.

Southeast wind 5 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

and

64 degrees , 55 max dew point, 6:24
sunset.
Sunday Night.
Feels like …
September 19th.

Mostly Cloudy

Mostly cloudy.

East wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.

and

51 degrees , 7:07
sunrise.
Columbus Day.
Feels like …
September 26th.

Partly Sunny

Partly sunny.

Calm wind becoming southeast around 6 mph in the morning.

and

70 degrees , 58 max dew point, 6:23
sunset.
Monday Night.
Feels like …
September 22nd.

Mostly Cloudy

Mostly cloudy.

and

50 degrees , 7:08
sunrise.
Tuesday.
Feels like …
September 19th.

Partly Sunny

Partly sunny.

and

73 degrees , 59 max dew point, 6:21
sunset.
Tuesday Night.
Feels like …
September 14th.

Partly Cloudy then Chance of Showers

A chance of showers after 2am. Partly cloudy.

Chance of precipitation is 30%.

and

53 degrees , 7:09
sunrise.
Wednesday.
Feels like …
September 24th.

Chance of Showers then Partly Sunny

A chance of showers before 8am. Partly sunny.

Chance of precipitation is 30%.

and

71 degrees , 60 max dew point, 6:19
sunset.
Wednesday Night.
Feels like …
September 17th.

Mostly Cloudy

Mostly cloudy.

and

52 degrees , 7:10
sunrise.
Thursday.
Feels like …
September 26th.

Partly Sunny

Partly sunny.

and

70 degrees , 58 max dew point, 6:18
sunset.
Thursday Night.
Feels like …
September 14th.

Mostly Cloudy

Mostly cloudy.

and

53 degrees , 7:11
sunrise.
Friday.
Feels like …
September 21st.

Partly Sunny then Chance of Showers

A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy.

Chance of precipitation is 30%.

and

72 degrees , 60 max dew point, 6:16
sunset.

Good Morning – October 9, 2021

Good morning! Happy Columbus Day Weekend ๐Ÿ‚ !

Partly cloudy and 54 degrees at the Catskill Scenic Trail. ๐ŸŒฅ There is a east-southeast breeze at 9 mph. ๐Ÿƒ. The dew point is 49 degrees. Beautiful autumn day. The skies will clear Monday around 5 pm.

Yesterday, I hiked Bearpen Mountain for the first time. I had been there previously tried a few back but I missed the driveway to the parking area as I lacked a good map of the area. ๐Ÿ—บ The track on All Trails was pretty good and that got me started. Ironically, once you find the trailhead, the trail is a gated gravel road, in pretty good maintenence – looks like part of it was rebuilt and rerouted after Hurricane Irene. ๐Ÿ…ฟ The best views are to the north and west, definitely don’t stop after the first view, take the trail north across the summit to additional views. ๐Ÿž

I wanted to also do North Bearpen but time was tight and the trail across the col was soggy unlike the gated road up Bearpen. ๐Ÿ‚ Good color on Bearpen but some of the views were less colorful. Autumn is late this year, we’ve yet to have a good frost. ๐Ÿ“ธ Photos to be posted Monday or Tuesday.

I got to Betty Brook fairly early last night as I wanted to have time to get a campsite should the first one I wanted be taken. โ›บ I got set up – it was a beautiful night – the kind of night you don’t even need a long shirt for. Something more akin to August then October but the sun still set early. Despite the threat of clouds it actually was a very starry night. โœจ I would have liked to have laid back in the hammock but I dropped one of the straps in the dark and couldn’t find it until morning. I thought I had left the strap home. Maybe tonight will also be good for laying in the hammock.

There was some litter ๐Ÿšฎ on the other side of Betty Brook from the summer when somebody had set up targets for blasting. Just some cans and paper targets ๐ŸŽฏ but I didn’t want to look at the garbage all weekend so I put on my muck boots ๐Ÿ‘ข and crossed the creek. Picked up the litter and proceeded to slip on a log ๐Ÿand get completely soaked from head to toe and had to change. Fortunately it was a very mild evening so I just toweled off and changed.

Today I’m hiking the Catskill Scenic Trail south of Stamford. It’s a nice day with more sun โ˜€ than I expected. There was a slight delay getting down here due to a detour from an auto crash on NY 10 but I still got an early start. ๐Ÿ“ธ I misplaced the battery ๐Ÿ”‹ for the camera but was able to find another one so I’ll be able to get pictures today. One thing I’m is I’m a bit disappointed with the scenery here compared to the other part of the rail trail but I think it will be better father south I go. I’ll drive up Utsaythana later and through the township valley which is always beautiful in the autumn.

Camping at Perkins Clearing

Camping at Perkins Clearing during Labor Day Weekend 2019. The first half of the weekend was quite nice but it clouded up later in the day.