Good evening! Partly clear and 74 degrees at the Good Luck Cliffs. There is a west breeze at 7 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 65 degrees. The muggy weather ends Tuesday around 3 pm. 😓

I decided to hike up Good Luck Cliffs and watch the sunset. 🌇 I know it’s a pretty steep trail but I brought multiple flashlights 🔦 and plan to head down the mountain as soon as the sun dips below the horizon. Then just the long trip back to Albany – hope to be home before 11 pm, so I can get a good night’s sleep and then unpack in the morning.

This morning started out cool 🗻 with the low dew point making it feel a bit like an autumn morning than a mid summer day. As the day progressed it warmed up but still a great morning. Not a cloud in the sky to start out the day.

I hiked back to Goldmine Falls on Saturday and again this morning. ⛲ I had never been back to Goldmine Falls but I saw a bunch of people parked by there this morning 🅿 and decided I had to check it out. The Goldmine Falls were beautiful – the water has almost a gold color as it looks like the granite there has some pyrite or other sulfuric rock mixed in. They are really pretty and a nice series of gentle cascades with pools at the bottom. Looked like a nice swimming hole – seemed like a few people hiking back there had bathing suits on, 👙although truth be told I think for cooling off the Potholers are bigger and you don’t have the half hour walk back to your car to get all sweaty. Pictures some time this week.

Spent the morning at Goldmine Falls which was pretty, a great place to sit and contemplate, 💭 I was working on some blog posts until a big ol deer fly bit me and I dropped my phone in the drink. 📱 It dried out and all is good now.

I told myself I could stay one more night 🌃 and work from Speculator but truth be told I’ve been gone for nine days now and I really should get home as I should check the mail and my apartment. While I didn’t run out of propane the tank is close to empty and I really only bought enough clothes for four or five days but I stretched it by not changing every day and basically just have really dirty clothes left now. 👚

The Potholers were nice 🏊 but not a lot of water. 💦 I was surprised how much the water levels had dropped since last weekend. Water was also quite warm, probably due to the lower water levels. 💧 It was nice although I probably could have spent more time there and less in the hammock but I like looking at the trees as they away in the wind. I kind of wish I had my kayak 🚣 today but it would have been a pain to haul around all week and would have caused problems with solar for work. ☀

The day before got a big ol deer fly bite in my arm 🙋 while hanging out at the Potholers and boy oh boy did it swell up and was painful. But by this morning it was gone.

Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌤, with a low of 66 degrees at 5am. Four degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 65 at 8pm. West wind around 7 mph. In 2019, we had mostly clear skies. It became somewhat humid as the night progressed. It got down to 61 degrees. The record low of 47 occurred back in 1977.

Tonight will have a First Quarter 🌓 Moon with 43% illuminated. At 8 PM, the moon was in the south-southwest (210°) at an altitude of 36° from the horizon, some 226,352 miles away from where you are looking up from the earth. 🚀 At the state speed limit of 55 mph, you’ll make it there by January 14^th. Buckle up for safety! 💺 The Strugeon 🐡 Moon is on Monday, August 3. The darkest hour is at 1:05 am, followed by dawn at 5:10 am, and sun starting to rise at 5:43 am in the east-northeast (62°) and last for 3 minutes and 18 seconds. Sunrise is one minute later than yesterday. 🌄 The golden hour ends at 6:25 am with sun in the east-northeast (69°). Tonight will have 9 hours and 17 minutes of darkness, an increase of 2 minutes and 2 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will have a chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after noon. Some of the storms could produce gusty winds and heavy rain. Mostly sunny 🌧, with a high of 83 degrees at 1pm. One degree above normal, which is similar to a typical day around July 25th. Maximum dew point of 71 at 5pm. West wind 9 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. It was somewhat humid. The high last year was 88 degrees. The record high of 97 was set in 1955.

Surprisingly thought for all the adventures 🚘 and work outside of Spectulator I’ve not racked that many miles up on my truck and I spent two weekends up at the Potholers. ⛺ I am due for an oil change. 🔧 I’ll just take it to the shop because it’s a pain to find motor oil and the filter can be hard to get off. Probably the local shop because I’m no longer working downtown and it’s easier to just walk over there.

Friday evening after work went for a brief swim 🏊 and got ice cream 🍧 at Speculator Creamery. I was under impressed with the carmel sundae I ordered – I thought it was overpriced and super salty. Honestly, I am craving Glen Dairy bar. 🍦I love that place. 😍 Maybe I’ll end up in the Finger Lakes in two to three weeks.

I was kind of hoping to get one of those campsites in Powley Place 💭 or maybe the Clockmill Corner Campsite or one of the other ones farther north. But all but the Sand Lake Roadside Campsite 18, Campsite 16 and Campsite 14 were taken. Maybe Campsite 5 and 6 were open but I didn’t want to camp the same place as last weekend, so I didn’t drive down that far. I was surprised how popular it was on a Friday evening, when often in years past a lot of sites never get taken but on holidays. I’ve heard camping and wilderness activities is more popular these days and there are fewer campsites with the road closure. I am thinking at this point with the road closure the next time I’ll be up here is during Indian Summer come September after Labor Day Weekend. But who knows, I might be busy with work then but I’m hopeful for one more weekend at the Potholers. 🏊

Funny enough, more campsite opened up on Saturday. ⛺Saturday night I could have camped at Powley Place Bridge aka Big Alderbed Trailhead. I love that site, especially at night hanging out on Powley Bridge. Be different this year with the new bridge. 🌉 Seems odd that people would camp all weekend and leave for the weekend but maybe their three days were up or they planned to head somewhere else on Saturday.

Campsite 14 is fine, it’s camping at Piseco Powley Road ⛺ but it’s hardly anything special – although over time it grew on me and I might camp at this site some future night. Not quite as remote as I thought – I felt like the campsite was over a half mile away but I still could hear music 🎶 and hooting and hollaring from the other site so I reduced my music down too. 🎵 That said, it was kind of cool because it lead me to discover Goldmine Falls and let me see more of the land around Notch Mountain and Goldmine Mountain. ⛲ That said, I was kind of hoping for the site at Clock Mill Corners or Powley Place but even at 5:30 on a Friday most were taken.

The driveway to campsite was steep 🚙 and eroded. I found a bunch of rock, stone and mud from the road to improve it but it’s still probably not perfect for passenger cars but it easy for 4×4 trucks. While before I repaired the driveway I drove my truck up it, it was steep to say the least and I wouldn’t wanted to back into the driveway like I was able to do after visiting the Potholers, lest I bottom out. It was that bad. 😕 With the gear up it was impossible to turn around although even before I set up camp it was tight. It’s not a real big campsite by any means.

In four weeks on August 23 the sun will be setting in the west-northwest (286°) at 7:48 pm,🌄 which is 38 minutes and 28 seconds earlier then today. In 2019 on that day, we had mostly sunny and temperatures between 77 and 58 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 80 and 59 degrees. The record high of 94 degrees was set back in 1947.

Looking ahead, I have a long drive home 🏡.