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Midwest Love songs 😍 🚜

That was the name of the trashy audio book I’ve been listening to that has a distinct taste of silage and smallest town life. It’s a story about several small town people, a rock and roll star and a family living on a dairy in Wisconsin, you know bonfires, working the land, etc. I’m just tired of the crowded east coast and the values of the eastern establishment and those who play to their values in the most scummy of ways, I’m probably talking about myself or maybe Bob Moses.

Good morning! Happy Thursday. Sunny and 31 degrees in Bethlehem, NY. 🌞 There is a north breeze at 7 mph. 🍃.

Taking the bus to work today as I found another small, slow leak in my bike tube. 🚍 Apparently whatever I ran over put several small wire shards through the tube. I should get some fix a leak — next time I go to the store and fill both of my tires with it, and pick up an extra tube just so I have it in reserve so I’m not waiting for a patch to dry, unsuccessfully. I think I let that rear tire go too long before rotating it, and I concede even now I’ve rotated the tires, I need to get new tires soon.

Going to get off at the Empire Plaza and walk North Pearl Street🚶 to work as I did yesterday. I think this route is a bit longer then walking along Broadway, but I like the change and I think this route is a bit more interesting then Broadway with better views of the cliffs above. It’s a nice walk to work but I’m hoping my second tire patch, on another hole in the tube holds and I’m back riding tonight. Or maybe I can get another tube at the local bike shop if this one just ain’t going to hold air.

Today will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 54 degrees at 3pm. 10 degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 5th. North wind 6 to 8 mph. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies. The high last year was 54 degrees. The record high of 89 was set in 2009. 0.3 inches of snow fell back in 1928.❄

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:54 pm with sun having an altitude of 60.8° from the due south horizon (-10.1° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 3.4 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:10 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (283°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (289°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:49 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 4 seconds with dusk around 8:19 pm, which is one minute and 8 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:56 pm. At sunset, look for clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 51 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 5 mph. Today will have 13 hours and 54 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 37 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be clear 🌃, with a low of 28 degrees at 5am. 13 degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 23rd. Northwest wind around 5 mph. In 2023, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 30 degrees. The record low of 24 occurred back in 1972.

Right now, a split verdict on the weekend. 😕 Saturday, a slight chance of showers after 2pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 63. South wind 5 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. Maximum dew point of 36 at 9pm. Sunday, mostly cloudy, with a high near 71. Maximum dew point of 56 at 4pm. Typical average high for the weekend is 65 degrees.

Looking ahead, there are 10 weeks until Independence Day 🇺🇸 when the sun will be setting at 8:37 pm with dusk at 9:10 pm. On that day in 2023, we had mostly sunny and temperatures between 84 and 54 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 83 degrees. We hit a record high of 104 back in 1911.

Places I Camped in 2023

While this year was a rainy one, and it rained during many of my trips, I was able to get out for 53 nights in the wilderness — mostly fairly close to home but I also did a trip down to West Virginia in late October with several trips to the Adirondacks, Central New York and summer vacation in the Finger Lakes.

Martin Luther Kings Day – January 14-16 (2 nights)

To start out my camping adventures in 2023, I drove out to Charles Baker State Forest and Brookfield Horse Camp. There wasn’t a lot of snow — just a dusting but it was a fun weekend, topped off by a beautiful sun-full glittery hike up Tassell Hill after a hoar frost. Explored Lost Pond and several of the trails in the middle of state forest.

40th Birthday – January 27-29 (2 nights)

For my fortieth birthday, I took off the Friday leading up to my 40th birthday to cross country ski and winter camp at Rensselaerville State Forest. It was a beautiful weekend with lots of blue skies, sufficient snow for skiing but not so much that was a ton of snowmobiles out on the trails.

Presidents Day – February 17-19 (2 nights)

I decided for Presidents Day Weekend to do another trip out to Charles Baker State Forest and Brookfield Horse Camp. Slightly more snow then last time but again largely a snow-less winter, with some nice days for hikes through the various truck and horse trails. I hiked around much of state forest, especially the more southern part of the forest.

Easter Weekend – April 7-9 (2 nights)

On Good Friday through Easter I camped at at Rensselaerville State Forest. The snow was gone and it was fairly mild though at times it was a bit cool. Spent a fair amount of time walking around and exploring the new OSI Parcel that has been recently added to state forest and is still largely open fields with sweeping views of the Catskill Mountains.

Duck Pond Trip – May 5-7 (2 nights)

The first Friday in May I took a half day from work and headed out to Schoharie County to camp at Duck Pond at Burnt-Rossman Hills State Forest. Originally the plan was to camp two nights at Duck Pond, hiking along the Long Path and exploring the state forest and then on Sunday hiking the Catskill Scenic Trail. That part of the trip changed when driving along Duck Pond Road the low tire pressure light came on I found a pallet nail in my truck tire. I was able to top off the truck tire and then change the tire when I got home and got the nail pulled and plugged. But it wasn’t the best way ever to end a trip early.

