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 4, 2018 Morning

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Good morning! Happy Saturday. First really nice day of my vacation! I guess time flies when you are having fun or its cloudy and dreary. Four weeks to the Sunset Before 7:30 PM 🌆. Mostly sunny and 67 degrees at the Finger Lakes National Forest. There is a west breeze at 6 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 64 degrees.

Today represents the kind of weather I wish I had for my whole vacation, 😎 with much desired blue skies. Absolutely beautiful morning. Despite the clouds all week and a few rain showers, for the most part its been a fairly dry week, the trails aren’t all saturated and the campsite is not flooded unlike last year.🌻 I love the small towns, camping in the wilderness, and just hanging out and relaxing. But the way I look at it, there is always next year, although I do plan to get out camping again later in the summer and obviously in the fall, the capstone being my big November trip to Western New York, hunting and enjoying the scenery and those amazing November days.🍂 Some day I’ll move back to a small town, have an off grid house with lots of land, and have lots of fires.

After thinking about it for a while, I decided to head north to Seneca Falls to paddle the Seneca River past Montezuma. 🚣If I put in at the boat launch across from the main entrance to Montezuma there is 5 plus miles each way of flat water paddling without locks, passing the preserve. There wasn’t a that much traffic on the canal last Saturday but lots of birds and wildlife to observe.🐥 About 35 miles from camp. I was going to do Seneca Lake in Watkins Glen but with construction and the race going on, I decided against that. Lamoka Lake is about the same distance but again I’d have to deal with race traffic and I don’t want to do that.

Later on this afternoon I am going to go back to Taughannock State Park for another swim in Cayuga Lake, 🏊 then maybe grab a bite somewhere and then at dusk hike the Interlaken Trail out into one of the pastures to watch the sunset over Seneca Lake🌇 and maybe get some nice cow pictures. 🐄 Seems like a fitting end to vacation. Tomorrow it’s Enfield Glen hike early then a swim mid day then heading home. 🏠

Today will have a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Mostly sunny 🌞 , with a high of 80 degrees at 3pm. Typical for today. Maximum dew point of 65 at 8am. Northwest wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies. It was sticky. The high last year was 84 degrees. The record high of 98 was set in 1955.

The sun will set at 8:22 pm with dusk around 8:54 pm, which is one minute and 15 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for mostly clear skies and 76 degrees. The dew point will be 66 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Today will have 14 hours and 19 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 17 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be mostly clear 🌞 , with a low of 67 degrees at 3am. Five degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 66 at 8pm. Calm wind. In 2017, we had mostly cloudy skies. It was sticky. It got down to 62 degrees. The record low of 43 occurred back in 1972.

Yesterday I went down to the Watkins Glen Public Library and started my new Facebook page. It’s still a work in progress but the automated blog posts are starting to show up there. Big announcement about that next week. 🏊 Then I hiked through the Watkins Glen Gorge, went for a quick swim at the pool then stopped at Walmart for paper towels and some extra clothes. Heated up canned chill 🍛 with corn chips ($1 at Walmart for race weekend), then had a little fire and sat in the hammock for a while retiring to bed by ten, as was dog tired. 🐶

Looking ahead, there are 4 weeks until Sunset Before 7:30 PM in Albany 🌆 when the sun will be setting at 7:40 pm with dusk at 8:09 pm in the Finger Lakes. On that day in 2017, we had mostly cloudy skies and temperatures between 66 and 45 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 77 degrees. We hit a record high of 96 back in 1953.

August 3, 2018 Morning

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Good morning! Already it’s Friday! Two more days before I take down camp and head back to Albany. It’s been a very cloudy week but relatively rain free, at least compared to the previous week or even last year. With the end of vacation coming up on Sunday, we will already be in August, today marks three weeks to Average High Falls To 79 ️Degrees ⛱️️️.

The rain had stopped, but now it’s restarted and around 69 degrees at the Finger Lakes National Forest in Hector. ☁ There is a south breeze at 6 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 66 degrees. The second half of this week has been quite muggy and cloudy although each day we’ve had a bit of clearing skies. The cowboys, or a guess graizers or farmers are out on the pasture across the street rounding up cows using four wheelers on this somewhat wet morning. 🐂🐃🐄

Today will have showers likely, with thunderstorms also possible after noon. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Cloudy ☔ , with a high of 74 degrees at 2pm. Seven degrees below normal. Maximum dew point of 67 at 6pm. South wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies. It was humid. The high last year was 86 degrees. The record high of 97 was set in 1975.

