Search Results for: photo time to take down that campsite

April 23, 2017 Afternoon

Good afternoon! Sunny and 58 degrees in Wells. There is a southwest breeze at 5 mph. Definitely a really nice afternoon after a fairly cold and wet weekend at the Adirondacks. I hate it when the best weather is the time your going home but still it was a pretty nice somewhat extended weekend in the Adirondacks. 

This afternoon will be sunny, with a high of 64 degrees at 4pm. Two degrees above normal. West wind 5 to 7 mph. A year ago, we had mostly cloudy skies and a high of 64 degrees. The record high of 87 was set in 2007. 2.4 inches of snow fell back in 1956. Goblers and the birds are definitely enjoying the nice weather. 

The sun will set at 7:50 pm with dusk around 8:21 pm, which is one minute and 10 seconds later than yesterday. Today will have 13 hours and 50 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 43 seconds over yesterday. By Wednesday we will be up to 14 hours of daylight. Not bad. But the sun sure seems to rise early. 

Tonight will be mostly clear, with a low of 37 degrees at 4am. Three degrees below normal. West wind 3 to 6 mph. In 2016, it got down to 35 degrees under partly clear skies. The record low of 25 occurred back in 1965.

Looking ahead for all you mothers (pun intended), there are 3 weeks until Mother’s Day when the sun will be setting at 8:14 pm with dusk at 8:47 pm. On that day in 2016, we had fog, rain and temperatures between 73 and 46 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 69 degrees. We hit a record high of 93 back in 1900.

This past weekend I camped at one of the campsites down the road Fox Lair on NY 8. Same campsite that I previously camped in many times before. This campsite is nice because it’s an old homesite that is well drained and gravel with high dirt berm and a mountain on one side which is good for safe shooting. My shoulder is a bit sore from the recoil. I didn’t damage state property. Anything not fully burnt to a crisp was packed out. This campsite is protected from the wind, especially compared to the beautiful but often windy Fox Lair campsite. 

Camping at NY 8 us great off season but it’s hardly wilderness camping with semi trucks roaring up the start of the hill leading up to Eleventh Mountain. I don’t mind the noise but especially on Friday night there were trucks rumbling along all night. The campsite is above and well screened from the road but still the noise of cars and trucks in passing gear echoing in the valley. A lot of folks with their big diesel pickups were towing their campers up to camp. A loggers hauling logs to the mill in Ticonderoga from Perkins Clearing. Saw a bunch of folks scoping out turkey for spring turkey which starts two weeks from Monday. I certainly heard and saw gobblers up at camp. They’ve done pretty good in this portion of the Adirondacks.  

I cannot lie the first half of the weekend was pretty cold. Today with the sun out is much warmer but for the first half of the weekend camping it was on and off rain with clouds and temperatures around 40. Pretty much what you would expect for the Adirondacks for late April. Spring doesn’t come to the Adirondacks until about May 15th. There still was snow and ice in the campsite. Spring peepers were out though on Saturday night and especially once the wind went quiet. Indeed the stars were great once the sky cleared. Sometimes as the weather gets progressively better on your trip you get to have more warm and fuzzy memories of it. 

Really nice how much longer the days have gotten. It was nearly 8:30 and it wasn’t pitch black where I was camping in the Adirondacks. True evidence that summer is coming. While the only evidence of spring in the Adirondacks was the rapidly melting snow. Only five weeks until Memorial Day Weekend when Moose River Plains will open. That said this year again I’m thinking about going back up to Vermont for Memorial Day Weekend. We’ll see. I’m sure in the summer I’ll head up to Moose River. 

It was rainy on Friday although not a heavy rain most of the time. Once I got the tarp up and got a smokey campfire I was good to go. I was able to coax the heater up which kept my chair toasty but I am having trouble with the quick connect hose and I may have to replace that. I am probably just going to go the route of the conventional LP hose and the replaceable filter modules. I don’t like the idea of disposable filters but I rather have them then a more expensive plugged regulator. It tough keeping the LP hoses which get greasy in cold weather from condensation and the mud and dirt from camping. The heater didn’t work on the hose at all on Saturday. I could run the heater off a 1 lb disposable bottle but I don’t like refilling them because of the scary warning printed on the bottle and because honestly I’ve never had much luck refilling them anywhere near capacity. 

Saturday wasn’t quite as rainy but it still was pretty cloudy. As planned I drove down to Garnet Lake and went for a walk along the shoreline then out fishing on Mill Creek. Didn’t catch anything but it’s possible that the DEC hasn’t stocked it yet for the year. They say on their website that it’s stocked for trout and there are many access points but I didn’t have no luck. Beautiful area though and I was able to top off my batteries in the truck driving down there. 

Sitting back in the woods last night next to the campfire I was listening to Glen Campbell’s Galveston and thinking about how much fun the good ole days most have been in the Adirondacks. But then I remember back then I would have never had the lights and pickup truck camping would have been a much different experience. I certainly wouldn’t be listening to Glen Campbell through my smartphone played through the Bluetooth Speaker. 