Overnight at Cole Hill – May 13-14 (1 night)

After visiting the folks on Mother’s Day Weekend, I decided to do a quick overnight hammock camp on Cole Hill State Forest in Berne. Nothing fancy or formal, it was as much a way to test out sleeping in my hammock with the bug screen. Kind of a chilly night, I took camp down fairly and headed home early in the morning.

Memorial Day Weekend at Cole Hill – May 20-22 (2 nights)

This year I decided to eschew the Adirondacks and Greene Mountains for Memorial Day Weekend due to the black flies, my desire to look at bicycles, and work I had to do on the Saturday morning leading up to the holiday weekend. I decided to hammock camp again Cole Hill State Forest in Berne. This was a three-day two night trip, so it it gave me a chance to bring more gear up the mountain, set up a more formal camp. Cooked on the fire, hiked around the forest. It was a warm weekend, but I enjoy the solitude, along with having good cell service for listening to podcasts and watching videos.

Juneteenth Weekend on Piseco-Powley – June 15-20 (4 nights)

To kick off summer, I did my usual Juneteenth weekend camping trip, tacking on some days on the Juneteenth Holiday Weekend. It was a bit of a cool and rainy weekend to kick off summer, one that would actually be followed by many cool and rainy weekends where I would stay home. Camped at House Pond for the first three nights, spending time down floating in the tube on East Branch while the final night I camped up at Powley Bridge site and kayaked along the East Branch. Really, like often is the case, the best weather was the day I took down camp.

Catskill Scenic Trail Trip – July 22-24 (3 nights)

After several months of researching and visiting various bike shops, I finally got a mountain bike. I decided it would be fun to do as much of the Catskill Scenic Trail as I could before my summer vacation got underway. Actually did quite a bit of riding and hiking that weekend — started out hiking Pratts Rock’s then riding from Grand George to Hobart. Sunday, I rode from Fultonham to Middleburgh on NY 30, doing a quick climb up Vromans Nose, then stopping at the farm market then going to Mine Kill State Park to swim. Monday I rode from Hobart down to Bloomville, getting caught in a major thunderstorm and downpour a few miles north of Bloomville with no shelter in sight. The trail became super boggy, then I went to Mine Kill State Park for one more swim, and then out to folks house for Sunday dinner a day later then usual.

Finger Lakes National Forest – July 28 – August 6 (9 nights)

Every year for nearly a decade and a half I’ve been doing summer vacation out in the Finger Lakes — camping in the National Forest and exploring as much as possible during my days there. The past few years I’ve been driving there on a Friday, to get a better campsite before they’re taken by the weekend campers. This year was no exception. With Blackie, my mountain bike, I did nearly all of the bike trails in the near vicinity, from the Black Diamond Trail to the Cayuta Valley Trail to Dresden – Penn Yan Canal Trail. Kayaked on both Cayuga and Scenic Lakes, swam many days at Watkins Glen State Park and Taughannock State Park, explored the Cornell Campus and Botanical Gardens on my bike. Got some good ice cream at the Spotted Duck, explored the Geneva Waterfront along with the Cayuga-Seneca Canalway. Some rain but compared to the wet summer that was, this was a pretty good week.

Piseco-Powley – House Pond Campsite – August 18-20 (3 nights)

The next few weeks for rainy and by the time I got away for one more long weekend, it promised to be fairly nice weekend but turned out to be fairly cool and cloudy with some rain. Back at the House Pond Campsite, did some swimming in East Branch, but with the mercury in the 60s most of the weekend, I didn’t spend a lot of time in the water. Hardly what I had dreamed when the I planned the weekend. Rode Blackie up to Goldmine Stream Falls and relaxed down by the falls for a bit, also sat down by the swimming hole off of the Old Edick Road Snowmobile Trail, watching the rain fall, bemoaning the wet and cold weather. Still it was good to get away for a bit, and I did do a fair amount of reading in hammock, under the protection of the bug net, as the bugs were bad after such a wet summer.

Labor Day at Perkins Clearing – September 1-4 (3 nights)

I took the Friday off before Labor Day to get a jump on the holiday season travel, and set up camp at the site I really enjoy up at Perkins Clearing overlooking the mountains. Did a fair amount of riding along the various dirt roads of Perkins Clearing, including over to Mason Lake and on Sunday rode most of the way to the Spruce Lake Trailhead, though didn’t make it there in time as I got a bit of a late start as I spent the balance of the day reading and swimming in the Jessup River Bridge swimming hole. Labor Day, I rode around the Spectulator Tree Farm, doing a large loop, through the tree farm, past the north end of Elm Lake, then down to Austin Falls and Old Route 8B. I had hoped to get ice cream, but by the time I got to the ice cream shop they were out of soft-ice cream, and there was a long line. Summer was dragging to a close.

