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 – September 5, 2021

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It looks like today is going to be a fairly cool and gray day. 🌫️

I don’t know if that’s a bad thing, although I probably should have been more ambitious yesterday 😴 and done my hike then to the West Canada Lakes wilderness. I thought about Pillsbury Mountain Firetower or Spruce Lake yesterday but decided against it.

Today, I am probably going to hang around camp ⛺ maybe doing an evening hike to the Jessup River with a fishing 🎣 pole. Do a bunch of reading 📖, maybe finish that book I’m reading on rabbit 🐰 farming. I don’t like to be really ambitious to say the least.

I should do a lot more up at camp but sometimes the laziness gene kicks in. 💤 Plus I just know how crazy things will be next week as work downtown returns to five days a week as remote work ends. Plus with the solar it’s not like I have to drive anywhere to keep the battery charged.

I did like that hike I did last year to Pig Rock 🐷 so I could do that again if the rain holds off. But it might be wet later on. Really depends a lot on the weather. ☔

Today.
Feels like …
October 3rd.

Slight Chance of Showers then Showers is likely

 A slight chance of showers before 2pm, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms between 2pm and 5pm, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 5pm. Mostly cloudy.

South wind 5 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

and

 67 degrees , 60 max dew point, 7:25
sunset.
Tonight.
Feels like …
September 14th.

Showers is likely then Mostly Cloudy

 Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before 10pm. Mostly cloudy.

Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

and

 53 degrees , 6:27
sunrise.
Labor Day.
Feels like …
October 5th.

Chance of Showers

 A chance of showers.

Light southwest wind becoming west 6 to 11 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 22 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

and

 66 degrees , 57 max dew point, 7:24
sunset.
Monday Night.
Feels like …
September 24th.

Partly Cloudy

 Partly cloudy.

West wind 3 to 6 mph.

and

 49 degrees , 6:28
sunrise.
Tuesday.
Feels like …
September 30th.

Mostly Sunny

 Mostly sunny.

West wind around 6 mph.

and

 68 degrees , 52 max dew point, 7:22
sunset.
Tuesday Night.
Feels like …
September 17th.

Partly Cloudy then Chance of Showers

 A chance of showers after 2am. Partly cloudy.

Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

and

 52 degrees , 6:29
sunrise.
Wednesday.
Feels like …
September 24th.

Showers is likely

 A chance of showers, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 2pm. Partly sunny.

Chance of precipitation is 70%.

and

 71 degrees , 57 max dew point, 7:20
sunset.
Wednesday Night.
Feels like …
September 17th.

Showers is likely then Scattered Showers

 Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 8pm, then scattered showers between 8pm and 2am. Partly cloudy.

Chance of precipitation is 60%.

and

 52 degrees , 6:30
sunrise.
Thursday.
Feels like …
October 5th.

Mostly Sunny then Scattered Showers

 Scattered showers, mainly after 2pm. Mostly sunny.

Chance of precipitation is 30%.

and

 66 degrees , 54 max dew point, 7:18
sunset.
Thursday Night.
Feels like …
September 24th.

Scattered Showers then Mostly Clear

 Scattered showers before 8pm. Partly cloudy.

Chance of precipitation is 30%.

and

 49 degrees , 6:31
sunrise.
Friday.
Feels like …
October 5th.

Mostly Sunny

 Mostly sunny.

and

 66 degrees , 51 max dew point, 7:16
sunset.
Friday Night.
Feels like …
September 27th.

Partly Cloudy

 Partly cloudy.

and

 48 degrees , 6:32
sunrise.
Saturday.
Feels like …
October 9th.

Mostly Sunny

 Mostly sunny.

and

 64 degrees , 49 max dew point, 7:15
sunset.

Good Morning – September 5, 2021

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Good morning! Happy Sunday from up here at camp. ☺

Just another day during Labor Day Weekend, not a real sunny day, as it was yesterday. Hear occasional shots of a 22 long rifle down in the valley as somebody harvests tree rats a true sign of the autumn to come. 🍂

Mostly cloudy and 59 degrees at Perkins Clearing. 🌥 There are a few breaks of sun and blue sky here and there. There is a south breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 55 degrees. The skies will clear around 10 pm.