Sunday morning to start out was very cold, there was ice on the windows of my truck cap. I could have really used the heater this morning. Ended up getting out of bed to take shit in the bucket, and then quickly heading back to the truck for a few more hours of sleep. When I woke up, lots of much desired blue skies and by breakfast time it warmed up a lot. 

The gobblers are definitely out there all horney and impregnating then the hens. I saw a hen crossing the road yesterday and I awoke to gobble, gobble. The spring peepers are put and making a lot of chirping noise this morning. It really is a great day. 

I had a slow breakfast and broke camp and after packing up discovered my day pack was left home, so without my water jug and backpack I decided to skip my planned hike at Moreau Lake State Park in favor of a short hike to Auger Falls. I stopped at Wells but decided I was running late, so I skipped fishing for the day. I’ll be back to hit up the Sacandaga River later in the spring time. 

Auger Falls was really raging. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much water running over it. But then again it’s spring, the snow is still melting and we’ve had a lot of rain over the past few days. I also hiked along the river all the way up to the flatwater. Despite all the rain the trails up there weren’t too muddy as the ground is still frozen. Maybe it worked out better hiking here then going up Moreau Lake overlook. Plus I get to avoid driving the Adirondack Northway which I hate driving with a passion especially with all the speeding Sunday traffic. 

Went to the library and got out several books to read but I never ended up opening them. It was kind of cold so I was either huddled over the fire or moving around in part to remain warm. I had a lot of podcasts to sit and listen to so between that and listening to NPR that occupied the time. I really enjoy listening to podcasts next to the campfire. And the nice thing is they are all on my phone and they play wireless to my Bluetooth speaker which is waterproof and can play 20 plus hours without needing a charge. I just plug it into one of USB ports in my truck at night to keep it charged. 

The new accessory battery has amazing run time and I don’t have to worry about over discharge as the loads are automatically shed at below 12.1 volts, not that I’ve ever gotten it that low with the new battery. I expect a long life with good runtime with this battery as it was a step up from what I had and the low voltage disconnect is preventing abuse. It’s nice not having to monitor the voltage or hear the chirp of the inverter sensing low voltage. 

It is nice getting back out camping but I can’t wait until it gets warmer. I mean I could skip black fly season but I just hate having to be so bundled up. I know if you camp in the woods away from the swamps you can avoid the worse of the black flies. I miss the Potholers and Pisceo Powely Road. Those warm summer nights at Powely Bridge can’t be far away. 

As much as horrifies my liberal friends I do love my Gadsden flag. You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to own my own Don’t Tread on Me Flag but was too embarrassed to spend the $8 to buy it. I mean I’m a life long liberal Democrat who loves guns and all things fire, but I also think government is too much in our lives. I’ve flirted with the Tea Party because I love the Man (lol!) and his aerial highway patrols as much as the next person, but I also think that Obamacare has helped a lot of people even if I think that the subsidies should have been a lot more generous for middle class families. Why can’t government help people get healthcare and an affordable college education without spying on our emails or beating up on the farmers just trying to do their jobs? Animal rights and environmental extremists have gotten much too much control in our society today. Not every acre of land should be declared wilderness. We can have public lands with great backcountry camping and trails but also have logging. I believe we can have a government that works for the people and promote the common good without treading on people’s rights. 

I have lots of great photos and videos to upload this week. Stay tuned for more! Movies are going to be a big part of the blog going forward. 

Enjoy this beautiful day! I’m on my way back to the cesspool, aka Albany. But I’m sure I’ll be back to the Adirondacks sooner than later. Big summer ahead! 

November 16, 2016 6 PM Update

Good evening! Today was a dreary day, kind of a cold, wet miserable day to be traveling, taking down  and setting up camp. Rain showers and 47 degrees in Chautauqua Gorge State Forest. There is a west breeze at 14 mph. The skies will clear tomorrow around noontime.

Camping tonight at Chautauqua Gorge, which is much less scenic and impressive then you might think but I wanted to visit Chautauqua County as its been years since I’ve been out here. The shelters and especially campsite eight is quite nice. It should be quite pretty tomorrow. 

Checked out Cattaraugus State Forest, including one of the designated campsites, which really isn’t that impressive. But it chewed up some time as the cold rain came down. Then drove part of the Cattaraugus Amish Trail down to Cherry Creek. It was kind of interesting to see all the Amish farms, although they really are all over rural New York. Then Waze took me on a rather lengthy and crazy route to Chautauqua Gorge, running me up to Fredonia. Rain and fog didn’t give me much of a view as I traversed the vast countryside of Northern Chautauqua County. 

I misplaced my card reader, so I am unable to upload most of my photos. I  think I’d rather upload higher resolution photos then the Instagram ones. I usually like to take them on my stand alone camera then transfer them to the phone or upload them to the blog directly. 

