Seneca Lake

Seneca Lake stands as the largest among the glacial Finger Lakes within the state of New York. Renowned for its substantial size and depth, it remains entirely contained within the state’s borders. The lake has earned distinction as the preeminent locale for lake trout angling, exemplified by its role as the host of the esteemed National Lake Trout Derby. Positioned at the northern terminus of Seneca Lake, the city of Geneva, New York, commands attention, serving as the domicile for Hobart and William Smith Colleges, along with housing the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, a constituent entity of Cornell University. Conversely, the village of Watkins Glen, situated at the southern extremity of the lake, boasts a notable reputation due to its association with motorsport, primarily due to the presence of Watkins Glen International racetrack, as well as its picturesque cascades.

Seneca Lake possesses an uncommon macroclimate that has bestowed it with the distinction of nurturing over 50 wineries, predominantly characterized as farm wineries. Its geographical attributes have led to the designation of the Seneca Lake American Viticultural Area (AVA), solidifying its reputation within oenophilic circles.

In terms of dimensions, Seneca Lake stretches across a length of approximately 38 miles, securing its position as the second longest Finger Lake. Remarkably voluminous, it is estimated to contain an impressive 3.81 cubic miles (15.9 km³) of water, accounting for nearly half of the cumulative water volume across all the Finger Lakes. The lake’s profundity is notable, averaging 291 feet, while plunging to a maximum depth of 618 feet. The expansive water body covers a surface area of approximately 66.9 square miles (173 km²).

August 8, 2020 Evening

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Good evening! Partly cloudy and 74 degrees at the Finger Lakes National Forest. ⛅ There is a north breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 63 degrees. Does feel a tad bit muggy after my walk 🚶 to Foster Pond. It’s nice though now laying back in the hammock with the crocks on. 👡

I enjoyed the drive out here via NY 23 🚗 except for the very bone jarring 🤕 section when I ended up on a very steep seasonal use only dirt road down to Caroline. Traffic was bad in Ithaca but that is norm. It’s kind of hard to avoid Ithaca in my experience – there aren’t many good alternative routes. 🚜 I really enjoyed the rural country and some of those small towns that the highway shuns and are super sleepy. It was surprisingly cool out – I didn’t use the air conditioning at all and drove with the windows down 👃 noticing the smells of farm country and the little towns I past by. While nobody is chopping silage yet, only going to be a few more weeks 🌽 before thousands of acres of silage start getting chopped across Upstate NY.

Some day I’ll live in a cute little rural town 👨‍🌾 like so many I passed by today. But not New York State – too expensive and too many restrictions on guns 🔫 and my freedom to have fires 🔥 and burn things on my own land. Not to mention taxes 💸 and code restrictions 📋. I want to be able to farm 🐐 and be left alone 🤠 on my off-grid 📴 property. I’m not afraid of poop 💩, playing mud 👢, managing my own waste 🗑 or making a little smoke. 💨

Did a little hike down to one of the pastures 🐃 and Foster Lake. 🐸 A lot of people there but its a nice weekend and a lot of campgrounds are closed during the pandemic. Lot of frogs in the lake. I bet if I go there Monday evening 🌃 virtually nobody will be there. I thought about a night hike there tonight but I’ve done quite a bit of hiking today and I didn’t want to be stumbling around a lot of people at night during the pandemic.

Did some reading 📖 for a while, mostly this very outdated book I got from the library about trendy wishy-washy green off-grid living 🌎, not as much the nuts and bolts 🔩 of real life out in the sticks trying to make as much of a life in the woods as possible as the many rural folks in mobile homes with a few solar panels tied to them as is increasingly common in rural areas. 🏡

Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌃 , with a low of 62 degrees at 5am. One degree above normal. Maximum dew point of 63 at 6pm. Light and variable wind. 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 64 degrees. The record low of 46 occurred back in 1989.

A ready when the breeze picks up its a bit chilly. 🌾But then again it often is cool up here on the Backbone. Just kind of the nature of being so high above the lakes.

Had some trouble getting the lantern 🏮 lit again and it was burning slow and dim. Tapped it a bit to free up some stuck carbon and now that it’s been burning for a while now it’s quite bright. 🔆 It will be good for reading by the fire later in the week. 📙 But I’m too tired to read tonight.

