"About half of New York state is inching toward a drought, according to today's U.S. Drought Monitor weekly report. About 45 percent of the state is "abnormally dry," the category before "moderate drought." Just over 4 million people live in that area. Most of Upstate New York will likely get an inch of rain through next Tuesday, according to the Weather Prediction Center."
With only three weekends left to Memorial Day Weekend, I have to think about where I want to go camping during that long weekend. In recent years I’ve not gone so far from home, just because the black flies are often intense during Memorial Day Weekend, and it can be quite cold and rainy. Here is where I’ve gone in recent years.
2017 – Green Mountain National Forest
This year, I camped at Green Mountain National Forest. I ended up heading home on Sunday because it was increadibly wet and humid, 🌧 and the black flies were atrocious. 🐛 Went for a paddle on Grout Pond on Sunday.🐜
2016 – Green Mountain National Forest
Hot but sunny this year. One morning was foggy. Did a fair bit of swimming at the beach on Grout Pond.😅 Bugs were bad but overall it was a pretty good trip, quiet because at this point Kelley Stand Road was still closed so I had to go via back way up to this campsite.🇺🇸
2015 – North Lake in Atwell (Black River Wild Forest)
Camped on the North Lake Reservior this year.🛥 It was a bit crowded and hot, and the motor boats on the lake were a bit annoying at time. Met some interesting people from outside of Lowville, drunk beer with them late one evening.🍺
2014 – Cherry Ridge Campground in Brookfield
In 2014 I spent Memorial Day Weekend out in Madison County. 🎣I camped at the Cherry Ridge Campground at Charles Baker State Forest, hiked part of the Cazenovia-Canastota Trailway, and did some fishing down at Nelson swamp.🏕
2013 – Moose River Plains
The first two days at Moose River Plains in Memorial Day Weekend 2013 was a frigid, cold rain. 👢It got better for the last two days, one of which I hiked up Black Bear Mountain and the other I hiked out to Ferg’s Bog. I also did some fishing in the Moose River.🏔
2012 – Piseco-Powley Road
In 2012, I spent Memorial Day Weekend camping at Piseco-Powley Road. 🌞 It was a nice weekend, not particularly muddy although hiking back to Big Alder Bed I decided to turn around, as it looked like a torrent trying to cross the East Branch right at the outflow of the Sacanadaga River.🦋
"What the robin is to lawn and meadow, the peeper is to the wooded swamp. The first robin usually appears on a bright, though still chilly day, hopping over a bit of dry yellow grass revealed by the retreating snow. The peeper comes to us as a distant chorus on the first evening a light coat or sweatshirt will suffice, or all of a sudden when, on a night warm enough to crack a car window, we pass a bit of low ground flooded by the spring rains and snowmelt. They’re more often heard than seen. Approach them, and the song cuts off well before you can get near. Peepers are skittish. You would be too if you were very small and made a sound that could be heard a mile away. Nevertheless, they have some remarkable abilities."
I was looking at the calendar and noticing that we are now seven weeks out to Memorial Day Weekend. 🇺🇸 That means it won’t be that long before I’ll be reading up on the NYS DEC Trail Conditions report to see when roads are open at the end of spring mud season, which usually happens around Memorial Day Weekend.⛺ Looking forward to some nice summer evening in the wilderness.
"Much of Upstate New York has had 6 inches more rain than normal April through June. Considering 3 inches a month is about normal, it's as if those areas in green had two extra months worth of rain by June 30. And that doesn't count the heavy rain that has fallen this month. A soft, soaking rain on dry ground is one thing; torrential rains on already wet ground is a recipe for flash flooding. The red oval denotes the wettest area of Upstate New York, in Central New York and the Mohawk Valley. Those areas could get hit again today and Thursday."
![Untitled [Expires July 21 2025]](https://andyarthur.org//data/photo_017241_large.jpg)
![Untitled [Expires July 22 2024]](https://andyarthur.org//data/photo_014531_large.jpg)
![Untitled [Expires July 14 2024]](https://andyarthur.org//data/photo_014297_large.jpg)
![Untitled [Expires June 30 2024]](https://andyarthur.org//data/photo_014576_large.jpg)
![Untitled [Expires October 27 2024]](https://andyarthur.org//data/photo_014611_large.jpg)