So the next few days will likely be very text heavy with few new photo or map posts… 

I bought a second MicroSD card for the dashboard camera, as I was low on space and the first part of vacation drive was starting get overwritten on the card. While I won’t keep all the hours of dash cam video, I want to keep and share on YouTube the most scenic parts of the trip. It would be fun to look back at my drive and the memories of the trip. Often it’s hard to get photos  of the most scenic and interesting parts of the trip but I still want to revisit the trip later on. 

Tonight will have patchy fog after 1am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy with occasional showers, then gradually becoming partly cloudy, with a low of 39 degrees at 5am. The stars are starting to come out. Eight degrees above normal. A bit breezy with a west  wind 8 to 13 mph becoming light northwest after midnight. One year ago, mostly clear with a low around 26. The record low of 7 occurred back in 1972.

Waning Gibbous Moon tonight with 80% illuminated. The moon will rise around 6:22 pm. The Last Quarter Moon is on Sunday night with chance of snow showers expected. The Full “Cold” Moon is in 4 weeks. I’m sure it will be cold. 

Tomorrow will have patchy fog before 10am. Otherwise, sunny, with a high of 56 degrees at 1pm. Nine degrees above normal. Should be a nice day. Calm wind becoming south 5 to 8 mph in the morning. Last year, mostly sunny with a high around 48. The record high of 73 was set in 1928. There was 2.8 inches of snow back in 1992.

Tomorrow I think I will explore a few places in Chautauqua County, maybe Chautauqua Lake, some of the state forests, maybe go up to Lake Erie. I was originally going to spend two nights camping here, but being that I want to be fairly far east come Saturday morning so I can avoid accumulating snow 

Friday might reach 70 degrees under sunny skies. I will probably be in Pennsylvania on Friday. I’m thinking about but aren’t certain about going down to the Elk Country in Pennsylvania to see the elk. They are probably out grazing with the coming bad weather. I could camp at the Austin Dam Campground. Or maybe I could camp at the campground in Wellsboro. Both are $10 and get me halfway across the state. I wouldn’t mind a good walk along the Pine Creek rail trail. That would be less driving. I could overnight in New York State but I’d rather not be in the woods the night before Big Game season. 

Then the weather goes down hill for the weekend. Saturday, showers likely, mainly after 10am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 53. Windy. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. I will probably head home on Saturday, leaving early in the morning. Probably will truck cap camp rather than setting up a hot tent so I can get an early start. 

Sunday, snow showers or possibly snow. Some models show 6-8 inches of snow. I certainly don’t want to deal with that in the back country. High near 35. Windy. Chance of precipitation is 80%. I think that weather is best spent at home. Plus I have a lot of dirty gear to clean and put away. 

Typical average high for the weekend is 47 degrees.

Then Monday it’s back to work at my old job in Albany. I will enjoy taking the bus downtown in the morning and the time it gives me to think and blog. I have a great view of the Capitol and downtown from my office. I do need to shave. I haven’t shaved since I left last week and I have a pretty good beard at this point. Right now it looks pretty outlaw like with thick stubble on my face. 

In four weeks on December 14 the sun will be setting at 4:47 pm, which is 8 minutes earlier then tonight. The average high is 36 degrees, and the record for that date is 63 degrees was set back in 1901.

April 27, 2016 Night

Good evening. A chilly evening with temperatures around 36 degrees with a stiff northerly breeze. The low for tonight is 30 degrees but at least in Finger Lakes, that breeze will make it feel much cooler.

I got the propane tank refilled today in Auburn today and I’m damn happy about it. It a cool night. Wish I almost had warmer clothes with me but the heater is helping. I have a small campfire but it’s very small because with the breeze I’m concerned of a fire risk. I’m overly cautious with fire. Stupid mistakes mean more restrictions on our freedom. I will drown and cover the fire with mud to make sure it’s fully out by bed time. They got rain here yesterday and things are muddy but still not greened up. The campsite is free of leaves and grass around the fire pit but the pasture across the road is still mostly brown. Needless to say, the cows aren’t out yet. Always is entertaining when the herd comes over to visit on the summer.

Didn’t have any luck fishing today. I think it was two dang cold for the bullhead and other fish to be biting in Nelson Swamp. The spot I fished in Cazenovia, the new public fishing area in NY 96, looked like it had some good trout holes but the two or three times I’ve fished there, never had much luck.

Those hills just past Cazenovia on US 20 are pretty steep. I forgot how much a climb they are. Burned some serious gas climbing them with the kayak on the roof and the truck loaded down. But it’s vacation. Still a lot less energy then taking an airplane down south.

My smartphone was great for finding a place for refilling the propane tank. Just did a Google Search and it took me right to a U-Haul place to fill the tank. I was happy with the result and didn’t freeze tonight.