Definitely a nice sunset 🌇 from the pasture in the Finger Lakes National Forest. It was a different view than I had taken a pictures of from years before. This place I could walk to from camp which was nice. 📸 One thing that was weird that while I was in the pasture I started to smell cigarettes smoke pretty strong 🚬 but I think it was just the farmer letting the cows back out in the pasture after milking. 🐮 Smoke sometimes carries a ways.

As much as I didn’t like this campsite as first 🙄 my mind has changed a bit as I like the quiet and being further off the road. 🌄 Solar power is good here in the morning for charging the batteries 🔋. And the lack of cell service means less playing on the phone. 📱 I’m not sure though if I’m going to stay at this campsite or move somewhere else later this week. That said, it’s vacation and not a work trip so it’s good to be off the grid. 🔕

Tonight will have a Waining Gibbous 🌖 Moon with 75% illuminated. The moon will rise at 11:04 pm. The darkest hour is at 1:14 am, followed by dawn at 5:37 am, and sun starting to rise at 6:08 am in the east-northeast (67°) and last for 3 minutes and 8 seconds. Sunrise is one minute and 3 seconds later than yesterday. 🌄 The golden hour ends at 6:47 am with sun in the east-northeast (74°). Tonight will have 9 hours and 50 minutes of darkness, an increase of 2 minutes and 23 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 82 degrees at 3pm. Typical for Tomorrow. Maximum dew point of 61 at 7am. Southwest wind 3 to 8 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, which became thunderstorm by afternoon. It was somewhat humid. The high last year was 81 degrees. The record high of 96 was set in 2001.

I was originally thinking about hanging out at camp tomorrow 🛶 but the weather seems so nice that I think I will try some kayaking from that new Seneca Lake Boat Launch 🛥 and maybe paddle a bit on the shoreline and then do the Montour Canal and possibly some of the paddlable parts of Bad Indian Marsh. I also should get food for camping 🍔 and maybe a good dinner at Glen Dairy Bar. 🍦

Monday I’ll get up fairly early and head to the Watkins Glen pool. 🏊 Get there really fast early for parking o but hike the Upper Glen Trail up past the reservoirs which never get much hiker traffic 🚶 then swim in the afternoon. 🏖 I’m sure when I’m on the deck I’m the chairs I won’t have to wear a mask. 💺 I’m sure they’ll be well spread out for social distancing.

In four weeks on September 5 the sun will be setting in the west (279°) at 7:34 pm,🌄 which is 43 minutes and 59 seconds earlier then today. In 2019 on that day, we had partly sunny, patches of fog and temperatures between 72 and 52 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 76 and 56 degrees. The record high of 92 degrees was set back in 2018.

Looking ahead, Northern Zone Regular Season 🦌 is in 10 weeks, Halloween 🛥️ and the Blue Moon 🌕 is in 12 weeks, Small Business Saturday 🛍️ is in 16 weeks, Repeal of Prohibition Day 🍺 is in 17 weeks, Boxing Day 🥊 is in 20 weeks, Bubble Bath Day 🧼 is in 5 months, Static Electric Shock Day 🧼 is in 22 weeks, National Cheese Lovers Day 🧀 is in 24 weeks, Save the Pine Bush Turns 43 🦋 is in 26 weeks, 5:30 PM Sunset 🌆 is in 28 weeks and Snow Moon 🌕 is in 29 weeks.

Some thoughts

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A few thoughts 💭

  • I am not sure that I like camping without good cell service here, I can kind of like playing on my phone 📱
  • Foster Pond is a but farther away then I realized but I’ll probably still do a night hike there as I sure like sitting there and looking at the stars ✨ 🔦
  • The dash cam photos I took of the farm country coming out here didn’t come out because the camera was pointed in the sky… Disappointed 😥
  • Had a big pot of pasta and red sauce for dinner mainly because I didn’t buy a lot of groceries for camp 🍲
  • NY 23 was pretty to drive but some parts were kind of pokey, especially when I got behind slow pokes 🚗
  • My new phone and photo uploader works great but it requires decent service to work ⏫