Good afternoon. Definitely summer out there, with temperatures around 75 degrees here off of Branch Pond Road in the Green Mountain National Forest. A warm but nice afternoon. Black flies are pretty bad but with ample DEET soaking my clothes, cowboy hat and to a lesser extent skin, they are manageable. I strung up a tarp to block out the sun and provide some protection when the inevitable thunderstorms come with the summer heat of recent.

I found a decent way to get out to the Green Mountain National Forest, by taking NY 43 out to Sand Lake, then NY 357 to Brunswick, then NY 2 out to NY 22 then North to NY 7. There are probably a few more small towns you have to go through this way but my trip out here was congestion free and most of the route was posted 55 mph. In contrast, NY 7 is constant stop and go on the weekends from left turning cars, Hoosick Street is awful, and there often are crashes. Kelly Stand Road is open although no camping along the reconstructed area, but then again, there never was much good camping up there.

Today I’m going for a hike back to Stratton Pond but I’m not sure if I will go all the way back. I’m watching the weather. Like yesterday, I want to spend some time in the truly frigid waters of Grout Pond cooling off. Then maybe go for a paddle, assuming that the thunderstorms hold off. I have firewood stored under the tarp for later in case we get rain.

All and all, it’s been a somewhat buggy and hot weekend but it sure beats being stuck home in the heat.