Stoney Pond State Forest

The 1,469 acres offers visitors an opportunity to view a range of different flora and fauna.

The 44 acre Stoney Pond was constructed in the late 1950’s to provide wildlife habitat. Populated with largemouth bass and panfish, it is home to blue herons, Canada geese, mallard ducks and other waterfowl. A parking area and boat launching site is located on the pond. No gas powered motors are permitted. A day use area is located adjacent to the ramp.

Camping is allowed at 17 designated campsites and requires a camping permit between May 1 and September 30. These sites are varied. Two sites are accessible only by foot and are for tent camping. Most of the sites are nestled among a white pine plantation at the south end of Stoney Pond. Each site contains a fire ring. A latrine services the camping area. There is no water well.

13 mile-long Stoney Pond Nordic Ski Trail is an important part of multiple use management of the forest. The trails wind through both natural forests and plantations and around Stoney Pond. Most trails are designed for skiers with a beginner or intermediate skill level. Caution must be used for safe, enjoyable skiing. Snow covered trails may contain hidden obstacles or hazards. Skiers are responsible to ski safely and under control at all times.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/8111.html

My gawd Chittenango Falls State Park is crowded. πŸžοΈπŸ‘©β€πŸ‘©β€πŸ‘§β€πŸ‘§πŸŒ²πŸ‘¨β€πŸ‘¨β€πŸ‘§

My gawd Chittenango Falls State Park is crowded. πŸžοΈπŸ‘©β€πŸ‘©β€πŸ‘§β€πŸ‘§πŸŒ²πŸ‘¨β€πŸ‘¨β€πŸ‘§

I guess that’s to be expected on such a truly beautiful day. I’m just trying to maintain social distancing and be as generally anti-social as possible because I don’t want the Corona and I like my solitude. I know the back trails.

Went for a drive around Fenner to see the wind farm and see the great views from the viewshed. Your up high there with great views of the gorge, Oneida Lake and many scenic farms. Plus it’s always fun to see all the farms that still use burn barrels for their household trash and net wrap. Lol! I stopped briefly at the Fenner Wind Farm Discovery Center. And I don’t know, the turbine blades are big but not as big as you might think.

Driving the back roads, singing along with Merle Haggard’s I’m Just a White Boy looking at the piles of manure, rusty tractors junk cars and falling down houses rapidly being taken over by the brambles. God’s Country, the wild and free life.

Google Photos says I watched the sunrise today from the exact same location as November 7, 2010. πŸŒ…

Google Photos says I watched the sunrise today from the exact same location as November 7, 2010. πŸŒ…

A decade has come and gone but much remains the same. I still love spending time out in Madison County, I continue to work towards owning my own land out in country where I can do my own thing and enjoy my own life. Have fires, watch a million more sunrises and sunsets, listen to coyotes and the cattle bellowing in the distance.

Goals take time, but slowly and steadily savings grows. I work hard, make good money. Work comes first but I still make a lot of time to enjoy the wilderness. I’m trying to invest heavily and save for retirement, so when the time comes I can have my own land, burn what I want, have livestock I kill myself and eat, and own whatever guns I want without asking government permission.

Good things come to those who wait and plan. I’m committed to building a better future for myself out in the country, maybe in a place like Madison County although with fewer restrictions than New York. But it just takes a lot of hard work, step by step to get to a better tomorrow.

November 7, 2020 Morning

Good morning! Happy Saturday. Finally the weekend in Biden’s America! Just biding my time this morning, watching the sun rise β˜€, next to the heater on this quite mild November morning. While it’s not over until the fat ladies in the electoral college sing 🎢, hopefully with masks 😷 on, it seems likely to it will be Biden this time. Two weeks to Regular Deer Season in Southern Zone 🦌. Late this year as Sunday was November 1st. Mostly sunny and 38 degrees at the Stoney Pond State Forest. There is a west-southwest breeze at 7 mph. πŸƒ.

Going to be a beautiful day β˜• as witnessed by the dawn and the sunrise πŸŒ…. Quiet in the woods except for some birds 🐦 and the rumble on the distant four lanes of US 20. Looking forward to hiking around Chittenango State Park and maybe some of the Link Trail outside of Fenner. 🚢🏻 Then get back to camp β›Ί before another long and dark night. But at least it’s not particularly cold.

Today will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 69 degrees at 2pm. 18 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around September 24th. Maximum dew point of 47 at 10am. West wind 7 to 9 mph. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning with more sun in the afternoon. The high last year was 46 degrees. The record high of 75 was set in 1938. 4.5 inches of snow fell back in 1886.❄

Solar noon 🌞 is at 11:47 am with sun having an altitude of 30.7Β° from the due south horizon (-39.8Β° vs. 6/21). It’s amazing how low the noon day sky these days is. A six foot person will cast a 10.1 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour πŸ… starts at 4:07 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (241Β°). πŸ“Έ The sunset is in the west-southwest (248Β°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:49 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 8 seconds with dusk around 5:17 pm, which is one minute and 10 seconds earlier than yesterday. πŸŒ‡ The best time to look at the stars is after 5:52 pm. At sunset, look for clear skies πŸŒ„ and temperatures around 67 degrees. There will be a west breeze at 7 mph. Today will have 10 hours and one minute of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 27 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be mostly clear πŸŒƒ, with a low of 46 degrees at 6am. 12 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around September 29th. Southwest wind around 7 mph. In 2019, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 23 degrees. The record low of 18 occurred back in 1971.

