Good afternoon! Sunny and 72 degrees  on the Skyline Trail in Eagle Bay. There is a west-southwest breeze at 13 mph. The dew point is 52 degrees. Certainly not a blazing hot Independence Day Weekend in the Adirondacks but still quite pleasant. 

This afternoon will be mostly sunny, with a high near 76. Six degrees below normal. West wind around 10 mph. The record high of 102 was set in 1911.Tonight the sun will set at 8:43 pm with dusk around 9:17 pm, which is 15 seconds earlier than yesterday. Today will have 15 hours and 13 minutes of daylight, a decrease of 52 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be mostly clear, with a low around 50. 11 degrees below normal. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm. The record low of 44 occurred back in 1971.

On this day in 1886, the New York Tribune becomes the first newspaper to use a linotype machine, eliminating typesetting by hand. The times have certainly change. 

Summer is an endangered species. Be warned that there  are only 10 weeks until September 11th when the sun will be setting at 7:17 pm with dusk at 7:45 pm. The average high temperature is 74 degrees, with a record high of 98 in 1931.

Last night was definily a pretty nice evening, although a bit cool at times. Finally my boots dried out and the sun came back out. Spent some time exploring the Red River Plains, hiked a bit along the upper  Mitchell’s Pond trail, then around sunset drove down to the Moose River to watch the sunset there. 

I got the new red white and blue star globe lights I bought last week, strung high over the campsite. Flag was prominently hung so both I and passers-by could enjoy old glory bathed in light. Lit off one of those sparkler fountains. I had a bit of trouble lighting it but once it got going it was nice.  Combined with a nice campfire, it was a very nice evening, although I definitely needed by blaze orange hoodie to stay warm. The low was 45 degrees last night and even at 11, it was already 50.The bugs haven’t been too bad up here, except a little bit in the evening. As beautiful as the sand plains are, they can be buggy as a lot of them are quite swampy. 

Griddle worked pretty good for making pancakes this morning. Fresh maple syrup and sausage topped it off. Walking around the plains, it looks like the blueberries are not out yet. A nice morning for sure. Did some plinking with the 22 this morning, and now I’m hiking on the Skyline Trail after checking out Moss,  Bub and Sis Lakes. Nice hike but the Skyline Trail is kind of short on good views. Later I plan to swing by Limekiln Lake for a paddle, a swim, and maybe a quick hot shower. 

Tomorrow I pack up and will probably stop by Cedar River Flow or Wakely Pond and toss a line while  I’m there. Then it’s back home. And in less than three weeks, it’s off to the Finger Lakes National Forest and playing a beach bum at the Finger Lakes State Park and other gorge parks.