September Trip to Rensselearville State Forest – September 15-17 (2 nights)

With time being fairly tight and the weather only so-so I decided to do a two night trip close to home out in Rennselearville to ride some of the gravel trails, explore the OSI Parcel further and just enjoy an early autumn weekend camping.

Columbus Day at Rensselearville State Forest – October 8-9 (1 night)

Columbus Day Weekend was cold and rainy for the first half of the weekend, but the Sunday heading into Columbus Day was nice, so I decided to head out to Rensselaerville for a quick overnight at the campsite on CCC Road. Leaves were late this year, so not a lot of color, but it still was nice to get away for a night and ride some of the trails around.

West Virginia Trip – October 21-29 (8 nights)

The banner trip of the year was my trip down to West Virigina. While it started and ended in rain, it was a very enjoyable trip with lots of new adventures this year. Camped the balance of the week — 6 nights in Canaan Heights — doing day trips from that area. Overnighted one night driving down at County Bridge Campground in Pennsylvania, and a on the way back camped overnight at Long Pond State Forest in New York. Adventures in West Virginia included hiking at Dolly Sods, mountain biking at night in the sods of Canaan Heights, riding up and hiking to Table Rock, exploring Blackwater Falls State Park on the mountain bike, MonPower Mountain Bike Park, Thomas Rail Grade and the Olson Firetower. Rode part of the Great Allegheny Trail through the Cumberland Passage, and the two sections of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canalway, including the Paw Paw Tunnel.

Stoney Pond – November 4-7 (3 nights)

A little over a week back from West Virginia, I headed out to Madison County to ride the Tassel Hill Mountain Bike Trails at Alfred Woodford, the Chenango Canal Trail in Hamilton and Erie Canalway from Chittenango to Green Lakes State Park and then to Canastota and Wampsville. The first night was cold at Stoney Pond but the subsequent nights were quite pleasant and mild.

Prospect Mountain – East Branch Sacanadaga – Buttermilk Falls/Hudson Special Management Area – November 24-28 (3 nights)

Strangely enough, I had never been up Prospect Mountain. So I decided the day after Thanksgiving (Black Friday) to hike up Prospect Mountain, and then spend the next two nights camping on East Branch of the Sacandaga River. The Saturday and Sunday was fairly cold, so I ended up spending the bulk of day hanging around camp, doing a bit of hiking around Fox Lair. Sunday, evening around 8 PM it started to sleet, then snow, then rain, Monday morning, it turned into a white globby snow, and I ended up taking down camp fairly early after discovering I was out of propane and then spent much of the day exploring the Hudson River Special Management Area – Buttermilk Falls.

Stoney Pond – Charles Baker – December 21-26 (5 nights)

On the days leading up to Christmas I decided to take a second trip to Madison County. I was originally planning to camp two nights at Stoney Pond then two nights at the Charles Baker Horse Camp but my family’s holiday plans were cancelled due to illness in my family, so I ended up staying an extra night at the horse camp, through the day after Christmas. On Friday, I rode the Erie Canalway from Canastota to East Verona, nearly to Rome. On Christmas Day I rode around many of truck trails at Charles Baker with my mountain bike, leaving my face splattered with mud. Many of the days were fairly cold and cloudy, but that’s too be expected in late December. Still it was a special way to spend Christmas.

More Gluten Monday 🍞

What can I say. Adding that vital wheat gluten to my whole wheat bread added some extra fluff and it really made things less crumbly with much better texature. I’ll see how it holds up over the next few days, as I slowly slice off slices to dip in soup, make french toast and enjoy dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Good morning! Monday’s come back around again. ☔ Hope you know where your umbrella is and your windshield wipers work during this dire emergency winter storm, comma lol. Rain and 36 degrees in Delmar, NY. 🌧️ There is a northwest breeze at 11 mph. 🍃. Temperatures will drop below freezing at around 9 pm. ☃️

Taking the express bus 🚍 in on this rainy ☔ morning. Not the early one either, as by the time I was done cooking 🧑🏻‍🍳 and getting ready it was a no go for the earlier express. I’m not super excited about doing a lot of walking 🚶 this morning, though I’ll try to get in my steps 👣 for the day, maybe even if that means bundling up and going for the evening walk. Going to be cold by evening especially with the wind. 🌬️

There is a closure through the Empire State Plaza tunnels due to a water 💦 main ⛑ break which might cause delays but I don’t care I’m not driving 🚘 and it’s not a big deal if I’m a few minutes late. Looks like the driver is taking an alternative route through the city to avoid traffic. It’s not like next year when I’ll be transferring to the shuttle 🚀 bus out to the suburban office. I do miss riding in on my bike but not with the cold and wet rain. 🚲 Tomorrow I’ll be back riding to work. January is going to be tough on the biking, due to the cold and inevitable snow on the trail, not to mention it’s not safe to be riding Water Street after dark in the evening.

