I was thinking the day after Columbus Day – today – was the day I started as a Researcher at the New York State Assembly. It both seems like yesterday but also so long ago. I had been previously lantern for then Assemblyman Joe Morelle as I was interested in tourism and recreation, but that now was a very long time ago – back in 2007.
Honestly, it’s been quite the trip, probably last for a lot longer then I expected but it’s been fascinating to work on many different parts of a communications organization – from research to coordinating communications to supervising research and now overseeing the data division. There have been many ups and downs, many memories, and a lot of knowledge and experience gained. After all, in a span of 18 years babies go from the womb to graduating High School. It’s a pretty long time period.
Indeed, while I need to work another 12 or 13 years to reach age 55 for early retirement, I might stick around a few years longer, I probably don’t have another 18 years left in my government career. But I am working to keep my mind and body physically fit so eventually I can plunge into the dream of off-grid living and homesteading full time. A life not about weekly garage pickup, television or high-speed internet in every room. A much more self-reliant life, not one of landfills and piles of coal ash – but instead composting, burning, recycling and minimizing trash, producing my own energy and much of my own food. Not some crazy woke scheme of electric cars and plastics recycling, but a life based on reality rather then escape.
But in the mean time, I am dedicated to improving the data division, building more ways to target constituents and member’s messages out. Improve and modernize processes, so digital communications can grow to esclipe traditional mail and phone communications. Get relevant client messages out to those who are interested. Learn a lot, build technological and management skills that I hope eventually can lead to a side hustle to help fund my homestead in my retirement years – as you still need some food, fuel, parts and equipment no matter how self-reliant you might be,
That was my thought or maybe counter thought as I was riding through the Conifer-Emporium Timber Easement and Horseshoe Wild Forest, exploring gated woods roads, ticking the miles off like they were nothing.
Bikes get you a lot farther and in less time than walking. But you see less up close, really the only time you see detail is when you stop. You might get epic views from a distant location and it’s wonderful how they extend your non-motorized range but you still miss a lot.
Before I got a bike back on the road, I missed exploring a lot of the neighborhood parks and preserves. Too close to be worthwhile to drive to but too far to walk to. I hate short drives – such a waste of fuel and unnecessary pollution in the city – but don’t think twice about driving two hours for a weekend in the wilderness.
I don’t have a set plan for today though I want to be back to camp by six o’clock this evening for the Save the Pine Bush Meeting via Zoom from Horseshoe Lake.
It’s kind of a nice thing that I’m not remote working from up here all day 🖥️ though I might be asked to write some SQL or cut some targets 🎯 today but I should be able to do that from my phone. No writing memos or cutting newsclips 📰 all day at shore of Horseshoe Lake during the pandemic. Can you believe that was five years ago?
Started the morning off with coffee ☕ and cranberry pancakes. 🥞 I’m already on my second big bag of cranberries for the trip. That and winter squash are part of the change of the seasons. I finished off the bread I baked 🍞 earlier in the week and while I could probably bake bread in my camp oven I have plenty of carbs with the rice and lentils I’ve been cooking.
Walked around Horseshoe ruins and along the railroad tracks this morning. 🚂 I know it’s an active rail line at this point, but alas it’s a scenic line and I doubt they’re running many trains mid week post peak foliage. 🍁 I did hear the train whistle yesterday but that was Columbus Day and saw a Canadian Pacific bogie inspecting the tracks yesterday but I figure it’s not a high speed line so I can quickly jump off the tracks if I hear the rumble of the train.
Yesterday I rode back to Camp Sabbatist Road and almost the Boy Scouts Camp 🚴 along Upper Dam Road, hiked Lows Ledge, and poked around a bit after the rain. 🌧️ Today if it clears up, I’ll put the kayak back on my truck and drive Red 🛻 over to the Lower Dam and go for a paddle. I’m right on Horseshoe Lake but I want to paddle some of Lows Lake at least when it’s warm. 🛶 All depends on how quickly the conditions improve as the day goes on. Also want to ride back to Pine Pond first and maybe along Horseshoe Lake. I don’t have detailed plans, just explore what strikes my fancy the next two days – Thursday it’s north to the Tupper Lake then the St. Regis Canoe Area. Tomorrow promises more sun ☀️ but cold with a breeze so maybe not the best day to be out on the water
Fifteen years ago I bitched on said blog about rough old NY 421. Then in 2020, I drove back to Horseshoe Lake and didn’t think it was that bad but I guess both of the bad times were when I drove old pickups with shit suspensions. It was good to Veterans Camp – brand new asphalt but the rest of the road was complete shit down to ten or 20 miles per hour. Didn’t break anything on Red but you can’t be careful enough in the wilderness all alone.