As previously noted, there are 2 weeks until Regular Deer Season in Southern Zone 🦌 when the sun will be setting at 4:34 pm with dusk at 5:05 pm. On that day in 2019, we had partly sunny, shallow fog and temperatures between 47 and 26 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 46 degrees. We hit a record high of 70 back in 1931.

 Raining Morning On LaGrange Road

November 6, 2020 Night

Good evening! Mostly clear and 52 degrees at the Stoney Pond State Forest. 🌌 Calm wind. The dew point is 46 degrees.

It’s a nice mild evening under the stars ✨ laying back under the very starry skies. I dimmed the lights so I could see the stars better and because I’m a little low on power after charging my work laptop while I was working at the Cazenovia laptop. πŸ”‹ Lot of sun but the solar panel angle flat on the truck isn’t very good this time of the year.

The moon is rising now, πŸŒ– and being such a clear evening should be a very nice moonlit evening. While I don’t plan on rushing out tomorrow, truth be told that with the time change πŸ•’ darkness will return early. It’s maybe not as warm as a summer night by still pretty nice. A lot of people up here tonight, which is unusual for November but it’s so mild out.

Not as quiet up here as last night 🀫, as there are a lot of people camping up here for November β›Ί but I guess that’s to be expected with the unusually mild weather this year. In contrast, in 2018 was a terribly cold November. ❄ I’m just happy that I can get away and I’m not paying for a shit ton of heat at home. I brought my camp heater with me but I doubt I’ll need it any time this weekend. It’s still in the bag.

Had more hot coca β˜• and dipped Halloween Candy 🍬 in it, watching as the wrappers melted and burnt in the fire πŸ”₯. So much easier when you can use your paper plates and just burn the trash rather than washing out the bottles and cans for pretend recycling β™». I can’t wait until eventually live out in the country and just burn the burnables.

Tonight will be mostly clear πŸŒƒ, with a low of 43 degrees at 6am. Nine degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around October 7th. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm after midnight. In 2019, we had clear skies in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 32 degrees. The record low of 18 occurred back in 1962.

All and all it was a pretty good day, ☺ and while I had some online meetings and work to do it was in general a pretty quiet day so I took a long lunch break and hiked around Cazenovia and then down around Nelson Swamp before returning back to camp before night quickly fell again. Mornings are still quite dark although the moonlight was pretty bright before dawn. 🌌 Had a bit of the runs come morning but I squatted off my tailgate and sprayed it on the ground and just sholved up the poopy leaves into the fire pit come morning.

Tonight will have a Last Quarter πŸŒ— Moon with 64% illuminated. The moon will rise at 9:24 pm. The Beaver 🐻 Moon is on Sunday, November 22. The darkest hour is at 11:47 pm, followed by dawn at 6:15 am, and sun starting to rise at 6:45 am in the east-southeast (112Β°) and last for 3 minutes and 8 seconds. Sunrise is one minute and 16 seconds later than yesterday. πŸŒ„ The golden hour ends at 7:26 am with sun in the east-southeast (119Β°). Tonight will have 13 hours and 56 minutes of darkness, an increase of 2 minutes and 27 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 69 degrees at 2pm. 18 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around September 24th. Maximum dew point of 49 at 11am. Calm wind becoming west around 6 mph. A year ago, we had light rain in the morning with more sun in the afternoon. The high last year was 46 degrees. The record high of 75 was set in 1938. 4.5 inches of snow fell back in 1886.❄

Tomorrow I plan to hike around Chittenango State Park 🏞 and maybe some of the Link trail 🚢🏻 and the Fenner Wind Farm or some other other parks.

In four weeks on December 4 the sun will be setting in the west-southwest (240Β°) at 4:28 pm,πŸŒ„ which is 19 minutes and 43 seconds earlier then tonight. In 2019 on that day, we had partly cloudy, snow showers and temperatures between 36 and 19 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 40 and 26 degrees. The record high of 63 degrees was set back in 1998.

Come December I might do another trip β›Ί but it depends on the weather. I don’t have a lot of vacation time left but it would be nice to do some winter camping before the end of the year. 🌲

Looking ahead, Average Night Below Freezing 🌌 is in 1 week, Buy Nothing Day πŸ›οΈ is in 3 weeks, First Sunday of Advent ✝️ is a month away, Average High is 40 🌨 is in 4 weeks, Saint Nicholas Day πŸŽ… is a month away, Bake Cookies Day πŸͺ is in 6 weeks, Christmas πŸŽ… is in 7 weeks, New Years Day 2021 πŸŽ‰ is in 8 weeks, Bubble Bath Day 🧼 is in 9 weeks, 38th Birthday πŸŽ‰ is in 12 weeks and Save the Pine Bush Turns 43 πŸ¦‹ is in 3 months.

Nature Trail View

Joe Biden and the US Senate

I am kind of glad that it seems like that Joe Biden will be president and that the US Senate will remain Republican as a check on the president.

The incumbent, President Trump has been incredibly immature and has been both a poor leader and a lousey advocate for conservative causes. He has bungled the response to coronavirus, his inflammatory remarks lead to disorder in the cities.

That said, I do worry about one party control and are hopeful the senate remains in Republican hands, to provide a break on the worse excesses of a democratic administration. Somebody to provide critical eye on presidential appointments, blocking ones that go too far.