Despite there being a lot of people up along the East Branch this weekend, it was a cold weekend on both days. That said, it's not a bad place to social distance -- the nearest campsite was a mile away, and despite them shooting riflably most of the weekend -- I couldn't hear it from my campsite and I doubt they could have heard my shooting either.
Taken on Saturday April 18, 2020 at East Branch Sacandaga River.
Most of the campsites along NY 8 are fairly set back, with good screening from this otherwise fairly major state highway.
Taken on Saturday December 4, 2010 at East Branch Sacandaga River.
Partly cloudy and 54 degrees at the Catskill Scenic Trail. 🌥 There is a east-southeast breeze at 9 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 49 degrees. Beautiful autumn day. The skies will clear Monday around 5 pm.
Yesterday, I hiked Bearpen Mountain for the first time. I had been there previously tried a few back but I missed the driveway to the parking area as I lacked a good map of the area. 🗺 The track on All Trails was pretty good and that got me started. Ironically, once you find the trailhead, the trail is a gated gravel road, in pretty good maintenence – looks like part of it was rebuilt and rerouted after Hurricane Irene. 🅿 The best views are to the north and west, definitely don’t stop after the first view, take the trail north across the summit to additional views. 🏞
I wanted to also do North Bearpen but time was tight and the trail across the col was soggy unlike the gated road up Bearpen. 🍂 Good color on Bearpen but some of the views were less colorful. Autumn is late this year, we’ve yet to have a good frost. 📸 Photos to be posted Monday or Tuesday.
I got to Betty Brook fairly early last night as I wanted to have time to get a campsite should the first one I wanted be taken. ⛺ I got set up – it was a beautiful night – the kind of night you don’t even need a long shirt for. Something more akin to August then October but the sun still set early. Despite the threat of clouds it actually was a very starry night. ✨ I would have liked to have laid back in the hammock but I dropped one of the straps in the dark and couldn’t find it until morning. I thought I had left the strap home. Maybe tonight will also be good for laying in the hammock.
There was some litter 🚮 on the other side of Betty Brook from the summer when somebody had set up targets for blasting. Just some cans and paper targets 🎯 but I didn’t want to look at the garbage all weekend so I put on my muck boots 👢 and crossed the creek. Picked up the litter and proceeded to slip on a log 🍁and get completely soaked from head to toe and had to change. Fortunately it was a very mild evening so I just toweled off and changed.
Today I’m hiking the Catskill Scenic Trail south of Stamford. It’s a nice day with more sun ☀ than I expected. There was a slight delay getting down here due to a detour from an auto crash on NY 10 but I still got an early start. 📸 I misplaced the battery 🔋 for the camera but was able to find another one so I’ll be able to get pictures today. One thing I’m is I’m a bit disappointed with the scenery here compared to the other part of the rail trail but I think it will be better father south I go. I’ll drive up Utsaythana later and through the township valley which is always beautiful in the autumn.
If you climb down the steep ledge off Edick Road Campsite 1, you can find a quiet place to watch wildlife from the shadows overlooking a marshy part of the East Canada Creek.
Taken on Saturday August 14, 2021 at Piseco-Powley Road.Partly clear and 69 degrees at the Kane Mountain Firetower. Light breeze. The dew point is 51 degrees. A very clear evening 🌃 for sure, good for watching the sunset. With the low dew point I can easily see the other side of the Mohawk Valley including some of the silos on the Schoharie side. Also the wind turbines on the ridge outside of the Adirondack Park.
It’s been a nice weekend up north, ☺ with way too many beer boiled clams, sausage and sweet corn 🦪🍻🌽 and swimming 🏊🏻♂️ holes and about 25 miles of hiking – well over 15 miles was today alone. Camped at the House Pond Campsite 2 again. Today I hiked from Seeley Road in Knapville to Dexter Lake and then to Spectacle Lake and then to Waters Mill Pond. Then about two hours in the evening cooling off in the Potholers, followed by a sunset hike up Kane Mountain. Now to drive home by 10 pm.
Yesterday, I hiked back to House Pond which had a lot of blow down over parts of the trail. 🎋 There was a bad thunderstorm ⛈ in July that I remember seeing on the news 📰 that caused some big trees to come down, but at least it didn’t wash out the road much or if it did Stratford had already fixed it. Looks like they had to saw and remove multiple trees off Piseco-Powley Road that had came down it and I could hear them cutting downed trees at the hunting camp down the road and I saw them leaving with several pickup trucks full of wood.
Also yesterday I hiked along the Edick Road Snowmobile Trail and then back to Edick Road Campsite #1 out along the ledge overlooking the East Canada Creek, spotting a photographing a doe up close. 🦌 I climbed down the gorge wall and watched the various birds 🐦 in the grass lands along that grassy part of the river. Then more clams, corn and sausage. And back to Potholers.
Friday was even more lazy — it was fairly hot. Many hours reading and learning more about Python, 🐍 and then I hiked to Potholers. 🏊♀️ Then after I got back to camp, I swam at the swimming hole across the road from House Pond Campsite 2 until dusk, listening to a podcast, started a fire 🔥 had more clams, 🕹 laid back in hammock until it started to pour 🌧 and then hung out under the tarp as it rained some more listening to podcasts until 11 PM.
Thursday, was a rather late start because it was so humid and I was on vacation and was lazy. I screwed up and didn’t get my turn signal on time for Sandell Farm’s to get sweet corn, and ended up going to Rogers Orchard to get sweet corn and blueberries. 🍎 Then I ended up running to Wally World and forgetting the main reason I wanted to go there — to get coffee. ☕ I like the large coffee containers they have there not just because they are inexpensive on a per pound basis, they make great containers for making ice in for camping. Or “donating” to the state to put toilet paper in the outhouses, to keep the racoons from shredding it. 🚽 I was hoping to check out Willie Marsh 🐸 but I got on the wrong road, so I didn’t go by there. I finally got camp around 12:30, set things up, made my first batch of clams, 🕹 and they were good. Swam in the swimming hole across the way from House Pond Campsite, 🏊♀️ which might not be the potholers, but it’s right next door. Sat back in the hammock for a while listening to some music 🎼 and the news 📻, then had a fire. 🔥 The wood sure was wet that first night, and it was a bit smokey until I got it going well.
I like this campsite a lot.
Taken on Monday July 26, 2021 at Finger Lakes National Forest.