Rain let up then stopped, I finished lunch and hung out for a bit then rode up to Lows Upper Dam then most of the way to the Boy Scouts Camp Sabbatist – not sure if technically that dirt road allows mountain bikes – the no bikes signs are confusing at Upper Dam. Turned around as I wanted enough time to hike Lows Ledge. Walked down the portage trail and looked around at Lows Lower Lake – going to paddle that tomorrow.
Did a quick hike up Lows Ledge and took in the view and some good colors in part and took a puff of the magic dragon. Been sitting hoping to see the Adirondack Scenic Train passing through the Bog River Flow but it seems like I’ll run out of daylight before then even though I heard the train whistle. Beautiful up here but I better go with less than a hour until sunset on this cloudy day. I have lights on my bike but I don’t want to hike down the ledge in the dark!
As The Fairport Convention sings, Where Does the Time Go?
Kind of a dreary morning but the rain held off besides a very light drizzle as I took down camp at Perkins Clearing, though it’s raining a fair bit harder now that I’m Indian Lake, stopping for a while at the library. Figured check in with the internet before heading up to Horseshoe Lake, as it’s kind of a dreary day and I’m not in a rush to set up camp in the pouring rain, though based on the forecast and the radar I think I’ll likely be driving out of the rain later on today.
I do often wondder if I would have been better to go to West Virigina but both places have been pretty dry and I’m sure the leaves are mostly done in Tucker, WV and I just didn’t want to drive that far and put those kind of stresses on my old truck. It’s driving fine and I think it will be a nice trip up to Northern Adriondacks, which I haven’t been since the pandemic, and this being off-season I should be able to get both good campsites with lots of quiet and because I’m not working my legislative job full time during vacation – though I have other work business to do – I will have more time to ride and kayak. And I’ve been salivating over the brand new, fully open Adirondack Rail Trail. But also seeing Lows Ledge again, along with Bog River Flow. The nice thing too about not going to West Virginia is you don’t loose those two nights overnighting in Pennsylvania and all that time wasted driving. But no run down Pennsylvania homesteads and homes to pass by with those blackened burn barrels and that pungent smell of hillbilly incense. That said, I did like spending the balance of my trip two years ago up in Cannaan Heights, spending half of the days riding and hiking from camp, rather then driving everywhere. Next November, that is 2026, if I go down to West Virigina in my new truck, I’ll probably go straight down there in one day, or maybe not. I think with adaptive cruise control, comfortable seats, a smaller more nimble body, long drives will be much more relaxing and easy. And I won’t have the constant anxiety over potential breakdowns, no matter how low the risk is in reality.
I still think my next truck will be a little Toyota Tacoma with a 6-foot bed. 🛻 The thing though I worry about is having enough room for my extensive camping gear I’ve built up over the years, though admitly I pack too much stuff, and carry around a lot of broken or rarely used junk in my truck. I was thinking though if I don’t have enough space, for the long trips, I could get a little utility trailer to tow extra gear in. One thing for sure I’ll have for my new truck for camping is a cap with Yakima racks so I can bolt my solar panel on it, and run the kayak above that. And get a bike rack to properly carry my bike. Something like that will mean eashy in and out, even on narrow rough roads. I thought a lifted truck would make it easier to get back to rough, remote campsites, but the thing is the sheer size of a full-sized truck is far bigger issue then ground clearance. Plus with all the weight and added stress on the various component with my lifted truck, I am loathed to take it out on any real rough trails for any kind of distance, lest a break shit deep in the wilderness. I really struggle in my mind to see a world after Big Red, though I do see th erust and list of potential problems and even things broken currently are pretty long. At least this morning, I wasn’t gassed by the leaky heater core. Maybe it stopped leaking? I brought extra coolant just for my sanity, along with extra oil. The oil level was fine when I checked before leaving but I might have added a bit of coolant – less then half a cup to bring it up to cold full line. Still I don’t think this is the rig I want to take to Northern MIchigan next year.
It was a nice ride down to Speculator, seeing Moffit Beach and the old CCC Camp, though admittedly there isn’t a lot of color down there either, and it started to get cool mid-afternoon with the breeze picked up, but then I rode back to camp, and was laying back in the hammock, smoking too much pot and drinking too much, listening to the remaining chapters of Edward Abbey’s Hayduke Lives and then Richard Thayler’s Nudge, the sun came out and was quite pleasant. Made a big dinner of rice and lentils, with onions and lots of hot sauce. Burned my mouth but it was good. Had a nice fire for a while, though it clouded up fairly.heading up to Horseshoe Lake, as it’s kind of a dreary day and I’m not in a rush to set up camp in the pouring rain, though based on the forecast and the radar I think I’ll likely be driving out of the rain later on today. Stayed up for a while, as I had popped some caffeine pills before riding down to Speculator for extra sparkle and to be extra cantankerous on the internet . Took down and organized my camping gear, putting away the flags and anything else that could get get wet for easy take down this morning. Did a big pan of eggs and a small thing of coffee, not dillying around too much as I didn’t want to get soaked should the rain actually get serious. That said, I don’t think it’s going to be that wet up north – but I didn’t want to be driving completely soaked in the truck.