Checked out Montezuma. I was surprised how Montezuma is only like 15 minutes from Auburn. It was nice but the main federal refuge is kind of divided by the roar of the Thruway. I also checked out the Audubon Center and some of the state land know as the Northern Montezuma WMA. The northern parcels are a lot quiter although the state land is mostly leased farm land with some muck marshes in between. It’s kind of interesting that the best farm land is also the best land for wildlife. Indeed, the best corn regions in America are the best places for high deer populations and monster bucks. I’m not really a birder but it still was interesting to explore and visit some of rural Wayne County, including the hamlet of Savana and the muck country and farm land around there. My heart is with the rural poor, they have the best toys and the most fun.

Drove through Seneca Falls but did not stop. The country between Seneca Falls and Ovid is pretty flat dairy country, high on the hills between Seneca and Cayuga Lakes. Somewhat boring but still interesting.

After a while I started to disagree with Waze and started taking my own way to the National Forest, taking Lodi Center Road South. Eventually I remember where I was. Got to the National Forest, and set up camp. Gathered a small amount of wood and waited to dusk to start the fire.

Nice evening but cold. Dusk wasn’t until 8:35 pm in the Finger Lakes. Nice starry evening, that 3 watt LED bulb lights up the flag just perfectly with a nice warm color. My old flag bulb would have a colder color when the air temperature was colder. Also, while you can’t see it in the photos, the flag light always lights up the trees, which looks beautiful as the stars sit in between the tree branches, especially in the winter.

While I wish it was warmer out, still a pleasant evening next to the heater. It seems like the heater burns a lot of propane, but in my experience I burn through a 20 lb tank full every 6-7 nights camping. I’ve gone through two tank fulls since November, or about 20 nights camping. It costs about $18 to fill which means about $2.50 a night. I wouldn’t have done so much winter camping without the heater. I expect my fuel use will drop when I’m using propane for light and cooking food throughout the summer – and leaving the heater home.

Tomorrow starts out sunny with clouds creeping in later. Cool with a high around 52 degrees. Might be good for trout fishing tomorrow. I got to get some photos uploaded. Showers possible tomorrow evening, so I may hang up the tarp. Usually the tarp keeps the rain away.

I’m going to retire soon for the night. Sleep well. Dawn is at 5:33 am with sunrise is at 6:04. That’s only like seven hours away, so I probably won’t awake right away for dawn unlike today. But I do have the coffee pot ready for tomorrow, so once I get up, I’ll have coffee within 5 minutes thanks to how fast the stove brings the water to a boil in the percolator. Nice breakfast of eggs and sausage tomorrow. No rush to get going tomorrow.

I will get photos uploaded tomorrow, especially once I have a better Internet connection in Watkins Glen. Really, I should get to bed because the sun will be in my eyes before you know it.

October 15, 2015 update

I decided to leave West Virgina on Tuesday, in part because I wanted to stay at a developed campground where I could get a shower, and because I was getting awful tired of the narrow, steep roads of West Virgina. I’m sure not every road is awful in West Virginia, but it sure seems like I have been driving up them – from Dolly Sods Road to Spruce Mountain Road – to say nothing of the somewhat larger but much heavier traffic of US 33 as it crosses Judy’s Pass to Franklinton then again over Shenandoah Mountain. I just hate the steep climbs, the descending in low gear, and the traffic wanting to blast pass.

Shenandoah National Park was on my list to see. I figured if I was going to be in West Virginia, I better also swing east to Skyline Drive and the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. I was generally heading that way from Grandy Creek, the other alternative was to head south to WV 22 and out that way, but I wanted to see Spruce Mountain, which there is a road that takes you up 4,823 feet to the highest point in West Virginia. You certainly can’t drive that high anywhere in New York on a public road, and only the highest of high peaks take you up there. The summit of Spruce Mountain is remarkably beautiful and mostly undeveloped besides a narrow paved road that takes you to the top, a small picnic area and observation platform. The drive down Spruce Mountain was so steep though.

US 33 was quite the climb and descent over the two mountain ranges from where I was to Virginia. It was steep but once you reached the Shenandoah Valley, US 33 cuts through a beautiful section of the George Washington National Forest without a bend  in miles. You quickly forget the awful drive you just made over Shenandoah Mountain. To make matters worst, US 33 was being repaved over Shenandoah Mountain, so I ended up getting stuck at the bottom weighting for the pilot car to bring me and a long line of traffic up the three miles up it on the West Virginia side. The Virginia side was just as as steep, but the lanes were wider and despite the hairpin turns,seemed much more navigable.

Harrisonburg, VA is a pretty large city. I had no idea until I arrived downtown and had to fight traffic on six lane roads. The Shenandoah Valley was pretty with a lot of chicken farms and some dairies, but this general area was also rapidly suburbanizing, with houses abutting farms. I’m sure that leads to a strained relationship at times between the farms and the suburbanites. Smelled somewhat like farm country, not unlike around Lowville or any of the great agricultural valleys in New York. Harrisonburg sucked to drive through, but once you got 5 miles out of town it was a four lane road with occasional traffic lights and a fairly heavily volume, but eventually it became open, rolling country. US 33 drops down to 2 lanes with occasional passing lanes as you entered the park. I would like to get down and see more of the Shenandoah Valley away from the city. Maybe tomorrow or Friday.

