Good Evening – September 12, 2021
Good afternoon! That water in the Mine Kill Pool is so cold. πββοΈ
It’s just so tough to swim in 60 degrees water. I can do a few laps before my muscles get hardened up from the cold.
Partly cloudy and 77 degrees at the Mine Kill State Park. β There is a west-southwest breeze at 11 mph. π. The dew point is 66 degrees. The skies will clear tomorrow around 11 am.
Did some nice hiking yesterday. I hiked the Windham Path outside of Windham – a scenic nature trail right outside the village and then did the Catskill Scenic Trail πΆ – a lightly traveled rail trail between Grand Gorge and Hubbell’s Corners, through the deep gap where there headwaters of the East Branch of the Delaware River run. π» I wasn’t planning to drive through Windham but I ended up going that way as I got gas in Durham and got on the wrong road heading up over the ridge. β½
I always forget how big and dramatic the mountains are in the Catskills around Windham β° as I rarely get up this way – and the places with the good camping on backcountry roads tends to be relatively flat. I like the mountains a lot but my feelings about the Catskills and all of New York State are kind of mixed. π I just feel like taxes are so high in New York State π΅ and the state really likes to punish rural communities.
I was hoping to camp at Duck Pond again but that campsite was taken. π So I ended up camping on Betty Brook. I kind of like that campsite, it’s fully off the grid and is small so it’s easy to light and set up although it’s always a bit of a challenge to get Big Red backed in between the trees. π²π²π» It got pretty muddy as I decided to take Red up Burnt Hill Road from Blenheim and that section is kind of rough. Muddy too, Big Red will need a bath π this week.
Looking Glass Pond was drained, π£ so no fishing while I was up there, although there was a dad and their kid working a trap line π harvesting muskrats along the shore line when I was walking there. π½ Got sweet corn and veggies at Shauls and then went for another swim. πββοΈ But alas the water π¦ is so cold so it’s hard to swim.