Today will rain and snow before 11am, then a slight chance of rain between 11am and noon. 🌞 High of 41 degrees at 12pm. One degree above normal, which is similar to a typical day around December 8th. Breezy, with a northwest wind 11 to 16 mph increasing to 17 to 22 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 39 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. Little or no snow accumulation expected. I’m sure at some point we’ll have snow. 🌨 A year ago, we had light snow throughout the day. The high last year was 30 degrees. The record high of 61 was set in 1952. 4.3 inches of snow fell back in 1970.❄

Adding the vital wheat 🌾 gluten to my 100% whole wheat bread added a tad bit more fluff to the bread but it didn’t make it as light as white bread. 🍞 Did make things stick together a lot better though for better slicing and texture. I bet it will hold up better in my bean soup.🍛 I’ll have to experiment with different amounts of yeast again but ultimately whole wheat is going to whole wheat. I wouldn’t say though it’s a flat bread as it was much more fluffy then what I had. White bread might be a lot more fluffy but it’s less healthy. I guess a reasonable compromise might be whole-white wheat, which is whole grain but the white wheat rather then the slightly more protein rich red wheat.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 11:49 am with sun having an altitude of 24.4° from the due south horizon (-46.4° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 13.2 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 3:38 pm with the sun in the southwest (231°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (239°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:23 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 24 seconds with dusk around 4:53 pm, which is 4 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:30 pm. At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies 🌃 and temperatures around 37 degrees. The wind chill around sunset will be 26. ☃️ Breezy, 22 mph breeze ⛅ from the west-northwest with gusts up to 38mph. Tomorrow will have 9 hours and 9 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 42 seconds over today.

Looking forward to tonight with the bean soup and bread. 🍞 🍲 It should be a good evening, but cold with the wind. But I want to walk at any rate, I’ll bundle up. 🚶‍♀️ Then settle back down home under the heated blanket. Not super cold tonight, but it will be windy. But it could be a lot colder — look at the record low of negative 12.

Tonight will be mostly cloudy 🌥, with a low of 28 degrees at 5am. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around November 29th. Maximum wind chill around 22 at 5am; Northwest wind 7 to 15 mph becoming south after midnight. In 2022, we had light snow in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 20 degrees. The record low of -12 occurred back in 1988.

I was noticing that Price Chopper has raw walnuts for sale 🌰 🎅 which might be a lot of fun when I go camping next week to roast over an open fire. I am still thinking of heading out to Madison County in the lead-up to the Christmas Holiday but it really depends on how much snow there is. ❄️ Right now there is quite a bit of snow but I think much of it might melt by next weekend. I could do Stoney Pond or the Charles Baker Horse Camp. I know the mountain bike trails are closed but I can hike or ride the roads. 🚴‍♀️

Today in 1997, The Kyoto Protocol opens for signature. 🌎 The US would never ratify the agreement, and while some countries would participate, it was a lot of talk and not a lot of action. Every year the earth gets a little bit warmer and it ain’t because I drive a big jacked up truck 🛻 or burn those Styrofoam egg cartons I stuff in my trash and ultimately the fire. 🔥 Seriously though we are making some technological progress but things are still going in the wrong direction as the population increases and every year we burn more fossil fuel.

A picture perfect weekend on tap. 😎 Saturday, partly sunny, with a high near 44. I am thinking Saturday of doing a bicycle ride out to the Albany Pine Bush — and maybe taking the bus back home after dark, after doing some maul walking or similar activities, just to see how crazy it is. I think I can go past the Industrial Depot and the Guilderland National Guard Rifle Range to Willow Street and out from there. Then mountain bike 🚵‍♀️ around the Pine Bush. Sunday, partly sunny, with a high near 44. 🌞 Sunday, I am going to a family event watching the Nutcracker 👪 and then out to dinner. Not too bad for the weekend before Christmas 🤶. Typical average high for the weekend is 38 degrees.

Looking ahead, next Monday is Bake Cookies Day 🍪 when the sun will be setting at 4:25 pm with dusk at 4:55 pm. I got to bake cookies actually on Wednesday for the Cookie Share Day in the office on Thursday. I am thinking homemade cranberry-sugar cookies, going to try making with whole-wheat flour and stevia along with butter, so they aren’t quite as much junk food. On that day in 2022, we had partly cloudy and temperatures between 35 and 25 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 37 degrees. We hit a record high of 60 back in 1921.

I’m back and riding my bike to work 🚲

Back up at five o’clock though I missed having that blast of heat from the propane heater waking up but the coffee was a lot less fiddly then the my fairly new propane stove which was not working well most of the weekend after propane gelled or dirt got into regulator. It was working good until I ran out of propane on Monday, in the cold wet snow. But it turned out to be a pretty nice day once it warmed up. Much more story to tell.