When I first arrived at Shenandoah National Park I was under-impressed, as the section of Skyline Drive  north of US 33 isn’t immediately impressive despite the overviews. The wonderful weather of Tuesday morning had turned to clouds as I headed east into the the front. It might have been sunny and beautiful in West Virginia, but by the time I was east in Shenandoah Valley it had gotten cloudy and hazy. The Shenandoah Valley also suffers from a major air pollution problem, which is somewhat less in West Virginia in the very rural area around Spruce Mountain. The wilderness area around Spruce Mountain and Dolly Sands is very impressive, some of the views at Shenandoah were less impressive.

I decided to camp at Matthew’s Arm Concentrated Camping Operation, the farthest north campground along the parkway – 21 miles from the northern start of Skyline Drive. It was a nice campground although it was fairly rustic. It has flush toilets and running water in the bathrooms, but it refill water containers, you had to drive to the trailer dump station and water filling area (separate faucets, obviously). One thing this campground lacked was showers, which was a disappointment. But they recommended you visit the pay showers 15 miles down the road at Big Meadows. This campground was $15 a night with no taxes or fees, it did not have electricity in the campground. They had heated bathrooms with running water. No hot water at Matthew’s Arm but they did have hot water at Loft Mountain. I had dinner and a few beers and was in bed by 9 PM. They openly allow (and sell alcohol) at the Shenandoah National Park campgrounds which is kind of nice. Still having neighbors and having to keep the music down and being brief with idling the engine to keep the batteries charged, is less nice.

I had to get up early to go to the bathroom, and ultimately decided to get up around 6:45 AM to drive over to one of the overlooks to watch the sun rise. While a somewhat cloudy morning, it was a beautiful start to the day. Broke camp around 9:30 AM and started south on the parkway, stopping at several of the overlooks, then when I got cellphone service, uploaded some photos to share with people, along with previous nights posts. Stopped at Big Meadows Visitors Center and also at the showers at Big Meadows around noontime.

In the nicer weather, spending more time on the parkway, showed how beautiful many of the views are along the parkway. The haze wasn’t as bad in the clear, drier weather, although still notable across the valley. Some of the overviews from Skyline Drive are remarkably beautiful, others less so. The leaves aren’t peak everywhere, but there is some nice colors showing up in various directions. Got a campsite at the Loft Mountain Concentrated Camping Operation. Picked a site high up on the hill, hoping to get cellphone reception and at least good radio reception. The cellphone reception was pretty marginal from camp, but I did have good radio reception for listening to any local radio station within reason. Watched the sun set from one of the overlooks. I retired to bed around 10 PM. Nice flush toilets, hot water, and heated bathrooms. Showers just down the road.

Today’s plan is to head further down Skyline Drive until I reach the Blue Ridge Parkway. I will probably go a ways down the Parkway, and hopefully find some place to camp at a campground along it. When I reach Interstate 64 on the Blue Ridge Parkway, I will take that west back to West Virigina and on Friday night camp on at site along one of the roads in West Virigina. From there I will take I-99 in Pennsylvania to Wellsboro and the Grand Canyon Country, overnight there, and return to Albany on Sunday afternoon.

October 10, 2015 evening

Good evening from the Allegheny National Forest somewhere near Marienville, PA. While I am well aware of where I am via the GPS, I have never been back on this road. Based on map I’m familiar with the road it connects with. It’s labeled a narrow, rough, dirt road, and while I didn’t think it was that bad in Big Red, it certain is narrow. I had to pass a hunter’s pickup, and I think we passed with about 5 inches between our pickups and he had to be 5 inches from the steep drop off from the road. The current temperature is 42 degrees under clear skies. The nice weather is expected to continue through Monday and then turn to rain for Tuesday. The rest of the week look okay after Tuesday. Tomorrow is expected to be 67 and partly sunny and Monday will be 70, at least in Marienville.

Today was a sucky day, but nothing went bad that will screw up the rest of the week. The main two things that went wrong was I simply planned to go too many miles in one day, and traffic was very heavy being Columbus Day. I think 90% of the time when I was on US 6, I was in a line of traffic. I like the open road, I hate to get stuck in a line of cars, keeping my eye on the road at all times to watch for stopped traffic. I-88 had the most traffic on it that I could remember, I spent most of the time either getting passed or passing cars. The foliage was wonderful most of the way across, although around Wellsboro it was green, and when I stopped at Kinzua Bridge the foliage was already past peak. With fall it always seems like you have either greens or foliage past done.

