For the love of styrofoam when camping in the boonies

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I am a big fan of using styrofoam plates, bowls, and plastic folks when I’m camping in the woods. Not so much paper plates, because styrofoam burns better in a hot fire, especially when wet and contaminated with food. It’s also cheap. Regular plates are fine for at home, but when your water supply is limited, using disposable, and burnable plates makes a lot of sense – plus then you don’t have to deal with dish water contaminated with food waste, attracting bears or other wildlife.

Power Wagon #gasup2016

That said, I am well aware of the environmental downsides to using styrofoam.

Styrofoam is made out of styrene which is non-biodegradable, and as a petrochemical is a hazardous material. Breathing in styrene gases in an enclosed space, according to the government can make one nauseous and is a probable carcinogen. If you just take a match to a styrofoam plate and don’t burn it in a hot fire it certainly burns with a black smoke and bright yellow from the polyaromic hydrocarbons, and smells fairly nasty.

Styrofoam, as litter, quickly falls apart and become small enough to be digested by fish and other animals, leaving the toxic styrene to be eaten by the fish. One shouldn’t litter, and I certainly do not litter. Anything that isn’t fully burned, I pack out. While most garbage minimally biodegradable in a landfill, styrofoam is completely un-biodegradable, and only may leach out the styrene compounds into the lechate system or groundwater.

The mass-urban use of styrofoam isn’t a good thing. Restaurants shouldn’t use styrofoam, indeed I have argued that it should be banned for take-out containers in favor of paper containers. But in the back-country,  where pollution levels are low, and general use of land is low, I don’t see the big deal about using styrofoam.

Burning the Morning's Garbage Up

It’s cheap, burns well, and beats washing dishes with a limited water supply.

It’s cheap, it burns well in a hot fire, and beats doing dishes when you have a limited water supply.

No Horsing Around

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There is a sign entering the Empire Plaza tunnels that says “Pedestrians, Bicycles, Horses Prohibited”. I almost wish I owned a horse, so I could defy that sign and ride it through the tunnel, as I am sure there is 100% compliance with that law.

Spring 2014 Camping Plans

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Typically the first spring weekend is the earliest time in shoulder season for roadside camping in this part of the country. Often by that weekend, many of the back-roads are relatively free of snow that in drier locations, roadside camping is possible.

Shoulder-season camping can be somewhat tricky as snow and mud stays a long time in the back woods of the mountains, and it’s usually still fairly cold and the days are still relatively short, however it can be done if due care is well planned.

Downstream

Early April – Wilcox Lake Wild Forest

My first camping trip of the year will probably be a weekend trip up to Wilcox Lake Wild Forest. Depending on the snow and mud conditions, I may camp off of NY Route 8 or possibly Hope Falls Road. I’d rather do Hope Falls road and maybe hike along Stony Creek, but I am not sure if it’s possible that early in the year. NY 8 is nice except for all the noise pollution from traffic.

Might do some hiking back to one of the lakes or trails in the region that I haven’t done lately. Might try some trout fishing up in the East Branch of the Sacandaga River.

Falls

Late April – Finger Lakes National Forest

The first big trip I plan to take is the Finger Lakes National Forest. I am thinking of taking off a Thursday and Friday, and doing a three night trip out there. It’s a bit of  a drive out there, but the Finger Lakes are pretty, and by late April should be greening up. I enjoy seeing the open and wild farm country out there. Probably visit some of the state parks out there. I don’t have an Empire Pass this year, but I suspect most state parks won’t be charging on a Thursday or Friday in April. I might dip down to Pennsylvania for a bit on the return trip.

Very Soggy Riding

Early May – Vanderwhacker Wild Forest

Assuming the snow is gone relatively early and the ground is relatively dry, I may go up to Vanderwhacker Wild Forest and camp along Moose Club Way or North Club Road. Those roads can be soft in the spring time, but a lot depends on the weather. There always is the campsites along NY 28N as another option.

Cold Afternoon on Mary Smith Hill

Mid-May – Mary Jane Hill and Western Catskills

I want to spend more time in Western Catskills this year. While it’s a bit of a drive, now that I know about a few of the roadside campsites up that way, I have a place to base my camp out. I only have a preliminary idea of what is back there from the two nights I spent out there on Veterans Day Weekend. There looks to be a lot of interesting and unexplored land out there.

It’s a bit of drive down there, but mileage wise, it isn’t awful. It might be a relatively quick drive if I take the Thruway to NY 28 then go straight across to NY 30. I also want to check out Tomannex State Forest in Hancock  I heard a rumor on the Internet that there is some nice roadside camping along the East Branch of the Delaware River down there, not to mention good fishing opportunities.

A Break in the Rain?

Memorial Day Weekend – Moose River Plains

Memorial Day Weekend I always like do something fun where I am way back in the woods. Maybe Moose River Plains. That said this year, I will not be going up there if most of the weekend is for cold pouring rain or snow. I did that last year, and it was miserable. I may have told myself repeatably that camping out in the rain was more fun then being stuck back in the city, but I was pretty much lying to myself.

Bingo Brook Road

Early June – Southern Green Mountains

The Southern Green Mountains are always nice to visit. The Deerfield River is pretty and there are some nice truck trails and hikes up in the area. Maybe hike Mount Greylock then drive north and camp on one of the forest roads not too far back from VT 9. Always fun to visit Vermont and spend time in other states.

Hanging Out at Camp

Mid-June – Brookfield, Central NY

I am usually on-call for several weeks in June, so I need to be somewhere where I have cellphone service. I have good cellphone service at Charles Baker State Forest. Maybe do some paddling and fishing on one of the creeks or ponds around there. The Rogers Environmental Education Center is always delightful in the early spring.

A list of trip ideas I have for the months of April, May, and June as we move from shoulder season to spring to summer. Also known as the first 1,500 miles.

Early Spring Means Shoulder Season

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It’s shoulder season out there. Spring as we know, doesn’t come to the mountains until mid-May, when things finally green up.

But by now, one can pretty much take it for granted that a lot of energy of winter is diminished as each day becomes harder for it to be cold with the sun’s angle growing stronger.

Lots of mud and “surprise” snow in the mountains will be left for some time, but eventually it will dry up and green up too. Figure May 10th to be safe.

First Day of Spring

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Good Morning. Happy First Day of Spring. It’s a Thursday. A rainy one at that, but supposedly the rain is going to clear out before late. There was some sleet and ice last night, but now it’s warmed back up. At least for a while we won’t have to be dealing with open burning bans or wild fire risks. I kind of hope spring remains wet.