Yesterday was probably the nicest day of the holiday weekend and I wasted it ☀ not feeling really ambitious and choosing to walk some of the skid roads in the conservation easement 🚶 rather than go somewhere crowded 👪 like the Pillsbury Firetower trail. Rather than great views, I often prefer quiet, rarely used trails that I can walk to without driving.

I ended up hiking along the Jessup River Road 🚶 out to NY 30 and then to Hatch Brook Falls, the Brisker Brook Road (permanently closed due to wash out) and through the conservation easement. Brister Brook Snowmobile Trail between Jessup River and Spectulator is very quiet, a bit overgrown though 🌿. Lots of monarch butterflies 🦋, very lightly traveled this time of year, watch for high grass and culverts that are falling apart. Didn’t see anyone back there at all.

Drove out to Sled Harbor last evening hoping to see the Pillsbury Firetower or possibly the Snowy Firetower lit up but it wasn’t dark enough and then it was too dark and I couldn’t spot the mountain or clearings to see the mountain from the road. 🗼 Well, I tried. Maybe they didn’t light up Pillsbury this year – I spotted it earlier on but not lit then. Maybe I should have hiked Pillsbury last night but it’s a long hike back down in the dark and the trail is steep. If it’s nice on Monday, maybe I’ll hike it then.

Then I came back and had a nice camp fire. 🔥 It is nice whoever camped here before left a big pile of try split firewood although after last week’s rain ☔ it was still a bit damp and needed to be split. This morning I split the some more wood and got a tarp over it as rain is expected in the afternoon. Stayed up until midnight ✨, by then the stars were clouding out the skies.

Kind of buggy this morning 🐜 but if it gets too bad the screen tent is set up. 🎪 I think the noseeums don’t like bright sunny days. Usually on the hammock the bugs aren’t bad either 😴 as they find it hard to bite a moving target.

Jessup River

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This evening I got my truck intertube I bought last week out on the Jessup River. I haven't floated in one of them in 25 years... Great fun! Though I think next time I use it I'll bring a full kayak paddle not a half paddle. Or just use my hands, which worked fine. 

Something about the old fashioned rubber intertube - that brought me back to being a little kid when either my grandfather got me one or maybe it was my parents had from the 1970s. It's just such a throw back to a different era - it could have easily been 1951, laying on that rubber tube, looking up at the trees and the darkening skies, gently floating down the river.

Now I get that they sell modern swimming tubes on Amazon or at Wally World, the kind with handles and drink holders,  painted bright colors of your favorite sports team or with penguins on it. But nothing beats the feeling of an old fashioned truck semi intertube. The light smell of the rubber and its warmth of the black rubber, the feeling it has you lay on it, and even the metal valve stem even if you lean over too far.

Maybe it's just nostalgia. But it's fun laying back in the water, floating down the stream like one might have done 70 years ago.

Taken on Friday September 3, 2021 at Perkins Clearing and Speculator Tree Farm Conservation Easement Lands.

Good Morning – September 4, 2021

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Good morning! Saturday on this Memorial Day Weekend. 😊

You can be sad that summer is coming to a conclusion or celebrate the beautiful morning today.

Partly sunny and 53 degrees at the Perkins Clearing. ☀ Calm wind. The dew point is 51 degrees.

It’s a pretty nice morning, cool but sunny 🌞. Especially in the shade when the breeze picks up. Kind of a lot like yesterday. I had a nice breakfast of eggs and sausage 🍳 and now I’m laying back in the hammock with a book 📙. No rush today.

I an thinking of heading later down to Spectulator to do some floating down the Sacandaga River with the tube 🔘 and the kayak paddle. I wish there was though more hiking on the village area besides the nature trail 🐦 I regularly do.

I’ve also been thinking about hiking Pillsbury Mountain ⛰ or maybe back to Spruce Lake. Then again I’m also interested in that Brisket Brook Trailhead I’ve driven past a million times before but not explored. 🚲 I saw a mountain bike parked there the other day which has peaked my interest and I could walk there from camp.

September 2, 2018 9:47 pm Update

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“They say that all good things must end some day
Autumn leaves must fall
But don’t you know that it hurts me so
To say goodbye to you
Wish you didn’t have to go
No, no, no, no.”

– A Summer Song, Chad and Jeremy