I sometimes ask myself that question, especially after somebody posts – shh… Don’t tell people about that secret spot in the wilderness.
Truth is that while the internet may make information more accessible most of the places I prefer to explore are hardly secret or not widely known. I prefer places a bit more off the beaten track – not the popular designated wilderness areas or those near cities or developed campgrounds.
Do I think my blog has made certain places somewhat more popular? Yes, for example Goldmine Stream Falls with my map and photos. I think the trail shows more wear after I shared a good map and pictures. But overwhelmed with tourists and partiers leaving trash and tearing up the trails. Large crowds taking over the whole area? Not really.
A week from today is July 1st and if I take off partially or fully I might come up to the Potholers for independence Weekend which is a week from Thursday – nine days.
Already taking down camp 🏕️ before it gets too hot. ☀️ Making breakfast 🍳 of eggs using up any remaining perishables as they won’t survive today’s heat. These trips always seem so brief, maybe it’s because I do ten days in recent years for summer vacation in the Finger Lakes or maybe because they’re so ordinary. I know the best memories are when I do new and unique things but there are fewer things like that to do these days.
Yesterday morning I spent much of the day floating down the East Canada Creek and listening to Frank Zappa’a Waka Jawka 🎶. Libby started working on my phone again and finished up the Revenge of the Yuppies. I had this book out from the library called Solar Energy and Voltatic Systems, which promised to be an up to date E-book on commercial and grid tied solar but as I read it seemed like some of the content was repeating but it wasn’t until I was 150 pages 📕 into it I realized what I had been reading was AI generated gibberish – the first few chapters were really the basics about solar power – probably gleaned off government websites or something like Missouri Solar and Wind website – but it descends gradually into gibberish about solar tarrifs mashed together clearly from other websites.
Midday I fried the rest of the bacon 🥓 I had, took a nap in the truck, man it was hot midday 😰 went back to the swimming hole and floated for a while listening to a video about goat farming 🐐 and solar and wind controllers from Missouri Solar and Wind then the ESP 6000X all in one split phase inverter and solar controller. Came back ashore, had dinner, smoked some grass and rode up to the Potholers until dusk. 🏊 The rest of the Libby audio books I got are going to require internet connection to listen, if I ride this evening the Erie Canalway I might listen to some but it’s probably much too hot.
Last night my eyes 👀 started to feel terribly dry and irritated at the Potholers. Maybe it was bacteria in the water or laying out in the sun ☀️ all day or falling asleep in my truck midday with the contacts in. Or just less than perfectly clean hands putting them or the marijuana I took a heavy hit. Feel better today but I’m sure I want to be well off the road before dusk when folks are using the headlights. 🌆 Friday I think I will call TLC eye surgeons and maybe a few others to discuss LASIK. 📞 Don’t think my insurance will cover it but if I have a price and an appointment for the surgery in December I can start saving tax free with a health savings account. It’s a lot of money up front 💰 but it’s an investment in my future 🔮 and it will pay off by avoiding having to buy contacts every year, with prices going up and up. With my eyes so blurred and irritated I put my glasses 👓 on and had a brief fire to burn up camp garbage as I cooked dinner – some onions 🧅 that made my eyes tear up more. Maybe it was sunscreen and DEET I rubbed in my eyes. 🧴 I’ll make sure to wear goggles when swimming today. 🥽
I bought this Dank Deep Diesel at a dispensary in Colonie 🚬 last November and it’s been complete shit. Doesn’t really get me high, just a bit sleepy and paranoid as it wears off. And makes my eyes so dry! Don’t have that much left – I’ll go my usual dispensary in Menands and research and get what I really think is good before summer vacation in the Finger Lakes. I know Ithaca has excellent dispensaries but when you go somewhere unfamiliar and buy a strain not well researched you get crap. 💩 No smoking today as I’m driving home. 🏡
Slowly but surely taking down camp 🏕️. I said I might be back in nine days 9️⃣ but I want to get things down before it gets too hot out. Now it’s mostly the flags and the screen tent 🎪 to load then swimming. Floating first in the tube ⭕ and then I’ll head up to the Potholers on my bike. 🏊 There is also that other bigger swimming hole down the Old Edick Road I could check out. I want to leave by five, maybe I’ll ride some of the Canalway Trail. I get so anxious about driving 🚘 and my eyes are still irritated but at the same time, I don’t want to get home when it’s still ungodly hot out.
I haven’t seen the forecast since Friday 😰 but I think it’s going to still be hot ♨️ come Wednesday but I’ll be in the office all day and depending on where the work dinner I have to go to after work, I’ll either bus it in or drive. Thursday assuming the weather is good I’ll ride in and Friday I’m planning to work from home 🦷 as I have a dentist appointment. The weekend who knows, I’ll consider an overnight in Schoharie but probably I’m tired and rather would stay close to home and head out somewhere for Independence Weekend. Oh, and make a trip to Rennselaer County for sparklers! 🎇
I’ve decided if I am not going to buy a house right away — and my dreams of building a cabin are probably best to wait until retirement — I am going to focus more on travel in next few years. While I won’t say it will be spare no expense, I should also not be worried about pinching every penny or shaving every mile off trips.