Getting started this morning I knew I wouldn’t get an early start. I did a lot of packing last night and shopping but I was dog tired after a long and stressful week. Work lately has been challenging. I’m glad I’m getting out of the office for the week. Rotating the tires on my truck and getting a state inspection proved to be a lot more of a process then I ever expected. The Quicky Lube I first tried to take my inspection at turned me away, because they said Big Red wouldn’t fit in the garage. Then I went to Gochee’s garage during the week, which did the inspection and rotated the tires, but forgot to do recalibrate the TPMS and left off one of the hub centric rings off of one of the wheels. It involved two trips back there, because I didn’t discover the TPMS error until I had driven 15 miles – the TPMS took a while to figure it was reading the spare tire and not one of the wheels that was actually rotating. Stupid shit, but it was early in the morning. I would be a little more concerned if it was something that could have left me broken down along the road – I’ll give them another try in the future, but if they screw up again, I will have to find yet another shop in Delmar. On top of all this, I was commuting out to my parents house every day, which meant I had little time to get ready at home during the week.

This morning I had to pack the food, the clothes, and few other things. I did do the water and most of the equipment last night. I decided to go to the laundromat in the morning, so I would have closer to the number of shirts and jeans I need for the week – I previously bought two additional pairs of jeans and shirts at Walmart – but I need 8 changes of clothes for the week, as I don’t want to have to visit some random laundromat in West Virgina or Virginia. I had to go to the bank, check the oil and fluids in the car, and top off the pressure in the tires, so they would be a nice 45 PSI, so I got a firm ride and not waste fuel or have excessive wear. Then I had to go to the bank, to pick up $200 in petty cash. I didn’t want to pick it up in advance, because I worried about losing it. I keep most of the petty cash in a locked box in my truck, until I need it, doling out when I get to firewood vendors, farm markets, tag sales, or campsites that requirement payments.

I have to admit I’ve gotten a bit bored with taking US 6 across Pennsylvania. I used like the trip and all the scenic vista and farm towns along the way, but I’ve made the trip a few too many times, and really need to come up with other places to go. Allegheny National Forest is fun, but I think I’ve done it a lot before. It seemed like a perfect stop over on paper on the way to West Virgina, although now I’m starting to think I’m a bit too far and will have to backtrack, even if I take US 219 south to West Virgina. I’m thinking the place I was originally planning to camp in West Virgina isn’t what I want, so I may have to head a bit farther east. Taking I-99 might have been a better choice. Driving all the way to Allegheny National Forest is a haul, especially on the way home. I have made this trip many times before in one day, heading back home, but never out to camp. Heading home, it’s a haul, but once you get on I-88 you set the cruise control on it and cue up a podcast, and nod off for about two hours. In contrast, going to Allegheny National Forest from Albany, puts all the small hick towns and the bulk of the trip after that long trip on I-88. When heading home, if you get home late, you can just collapse in your bed once reach home, the opposite is not true when you have to search for a campsite, as darkness is rapidly approaching.

I reached the Pine Creek Gorge at 3 PM today. Which sounds late, but it’s actually how long it takes after leaving Albany at 9:15 AM and stopping at the bank and Stewart’s for firewood plus multiple piss breaks because I drank too much coffee then water in the truck on the way over. I wanted to drive up to Colton Point, because in places the color looked perfect out there – and other hills it still looked green – but time wouldn’t let me. I knew I had a choice between Pine Creek George and Kinzua Bridge, and I chose later as I knew after today there was no chance I would get to Kinzua Bridge. The colors unfortunately were fairly dull and past peak on the bridge. Sunset was coming too fast, and even when I got to Kinzua Bridge at 5 PM, I knew I had only a half-hour because it was at minimum a half-hour to Kane, and whatever time I would take to find a campsite from there. I felt most of the day I was flying from place to place, and despite all the amazing color I saw, I didn’t get many pictures. It didn’t help that the best colors were along the expressways with no parking or on roads with absolutely no shoulder. Tomorrow may also be a rushed, long day – but not quite as many miles as today. But once I’m down in West Virgina, I don’t expect to be nearly as rushed for the rest of the week.

At Coudersport I stopped at McDonalds and got a coffee, which helped keep me awake as I headed to Kinzua Bridge and ultimately to Kane and then camp. I also stopped at a farm stand at Coudersport, and got some mushrooms and peppers. They didn’t have sweet corn, which was a disappointed. Probably the frost has ended the corn season in the Coudersport-area which is fairly high in elevation. I have a bit of Appalachian accent, but nothing like the farmer from Coudersport. Mid-western, Appalachian accent. Not like the more southern accents I expect to here once I reach the Virginas tomorrow. He seemed like a good guy, and had very affordable prices.

I got to Allegheny National Forest and wanted to camp near Kane or somewheres south. I remember the campsites along Forest Road 133 near Kane, but ended up deciding to take Forest Road 152 south from there, because I figured the farther south I went, the last south I had to go tomorrow. But it turns out there were no campsites on Forest Road 152 – despite driving 15 miles at the sky got darker and darker. Then I got on a forest road near Marienville, and ended up driving like 10 miles further south, not finding any campsites, until it was almost pitch black, and I found a campsite. Just in the nick of time. I had the firewood I bought at Stewart’s, so I got a fire started and got going.