Good morning! Happy Tuesday. Partly sunny and 29 degrees in Albany, NY. There is a west breeze at 10 mph. 🍃. There is a dusting of snow on the ground. ☃ Things will start to thaw out at around 10 am. 🌡️

Rode my bike to work today, 🚲 it really wasn’t a particularly cold morning but then again I’m used to the cold and I’ve been keeping my heat low in my apartment. Why heat things really warm, when I have the heated blanket, plus a hot breakfast and shower to start out the day? 🛀 I hate wasting energy, says the boy with the big jacked up truck. ♨️ And I like the cold in the morning, it wakes you up when you hop out of bed. I think this was the first night in many weeks I’ve slept all night without getting up to run to the toilet. 🚽 It helped that yesterday I had a light breakfast, due to running out of propane in camp, ☕ which left me with just enough heat and stove output to reheat some coffee plus a five hour energy shot and some of greek yogurt. Today’s breakfast was a bit more hardy, with eggs, spinach, onions, mushrooms. 👨‍🍳 Didn’t make bread last night but will tonight, along with soaking beans for soup. 🍞 🍲

Today will have snow showers likely, mainly after 4pm. Otherwise, partly sunny for the balance of the day 🌦, with a high of 35 degrees at 11am. Nine degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around December 26th. West wind 10 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 32 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 50 degrees. The record high of 68 was set in 1990. 6.0 inches of snow fell back in 1985.❄

Solar noon 🌞 is at 11:44 am with sun having an altitude of 26.1° from the due south horizon (-44.7° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 12.3 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 3:41 pm with the sun in the southwest (234°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (241°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:25 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 19 seconds with dusk around 4:55 pm, which is 27 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:31 pm. At sunset, look for snow 🌨 and temperatures around 33 degrees. The wind chill around sunset will be 22. ☃️ Breezy, 17 mph breeze ⛅ from the west-northwest with gusts up to 32mph. Today will have 9 hours and 24 minutes of daytime, a decrease of one minute and 34 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a chance of snow showers, mainly before 9pm. Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly clear 🌧, with a low of 24 degrees at 5am. Four degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around December 10th. Maximum wind chill around 18 at 4am; Northwest wind 6 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 29 degrees. The record low of 3 occurred back in 1875.

Things were going so well on my trip until they weren’t. Friday was completely on schedule, having woken at 5 am and hitting the road by 7:30. 🛻 Got gas in Glenmont, traffic was super light on 787 and ultimately the Northway. ⛽ I got groceries and needed supplies at Walmart in Queensbury, which I was shocked how empty it was for Black Friday. 🛒 Hit the trail to Prospect Mountain from Smith Street in Lake George, by ten o’clock, at that hour wasn’t crowded.

Prospect Mountain ⛰ was ho hum, I don’t think it would be worth it to pay to drive the auto road in the summer or for that matter to hike it again. The views of Lake George and surrounding country were rather ordinary compared to other nearby hikes like Buck Mountain, Tongue Mountain or Cat Mountain. 📸 Granted by the time I got to the summit it was fairly cloudy ⛅ and rather bitterly cold. ❄ Just gusty 🌬️ with the mercury dropping.

I was back to my truck by two, and was setting up camp by three. ⛺ I checked out both campsites five and seven, settled on the site closer to Fox Lair as better protected from the wind and a shorter down hill driveway should we had gotten more snow then expected on Sunday night. Plus better sheltered from the wind, though less solar power. Neither site had cell service 📶 which is kind of a blessing as I needed some off the grid time without the constant social media and news cycle. 🔕 It’s tough to turn off social media when home though I have pings always muted from Facebook. Too much temptation.

Gathered firewood 🪵🪓 and got the truck unpacked and heater going. All was good the campsite still had a ton of firewood from the hunters who last camped here. ♨ Then I try to start my camp stove and it won’t start. 🍳 Damn, it’s cold out and I want a hot delicious meal 🍴. Played with the regulator on the stove for an hour, trying to clean off the ends and and warm it up to try to free the dirt and condensate in the regulator, getting the stove to work a bit but not well. Started to reheat leftovers from my freezer at home plus added onions and spinach but it wasn’t working well as the stove output was limited. 🔥 Got the fire started, let it burn down to coals, finished cooking dinner over the fire, then cooked some cranberries down with some stevia for sweetness and walnuts. 🍒

Friday night was a cold night in the single digits. ❄ Even with the fire roaring 🔥and my propane heater on it was cold. The night was cold 🛏 in the truck, my toes were chilly by morning. Without the stove working properly, morning was kind of miserable until I got the fire going, the coffee ☕ brewing followed by a delicious 😋 campfire breakfast of eggs 🥚 and all the usual fixings like onions and spinach. 🍳 Mostly hung around camp on Saturday besides a brief walk 🚶 along Old Route 8. Saturday was also a pretty cold day for sure, mostly spent reading, listening to podcasts and hanging out over the heater. ♨️ That’s why despite only being my six night camping, but Monday morning in the cold wet snow, I ran out of propane. It’s fine though, it helped me get an early start on Monday so I had the balance of the day to hike at Hudson River Special Area.