People say I was nuts when I was Coney Island and wasn’t willing to pay $7 for an authentic Nathan’s Hot Dog from the beach. Maye I should have just gone for it, as who knows if I will ever be in Coney Island again. It’s great to save and invest in your future, I do think I should also have a bit of fun and not missing out on some great adventure along the way due to a $5 admission fee, when you’re 500 miles away from home.
If I am dreaming of moving out west, then I really should plan trips out west. Maybe next summer, especially if I end up replacing Big Red with something a bit more fuel efficent. Or gasp! Taking a plane and renting a car. I don’t want to go to tourist traps, I want open country, probably places that are relatively inexpensive and interesting to visit.
They say it’s going to be a hot one as I’m in my happy place at House Pond Campsite in the screen tent avoiding the bugs and waiting for the sun to go down rise further on this Monday morning at which point I’ll go fetch the tube, air it back up hard, put my bathing suit on and sunscreen and DEET and go floating for the balance of the day.
Actually probably won’t be the whole day as I’ll want to have lunch 🏊 and then head up to the Potholers for the afternoon to get that vigorous water flowing overhead and get ice cold feeling of the water all over my body, especially after I get inevitably burnt to a crisp laying on the tube despite the sunscreen. 🧴
I was happy 😊 to move to the House Pond Campsite yesterday. The state Forest Ranger was putting out a fire at the campsite and I walked down along the East Canada Creek and came back and got the campsite after he left. Honestly I didn’t want to discuss my four night stand – in two different places but I’d be loathe to get a permit. 🎫 I think the previous group of weekend campers started a fire on the hill, not in a fire ring and left it smoldering after they left. How irresponsible. 🔥 I always make sure the fires are out cold and any unburnt debris is packed out.
Fried up some eggs, onions and red potatoes for breakfast and did a wake and bake with lots of coffee and caffeine pills. ☕ Listening to more of Tom McGrath’s The Rise of the Yuppies. Once it warms up I’ll be out swimming. 🏊 I do wish I had my hammock. But I set up the screen tent 🎪 with a chair inside it which keeps the black flies abs deer flies off me.
Increasingly in the woods I notice all the trash species that have invaded the woods through global commerce and movement of people some accidentally and some purposefully but all beyond the reasonable control of humans – the invasive species, the nuisance weeds.
I just got finished reading a book about invasives and the importance of restoring native species which local ecosystems have had millennium to adapt to. Invasives and non-native species from other parts of the world find a niche and work their way into the ecosystem but almost never provide the same level of integrated services to the ecosystem that native species provide.
When I own my own land, I think removing invasive species would be a priority – and restoring native species. There are many tools one could use but goats, hogs and fire would be my preferred option. Turn invasives into food and warmth and enjoyment. While potentially doing a controlled burn of the landscape may or may not be possible, certainly bonfires burning debris certainly are. Manure restores vital fertility to the land while producing food. Some invasive and otherwise undesirable trees like black locus make excellent firewood. Bringing in native plants and wildflowers and learning what they need to grow would be a fun challenge.
Getting rid of invasive species doesn’t mean no other use of the land. It doesn’t mean you can’t have quads or burn trash. You can enjoy riding through your fields and watching goats browse through the Japanese Knotweed and Multiflora Rose. Livestock can be key and you can still garden and use part of your land for solar. All while watching more nature, more birds, frogs and salamanders come back to the landscape. I’m not opposed to the use of pesticides, synthetic products or even occasionally burning that bit of plastic but I want to do it thoughtfully as I build a meaningful healthy landscape.
As the temperature pushes one ninty plus degrees in my bedroom, I’m still content with my decision not to have air conditioning. I know that these days you can buy a window air conditioner for under $200 and it’s unlikely to increase my utility bill more than $20 a month – it’s not a technology I believe in.
Sure my truck has air conditioning and that works modestly well, but I don’t think I would necessarily use it if not for the noise reduction and fuel savings it provides. I do like the nice cold of the city buses and my office but I also ride them in the day time in the city where the air is stagnant.
I live without air conditioning by avoiding being home during the daytime. That means Monday through Friday being at work, while spending the weekends in the wilderness, traveling, camping and visiting state park pools and swimming holes in the back country. I don’t get home from work until around six, when the worse of the heat usually has broken. I usually have a quick sandwich or a light fare then walk down to the park, or if it’s really hot, the air conditioned library. Then I will sit out back with a cold drink until around around eleven and usually by then most of the heat has broken.
I think it’s better to spend money on traveling to the wilderness, camping and swimming in ice cold mountain streams, having a nice evening out back and in the park fishing or reading then paying for the artificial cool! I have a fairly big box fan I use on stuffy nights like this in my bedroom and I’ll have some ice cream or juice before bed, but I figure it’s just better to get used to the heat and enjoy summer.
Eventually I’m thinking of moving to a warmer climate to avoid the snow, ice and road salt. That means even hotter summers. I need to learn to adapt to the heat as I don’t believe in air conditioning and it can be expensive and difficult to do in an office grid cabin – although with ample insulation and sufficient storage it’s definitely possible. The more practice I get in embracing the heat today, the less trouble I’ll have tomorrow.