And then stuff didn’t work. The 12-volt extension I have hooked from the deep cycle battery to my cellphone charger didn’t work when I plugged it in this morning. Total surprise. I think the fuse blew in the cord, but I don’t know. I will have to test it with a volt meter later in the week. I just plugged the cellphone charger into one of the main battery outlets, which works fine, but I like to have it run the accessory battery, in case I forget about it. Then later on the day, the brand new Halloween ghost lights I picked up at Walmart worked for 10 minutes until I bumped the string. $10 for 10 minutes of use seemed to suck. Then the string went dark. Eventually though the string started working again, once I played with the string. But it didn’t come back until I played every socket.

I am taking most of the photos on my Digital SLR or point and shoot camera, so I won’t be uploading most of the pictures until the evening each night, or when ever I have cellphone service. I’m not crazy about the quality of my new cellphone camera, so I have to download the photos from my other cameras to my laptop, then to the phone. But I will try to keep up with the photos as much as possible.

It was a crazy first day of vacation. Tomorrow is going to be another crazy day. I’m setting my alarm clock for 6:30 AM, which is coming fast. Unforutnately, out in Western Pennsylvania the sun doesn’t rise until 7:25 AM, so it will be a dark morning. But at least I have lights to help light the woods as I make breakfast and get going. I might just get coffee on the road, to speed camp tear down.

Good night! Sleep well.

September 18, 2015 evening

Good evening. Currently 62 degrees at the Otter Creek Campsites in Greig, NY. There is a stiff breeze on top of the mountain that is making it feel cooler than the mercury says. The clouds and high pressure will keep the temperatures from dropping off much more.

Tomorrow the summer heat lasts for one more day, heading up to 80 degrees. Then the front comes through and temperatures will drop to 45 degrees by morning. Showers as the front comes through. Sunday will only reach 64 degrees for a high. Sunday evening will be even colder with a steady breeze. No snow is expected, and heck, the first half of autumn is shaping to mostly be above normal temperatures. I guess it’s kind of like an extra summer with short fall days.

Tonight was the first sunset before 7 PM in Delmar although out in Lowville being further west, sunset held off until 7:06 pm. It didn’t matter that much as I couldn’t see the sunset from camp. But with the clouds it was getting dark NY 7:30 PM. The lights are nice but they don’t replace the long nights of early summer.

This morning I had nothing packed but I did go grocery shopping the previous evening. The first thing I did was put the kayak on the roof of my truck, carefully with the step ladder that I bought yesterday. I had a fear of re-injuring my ankle but it was fine, if not easier with the steps tool compared to climbing on the floor boards of the cab. My ankle doesn’t hurt that much these days although I felt it by the time I got packed.

I stopped in Boonville to take a piss break and to drop a bill from the doctor at the Post Office. Nice downtown buy surprisingly bustling and a challenge to park. But then it was off to Turin and eventually to the Otter Creek Campsites.

I was pleasantly surprised that the Otter Creek Campsites had been relocated up the hill, spread out and with new outhouses, picnic tables, and fireplaces. I liked the Otter Creek Campsites because they were close to Whetstone Gulf and Lowville but didn’t like the crowded conditions or wear from heavy use. The new sites are a real improvement. Some are grouped together but the most part are spread out. There remains six sites, with three designed to be wheelchair accessible including accessible outhouses, tables, and a flat gravel base. It’s nice to know the state has developed all these accessible sites, especially if someday I have a severe injury that otherwise confines me to a wheelchair. After spraining your ankle you think about such things more.

This evening went for a drive out to Confusion Flats and out to by Chases Lake. Last time I was up here it was quite rainy and the camera quit working early on the trip before I got pictures. Took both Instagram photos and Digital SLR pictures. Confusion Flats is such beautiful Adirondack Sand Plains. The maps up here are terrible, including the topographic maps and ones created by DEC data. There are a lot of old roads and paths cut through Confusion Flats that are now horse trails, while the truck trails often differ from old routes on topographic maps and some are better quality then the Jeep Trails on the map would suggest. All of the roads up here are just sand and the frequent equestrian use means that the are pitted by horse hooves. At least horse hooves don’t damage sand like the washboard roads of Moose River Plains.

Set up a tarp so I’m prepared for tomorrow’s rain which I’m sure isn’t going to materialize with the tarp up. The Bluetooth adapter with my powered  computer speakers aka now camp speakers works great. I love being able to play on my phone while listening to music, podcasts, and radio – and change the station or song without even leaving my seat. Technology is pretty cool.

I hope you had a good evening. Sleep well.

July 19, 2015 update

Today is hazy, hot and humid. Probably pushing the upper 70s to mid 80s here in the Western Adirondacks but likely to reach 90 plus in the city for the first time in two years. They talk a lot about global warming but it seems like New York has been in a cold spell the past few years. The west coast, however is baking.

I’m sure that it will be as hot as hell when I get back to Albany, which is why I hung out at the Potholers as long as possible, and still have a reasonable amount of time to get home and unpack in the blazing heat.