Today’s plans will be similar to Wednesday, probably head into Watkins Glen later to get on the internet and then for a hike in the gorge and a swim in the pool. 🏊 I’m hoping for more sun later, but I’ll take it hour by hour. I need paper towels, matches and gasoline too. ⛽This morning, I’ll probably hang out at camp for a while, laying in the hammock listening to the radio, maybe going for a short walk later on.

Tonight in the Finger Lakes, the sun will set at 8:24 pm with dusk around 8:55 pm, which is one minute and 13 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for clouds ☁with a chance of thunderstorms ⚡ and 70 degrees. The dew point will be 67 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 6 mph. Today will have 14 hours and 21 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 15 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Mostly cloudy ☔ , with a low of 66 degrees at 6am. Four degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 67 at 6pm. South wind around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. In 2017, we had mostly cloudy skies. It was sticky. It got down to 70 degrees. The record low of 46 occurred back in 1966.

As I brought my kayak all the way out to Watkins Glen, I really should put it to use at least once. 🚣 Especially as Saturday will be one of the most beautiful days of vacation. One option I’ve been thinking about is backtracking to Montezuma for a day and paddling along the Seneca Canal. That’s about an hour each way. Another option, is to put in on Seneca Lake in Watkins Glen and paddle the Montour Falls Canal, assuming that the lake isn’t too choppy and the canal isn’t flooding and mucky from today’s rain. After I did that I could hit up the Watkins Glen pool and deck one last time to soak up the rays before its done as far as I’m concerned for the year. Then obviously, one last hit of the Glen Dairy Bar.🍦🍧🍨 Another fall back is paddle and fish Lamoka Lake after visiting the Sugar Hill Firetower. Going to be such a beautiful and hot day on Saturday.

Come Sunday it’s the tear down that campsite day. ⛺ Yeap, vacation is coming to an end and I’ll have to head back to the old Albany to make more money, 🏢 so I can continue to invest in my future. 💰Going to be such a nice day, I’m thinking maybe I should get an early start taking down camp on Sunday, maybe hike Enfield Glen before eleven,🏊 then go swimming in the Gorge pool until 12:30 or one, then be back to Albany NY by four. 🕔

Despite the lack of sun, it’s been a good vacation. 😥I’m sure I will probably have a few more opportunities for weekend trips this summer, and I look forward to hunting season and my November road trip, which I’m thinking will have a day or two in the Finger Lakes, although the focus will be primarily more on the Western New York and probably Pennsylvania. West Virginia remains a possibility but not a certainty at this point, I’m still evaluating my options. 🗻

I love being out in the wilderness, and look forward to owning my own land and living off grid in a low tax high freedom state. 🔥🔫🐂 I wish everyday could be as much fun as my camping adventures, and not just be the daily grind in the city, with the toilet and refrigerator I’m always struggling with at home, or all the restrictions that come with living in the city. The rural landscapes and the hills and valleys really stir my soul and remind me there are things to life beyond that dirty, rundown apartment in the city that the rent keeps going up on.

When I get back home, I have to schedule an oil change for Big Red and I have an eye appointment on Thursday.👀 I have a coupon from the General for a $50 synthetic oil change and tire rotation, which is a good deal but it does mean having to bring it all the way back up to DeNoyer in Colonie.🚗 But then I shouldn’t need an oil change until late winter or early spring, and I’ll have contacts for the year.

I am going to create a new Facebook Page for my blog over the next few weeks. 📰 The new changes to Facebook API makes it impossible to automatically post from my blog to my Facebook profile, but if I have a page I can continue to easily post all my posts and photos to Facebook. I’ll probably share some of what I post on blog and Facebook Page to my personal profile but looking at the tools and options available for Facebook Pages, I think I make the switch sooner rather than later.

As previously noted, there are 3 weeks until Average High Falls To 79 ️Degrees ⛱️️️ when the sun will be setting at 7:54 pm with dusk at 8:23 pm in the Finger Lakes. Figure about 15 minutes earlier back in Albany. On that day in 2017, we had partly cloudy skies and temperatures between 75 and 56 degrees. We hit a record high of 95 back in 1947.