Sunday was a bit nicer, but still cold. ❄️ Did more reading, 📚 hiked around Fox Lair for a while 🦊 , listening to podcasts 📻 and just hanging around camp. The days are pretty short, it was getting up early before dawn, ☕ enjoying my coffee — which was good as I had the stove working on Sunday so it cooked up quickly and then having oatmeal pancakes. More sun and warmer on Sunday, though by evening it started to cloud up and by 7 PM started to sleet, followed by some rain and snow, at which point I headed into my truck for the night. 🛌 Cooked up onions and sweet potato on the stove, then later on finished off the cranberries with bananas and stevia. Listened to many more hours of podcasts. 📻 No radio this time, as my radio is broke and normally I just use my phone for streaming. But it was good to be away from the news cycle for a few hours. 🤫

Monday was just cold and wet. 🌧 The sleet, snow, and rain mix just made everything wet and sloppy to start out the morning. ☕ To make matters worse I ran out of propane while I was heating up the coffee, though I got one cup in along with a five hour energy shot and some Greek yogurt with some blueberries I added, 🥄 and I was good. Drove down to Hadley, and decided to spend the balance of the day exploring the Hudson River Special Area, which had some nice views of the Hudson River 🏞 along with Bear Slide Falls. As the day progressed, it warmed and sun came out. 😎 Hiked back along River Road and Gay Pond Road. Got back to my truck around 2 PM, and headed home through Corinth and Saratoga. Got home and unpacked around 3:30, went to the laundromat in Glenmont, got groceries, and washed my truck. Headed to bed. 🏪 The Glenmont laundromat isn’t as bad as the reviews suggest but more pricey then Delmar laundromat. 💰 But it is nice that you can swing to Walmart or the car wash while your clothes are doing their thing. If I didn’t worry about the road salt eating the rest of my truck up, 🚿 I’d probably have just done the usual Four Corners Laundromat.

This weekend looks like it would for the first weekend of December. 🎄 Saturday, after the rain pushes out, partly sunny, with a high near 43. It’s good, maybe that will give me a chance to fix the relay that was malfunctioning that controls the CB radio and dash cam on my truck. It’s clicking on and off. Started doing that on the way to Glenmont, ended up stopping and slicing the feed wire until I can find the lose connection, less I burn out the relay. It’s not a big expensive relay, but still I didn’t want to have to order another one and wire it all up. 📻 Sunday, a chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 41. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Doesn’t seem like a wash out, most of the rain will be on Saturday. Typical average high for the weekend is 43 degrees.

The next trip is not until the days leading up to Christmas 🎄 where I am thinking of going out to Madison County but it depends on how much snow there is. 🐴 Probably camp at the Brookfield Horse Camp, and then hike the trails or ride some of the dirt roads. Spend sometime down in Sherburne, and maybe other places. Then come back home on Christmas Day. A lot though depends on the weather. ❄️ But that’s the next trip, which is like three and half weeks away. I need a few weekends home for now, though I have a number of family and other things to do in the meantime.

Looking ahead at bar specials, next Tuesday is Repeal of Prohibition Day 🍺 when the sun will be setting at 4:23 pm with dusk at 4:53 pm. On that day in 2022, we had partly sunny and temperatures between 44 and 26 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 42 degrees. We hit a record high of 65 back in 2001.

Fifty days remain in 2023 🗓

Day by day. The fact that Thanksgiving Day Week is basically the week after next week shows how fast the year is coming to a close. While maybe it would have been nice to get out of town this weekend, I’m thinking today I’ll ride to Peebles Island and have some fun closer to home while trying to hold the line on expenses, though I’ll probably end up taking the 18 bus back home and will probably need to get to the grocery store and or Walmart this evening as I’m eating myself out of house and home again.

Good morning! Partly clear 🌅 and 41 degrees in Delmar, NY on this Veteran’s Day. 🏵 There is a northwest breeze at 6 mph. 🍃. Temperatures will drop below freezing at around 10 pm. ☃️ Not so cold for a mid-November morning, though it won’t warm up that much and it will be breezy.

Up a bit before six o’clock ⏰ though I was awake before then. Decided to do oatmeal-banana pancakes with chia seeds today, 🥞 topped with shredded apples 🍎 mixed with boiled apple cider, cinnamon, ginger and heated in the microwave. It was good. I have to admit I also had a bit more of that soup I made up last night — chicken soup I guess — 🍲 though it was more of a stew with rich earthy overtones with lots of cumin and ground chili spice. Also finally getting around to cooking some chickpeas, 👩‍🍳 might make hummus or just have them with various meals. Mom was suggesting putting them in soups. I also like them with fresh fruit, kind of like a trail mix without as much as fat as nuts, though they can certainly be good mixed in a handful of almonds, blueberries, and raspberries. 🥜

Today is Veterans Day, which will will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 46 degrees at 1pm. Five degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around November 23rd. Northwest wind 6 to 11 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, which became rain by afternoon. It became somewhat humid as the day progressed. The high last year was 69 degrees. The record high of 70 was set in 2002. 3.0 inches of snow fell back in 1906.❄