Friday night I drove up to camp in what was mix of showers and cloudy conditions. No heavy rain but enough to get the woods wet. Traffic however was bumper to bumper and slow all the way from Albany to Schenectady. I decided to come back to Piseco Powley Road this weekend primarily because I thought I left a backpack along the banks of the East Canada Creek.

I only discovered that the backpack was missing on Tuesday, and while it didn’t have anything valuable in it except a set of keys, I still wanted to retrieve it if possible. Everything else in the backpack was of marginal value, closer to garbage and future carbon dioxide then useful products. I kind of cared about the keys, as those included a set of keys for my truck that are the chipped type, which might be expensive to replace – especially if the $25 Amazon uncut but chipped keys turned out not to pair correctly. I decided it wasn’t worth driving an hour and a half to go search for the keys after work, only to possibly turn around empty handed and drive back home empty handed in the dark. I figured at this point nobody going to bother the backpack within the two days until the weekend or if somebody finds it, they’ll call the forest ranger. I called the ranger to let him know of the lost backpack. Honestly, my biggest concern was a forest beast would drag and shred the backpack into the woods or waterwater, with the keys forever lost.

I found the backpack with the keys and now rotting food inside it. And a somewhat moldy version of American Hunter magazine with of course my home address on the cover. Missing were a crappy leaking compass, cigarette lighter and a beat up old Nalgene water bottle. I can’t imagine anyone would steal either… It may have fallen out some point in the weekend. The backpack was pretty much shot before it got left out with a broken zipper and fabric with holes. I’m taking the keys to my gun safe, truck cap, office and apartment off the second key ring I carry in my day pack for emergencies. Some day hopefully soon my gun safe might be worth robbing. And while I always carefully police my campsite when I leave for the weekend to ensure there is no scraps of litter, bungee cords or loss supplies, I’m now going to a make sure to double check I have my day pack and second set of keys with me. I didn’t catch the pack because it was by the water and not in the campsite.

The Powley Bridge site and other sites nearby were taken, so I decided to try out the campsite on top of the hill you climb the hill past Brayhouse Brook and the Potholers. I had never camped at this site and while I knew the driveway was a bit soft, the site is on a hill and well drained, so I figured it would be good in the rainy conditions expected for the evening.

As I started to get the site set up, it started to drizzle again, but the site had good trees for hanging the tarp. I hung it up and got the table set up and quickly got a fire started using some nice Stewarts kiln dries firewood and burnable garbage I brought from home. Got the lights wired up and made hot dogs up with all the fixings. Good dinner. The drizzle on the tarp didn’t seem to bother me or the campfire much. Stayed up until 11:30 p.m. All and all a pleasant ending to a tough work week.

Wet and humid are the best way to describe the conditions on Saturday morning. While wet and humid are vastly better conditions in the woods then pouring rain and cold and wet, they are hardly ideal for camping. Everything gets wet just from the dampness, even if it’s not raining much. By about 2 PM it started to clear a bit.

Did some target shooting for a while, and some reading Saturday afternoon. Once the sun came out and the humidity creeped up, started getting a bit warm. Mosquitoes and those gosh darn horse flies started biting, and I had to get the DEET out. Freaking Westchester ammo seems to jam more. Maybe I just need to clean and lubricate my shotgun more. I do want to get some kind of rimfire rifle that’s cheaper to shoot. Thinking about a 17 HMR, as unlike 22 ammo is seems to be usually in stock at Walmart, and can be had for 10 cent a round or $10 for 100. Went down to the Potholers for about an hour, took some pictures with my waterproof case. Seemed to do the job, even if all the case is a heavy vinyl zip lock bag with a heavier sealing mechanism. It was $12 to keep my $40 smartphone dry.

Cooked up these super delicious BBQ flavor chicken breasts and rice for dinner. The smell of the breasts was so delicious, I could have almost eaten them raw. Once they were cooked, they were as amazing as they smelled. Shoprite did an amazing job with the sauce. They weren’t particularly more expensive than regular breasts, although I probably could have bought some marinade and made up something similar in a zip lock bag.

I had a nice campfire the second night, but it wasn’t quite the same as the previous night, because I had burnt up most of the Stewart’s wood and in the summer heat was pretty lazy and didn’t gather up much wood. Still I perked up the fire, put on some podcasts and stayed up until 11:30.

The next morning was also pretty lazy, enjoying a nice breakfast, and listening to a podcast, slowly took apart camp, mostly hurrying with the tarp, too ensure I got it down and put away with the constant threat of thunderstorms. None really happened, and things were good. Did some more target practice, finished off the coffee.

As I write this post, I’m down at the Potholers on this hot summer day. The water is refreshing. There really is no place I’d rather be with such warm weather. Ran into somebody from Westerlo down there, taking a family vacation up here. Can’t beat this weather for the Potholers.

This is the lazy weekend that was. Sometimes it nice to get away in the heat and just hang in the water. Back to Albany now, more photos later.