I haven’t shaved or changed since Friday, but maybe I’ll do that once camp is set up or come tomorrow morning. 🪒 Honestly, I don’t care about being dirty in the wilderness. Need to get some more water from Horseshoe Lake, as I’ve used my first 3 gallon tank over the weekend, especially as I wanted ot make sure the fire was dead out the two nights I had fires in the woods. It is after all still a burn ban, a high fire risk, though maybe less so now with the rain we are getting. I do expect they will extend the burn ban, though it really only applies to farmers and rural homesteads where people want to burn brush. Truth is it’s probably not advisable as it’s been such a dry year, though with the campfires, and mostly burning pine scraps, it’s been easy to put it out. That said, there were a few times the wind picked up briefly and sent sparks up but it was dark out and I kept an eye on the firebrands to make sure nothing caught, as if it did, I was ready to stomp it out. It wasn’t super dry up by camp, but there was definately some dry grass some distance from the fire pit that could catch.
but both places have been pretty dry and I’m sure the leaves are mostly done in Tucker, WV and I just didn’t want to drive that far and put those kind of stresses on my old truck. It’s driving fine and I think it will be a nice trip up to Northern Adriondacks, which I haven’t been since the pandemic, 
and this being off-season I should be able to get both good campsites with lots of quiet and because I’m not working my legislative job full time during vacation – though I have other work business to do – I will have more time to ride and kayak. And I’ve been salivating over the brand new, fully open Adirondack Rail Trail. 
But also seeing Lows Ledge again, along with Bog River Flow. The nice thing too about not going to West Virginia is you don’t loose those two nights overnighting in Pennsylvania and all that time wasted driving. But no run down Pennsylvania homesteads and homes to pass by with those blackened burn barrels and that pungent smell of hillbilly incense. That said, I did like spending the balance of my trip two years ago up in Cannaan Heights, spending half of the days riding and hiking from camp, rather then driving everywhere. Next November, that is 2026, if I go down to West Virigina in my new truck, I’ll probably go straight down there in one day, or maybe not. I think with adaptive cruise control, comfortable seats, a smaller more nimble body, long drives will be much more relaxing and easy. And I won’t have the constant anxiety over potential breakdowns, no matter how low the risk is in reality.
I really struggle in my mind to see a world after Big Red, though I do see th erust and list of potential problems and even things broken currently are pretty long. At least this morning, I wasn’t gassed by the leaky heater core. Maybe it stopped leaking? I brought extra coolant just for my sanity, along with extra oil. The oil level was fine when I checked before leaving but I might have added a bit of coolant – less then half a cup to bring it up to cold full line. Still I don’t think this is the rig I want to take to Northern MIchigan next year.
though admittedly there isn’t a lot of color down there either, and it started to get cool mid-afternoon with the breeze picked up, but then I rode back to camp, and was laying back in the hammock, smoking too much pot and drinking too much, listening to the remaining chapters of Edward Abbey’s Hayduke Lives and then Richard Thayler’s Nudge, the sun came out and was quite pleasant. Made a big dinner of rice and lentils, with onions and lots of hot sauce. Burned my mouth but it was good. Had a nice fire for a while, 
though it clouded up fairly.heading up to Horseshoe Lake, as it’s kind of a dreary day and I’m not in a rush to set up camp in the pouring rain, though based on the forecast and the radar I think I’ll likely be driving out of the rain later on today. Stayed up for a while, as I had popped some caffeine pills before riding down to Speculator for extra sparkle and to be extra cantankerous on the internet 
. Took down and organized my camping gear, putting away the flags and anything else that could get get wet 
for easy take down this morning. Did a big pan of eggs and a small thing of coffee, not dillying around too much as I didn’t want to get soaked 
should the rain actually get serious. That said, I don’t think it’s going to be that wet up north – but I didn’t want to be driving completely soaked in the truck.
Need to get some more water from Horseshoe Lake, as I’ve used my first 3 gallon tank over the weekend, especially as I wanted ot make sure the fire was dead out 
Truth is it’s probably not advisable as it’s been such a dry year, though with the campfires, and mostly burning pine scraps, it’s been easy to put it out. That said, there were a few times the wind picked up briefly and sent sparks up but it was dark out and I kept an eye on the firebrands to make sure nothing caught, as if it did, I was ready to stomp it out. It wasn’t super dry up by camp, but there was definately some dry grass some distance from the fire pit that could catch.