I am thinking about riding out to Peebles Island State Park in Cohoes. 🚲 It’s about 17 miles or an hour and a half ride each way. I am thinking I would likely ride up to the park, bring a lunch, walk around Peebles Island and maybe a little bit in Cohoes along the Canal. 📷 Going to be a nice sunny day with blue skies for pictures. Then ride back to Albany via the Empire Trail, and catch the 18 bus back home. 🚌 as I expect by then I’ll probably be running low on daylight and pretty tired as it’s a big trip. 🌆 Days are so short come mid-November. I am thinking my next out of town adventure will be in a little under two weeks — the day after Thanksgiving through the following Monday, probably Route 8 on East Branch. Some quiet time off the internet.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 11:40 am with sun having an altitude of 30° from the due south horizon (-40.8° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 10.4 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 3:57 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (240°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (247°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:38 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 10 seconds with dusk around 5:07 pm, which is one minute and 3 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:42 pm. At sunset, look for mostly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 43 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 10 mph. Tomorrow will have 9 hours and 56 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 16 seconds over today.

Money is just kind of tight 💳 after vacation and renewing my blog contract and all the trips I’ve been taking. ⛽ I ended up transferring in $750 from savings to ensure I had enough money to pay my credit card bill and maintain adequate balance in my bank account through the money. It’s not a pay week but come Wednesday, $1,300 goes out to the credit card. Already earned $135 from blog advertising, though I won’t get paid until mid-December under the Google Ad Sense rules that require a $100 minimum unpaid balance at end of the month to get paid, and then they hold your check for three weeks to verify it and collect interest on it. 🏨 I know, it’s kind of obnoxious but I’ll probably earn at least another $30 or $40 bucks before the month is done to tack on the $135. Web advertising is a bit of a mystery, based on bidding — one day I earned like $11 in ad revenue which is crazy compared to a buck or two most days and when you multiply it out over the months, especially for a small little blog like this. It’s good I’m staying home this weekend.

Truth is I have a lot of money coming in, 🔀 but the thing is as soon as it comes in a lot goes out. I am continuing to invest heavily into my retirement accounts 👴 as now is the time to do it while I’m relatively young and making good money, 💵 and also into my investment accounts so they can continue to grow and own my own land eventually. While interest rates are up on my savings account — close to 5%, with inflation I figure it’s better to be going into the stock and bond market, especially over the long term. There will be a recession 📉 but eventually we’ll come out of it and things will grow. I am hopeful I can pay back my savings account in the next few months, especially as some of those short term expenses like vacation come and go, though soon I’ll have heating bills, though so far I’ve avoided using the heat, though yesterday ♨️ I finally put the screens in my window and patched the air leaks around the door, 🪟 as I know I’ll need the heat before long. I have the heated blanket ready to go but I haven’t put that on the bed yet, though I will be ready when those days come.

Tonight will be mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 26 degrees at 6am. Seven degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around December 3rd. Northwest wind 5 to 7 mph becoming calm in the evening. In 2022, we had light rain in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It was somewhat humid. It got down to 49 degrees. The record low of 15 occurred back in 1976.

Yesterday, I rode out to Voorheesville 🚲 and spent a lot of time reading and watching video and reading material for yet another Udemy class that I get free from the library. 📱 Last week I finished a class called the Fundamentals of Remote Sensing and Geospatial Analysis, now I am a few hours into a class on Remote Sensing and QGIS. Basically it’s all about using data collected from satellites 📡 to learn about what is happening on the earth’s surface. 📚 I was going to go down to the library last night but I was tired and comfortable in my bed, after enjoying that soup that I made earlier int he day. 🛌 I figure this is the time of year to learn more, and Remote Sensing is only going to improve my GIS skills, especially combined with the use of raster math both in QGIS and R programming language.

As previously noted, next Saturday is Regular Deer Season in Southern Zone 🦌 when the sun will be setting at 4:32 pm with dusk at 5:01 pm. On that day in 2022, we had partly cloudy skies, snow showers and temperatures between 43 and 28 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 48 degrees. Opened this morning in Vermont. We hit a record high of 71 back in 1928.

Paw Paw and Heading North 🐾

Good morning! Happy Saturday. Today I Head North! Cloudy ⛅ and 67 degrees in Canaan Heights, WV. Super mild! There is a south-southeast breeze at 13 mph with gusts up to 25 mph. 🌬️ That wind is roaring around, unstable weather coming. But I’m heading off the Appalachian Front shortly.

