That’s always a sign that summer vacation is coming to a close. With all the various things I cooked up with the clams last night I was able to use up enough food that today I’m down to a single cooler and even that’s pretty empty post the scrambled eggs I had for breakfast the last of which I’m currently boiling as a protein source for today and tomorrow. Hoping if I can get some fresh farm stand peaches today I’ll be good on food until I get home Sunday, yet not bring much extra food home. The only thing that ultimately expired while camping was the black beans I cooked prior to camping, the fire got them last night, I eat everything else. And obviously Glen Dairy Bar ice cream tonight.
Good morning! Partly cloudy ⛅ and 63 degrees at the Finger Lakes National Forest. ⛅ Final morning before I take down camp tomorrow. There is a west-northwest breeze at 6 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 62 degrees. I think a rain stop came through briefly this morning but it looks like this has been a largely rain free week except for last Saturday afternoon and a brief shower on Monday when I was out hiking at Beebe Pond at Cornell University.
Today will be partly sunny 🌞, with a high of 74 degrees at 3pm. Nine degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around September 17th. Maximum dew point of 63 at 9am. North wind 6 to 10 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with a few breaks of sun the afternoon. It was sticky. The high last year was 93 degrees. It looks like we might actually get some hot weather come mid to late August, that’s good, I’ll plan my next long weekend for the Potholers then. The record high of 99 was set in 1955.
Today’s plans call for visiting Sugar Hill State Forest 🐴 and riding and hiking some of the trails there. 🚵 Most of the horse trails there are open to mountain bikes and while I don’t plan to ride any of the real rough and muddy trails. Then head back to Watkins Glen, float on my tube ⭕ in Seneca Lake, ride down through Rock Cabin Road, Montour Falls, Catharine WMA, 🐦 Glen Dairy Bar, 🍦 Seneca Harbor ⚓ and watch the sunset 🌇 before returning to camp ⛺ one last time around nine.
Solar noon 🌞 is at 1:14 pm with sun having an altitude of 64.4° from the due south horizon (-6.3° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 2.9 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:44 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (288°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (294°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 8:24 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 11 seconds with dusk around 8:54 pm, which is one minute and 15 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 9:35 pm. At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies 🌃 and temperatures around 65 degrees. The dew point will be 55 degrees. There will be a north breeze at 6 mph. Today will have 14 hours and 22 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 18 seconds over yesterday.
Yesterday I started my day at the Queen’s Castle on Caywood Point Seneca Lake. 🏰 The morning started out quite gray ☁️ but then cleared out and was hot. I wouldn’t be surprised if today isn’t a similar kind of day. Then I headed across the northern part of the National Forest to Trumansburg 🚲 and rode from the top of the Taughannock Gorge parking 🅿 area along the Black Diamond Trail to Ithaca then rode along the Cayuga Inlet for a while before doing the 9 mile 450 ft climb back to Taughannock, and then rode Taughannock Falls Road to the overlook 🚲 and then up to NY 96 in Trumansburg. 🏊♂️ Drove down to the Main Park area and swam and did the beach 🏖 thing in Cayuga Lake until 5 pm when I headed back to camp ⛺ – early – for onions, peppers, mushroom clams and sweet corn cooked in beer and clam broth 🌽 before bicycling along the dirt roads, up to Parameter Road up towards the north end of the National Forest before riding the Interloken Trail through the woods and then Horton Pasture, covering my mountain bike with cow manure and mud. 🐮 Damn cows didn’t want to move off the trail.
Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌃, with a low of 54 degrees at 6am. Eight degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around September 12th. Not surprising, it’s cooler in the Finger Lakes especially on Hector’s backbone. Maximum dew point of 56 at 6pm. North wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies. It was very sticky. It got down to 70 degrees. The record low of 45 occurred back in 1994.
Looking ahead, next Saturday is Last Sunset After 8 PM in Albany 🌆 but when the sun will be setting at 8:15 pm with dusk at 8:44 pm in the Finger Lakes. On that day in 2022, we had partly sunny and temperatures between 79 and 60 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 83 degrees. We hit a record high of 99 back in 1944.