Up at six o’clock taking camp down. 🕔 Still quite dark out. To get a jump start on the day and limit pee breaks, 🚽 I hard boiled eggs 🥚 last night and will have two eggs for protein with a banana 🍌 for sugar and some peppers maybe later on. ☕ If I decide I really need coffee I can get some in Keyser this morning. Took the tent down last night ⛺ and packed and organized as much as I could last night, including writing much of this blog post last night. 📝

Today will likely rain ☔ , mainly after 3pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 67 at six AM. Southwest wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning with more sun in the afternoon. The high last year was 55 degrees. The record high of 78 was set in 1971. 2.0 inches of snow fell back in 1952.❄

Today it’s off to Paw Paw Tunnel and ultimately Maryland then onward Pennsylvania. 🚲 The tunnel, part of the C – I Canal National Park Trailway looks neat, it’s a canal through a mountain. Sunday’s forecast looks very wet, so I don’t know if I’ll bother to go to Asaph Run in hoping to bike the Pine Creek Rail Trail after a quick overnight camp. ⛺

It’s possible that I’ll decide to either do my overnight at County Bridge Campground or maybe if time allows, Long Pond State Forest in New York State. 🛣️ The later is free 🆓 and probably more on the route home, plus come Sunday it’s less than 2 hours home from there. If I do the later, I would probably take Interstate 80 from I 99 to I 81.

Or I could possibly overnight at the Paw Paw Campground, I’m just worried about of the drive in one day. 🚘 We’ll over six hours driving Interstate 81 which goes through several big cities like Harrisburg and Scranton versus the relatively quiet I-99. Really don’t want to drive more than four hours a day, with one hour play time and four hours to hike, bicycle or visit parks. 🏞

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:40 pm with sun having an altitude of 34.3° from the due south horizon (-36.5° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 8.8 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 5:16 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (246°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (253°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:55 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 2 seconds with dusk around 6:23 pm, which is one minute and 24 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Full 🌝 Moon in the east-northeast (75°) at an altitude of 6° from the horizon, 232,615 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:58 pm. At sunset, look for mostly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 63 degrees. The dew point will be 51 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 13 mph. Tomorrow will have 10 hours and 30 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 37 seconds over today.

Yesterday, I hiked 15 miles in Dolly Sods. 🚶 Not a bad day but most of the day was grayer then I would have hoped. 🌥 Lot of haze too. Hiked in from the Canaan Valley Wildlife Refuge and along much of the ridge overlooking the wildlife refuge. It was good, I visited some of the more remote places in the wilderness, though still a lot of people exploring there. Sort of hoped to make it across to the top of the Allegheny Front and maybe Bears Rocks 🐻 but time was tight with the early sunset 🌇, no overnight parking 🅿 signs where I was parked and simply the trail I planned to cross the Red Creek with – Dobbins Grade is low water crossng not the case this week. 🐸 Plus the beaver dam. In the evening around sunset walked the new boardwalk in the wildlife refuge off Freeman Drive. Headed back to camp, had a nice dinner and some beer 🍻, took down the tent and organized my gear.

I haven’t posted many pictures 📸 to either Facebook or the blog due to connection issues here but also because I’m trying to maximize my remaining time here in West Virginia. Time is precious. ⌛ I figure all next week I can go through my photos and start sharing them, bringing back memories of what was on my trip.

Tonight will have mostly cloudy ☁, with a low of 41 degrees at 6am. Six degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around October 11th. Northwest wind 8 to 13 mph. In 2022, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 29 degrees. The record low of 19 occurred back in 1969.

Sunday will rain starting around dawn. 🌧️High near 45. Northeast wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

I’m expecting a wet ending to my vacation both Saturday night and definitely Sunday for the last leg of the trip home. 🏡 It’s fine, it rained ☔ on the way down here too at least through New York. The colors probably are pretty much gone for the return trip home I would assume. Then it looks to be cold next week once I’m home. Hoping to ride to work a few more times both ways before the time change but I’m not holding out my breath for too many days next week. 🚲 Might even need to turn the heat back on in my apartment. In contrast, it’s been so warm in West Virginia that I only used the propane heater on Sunday evening and Monday morning ♨️, the rest of the week it’s been shut off and locked 🔒 up.

In 1956, Elvis Presley receives a polio vaccination on national TV. 💉This single event is credited with raising immunization levels in the United States from 0.6% to over 80% in just six months.

Then next Saturday is Daylight Savings Time Ends 🛥️ when the sun will be setting at 5:46 pm with dusk at 6:14 pm. On that day in 2022, we had sunny, warm and temperatures between 71 and 46 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 54 degrees. We hit a record high of 76 back in 1994.

Already thinking next week about potentially a four day trip out to Madison County. 🐮 Probably Stoney Pond and peddle around Cazenovia and the Cazenovia – Chittenango Rail Trail and possibly some of the single track mountain bike trails at Alfred Woodford and Tassel Hill. 🚲 Maybe take off the Monday before Election Day for a four day weekend as far away from politics as possible. Or the following Friday is Armstice Day aka Veterans Day Observed, so if I took off either Thursday or the following Monday, it’s another four day weekend. I want to get away one more time before rifle season 🦌.

Happy Labor Day 🧑‍🏭

It’s a nice morning after that thunderstorm came through earlier this morning. Woke me up, needed to run to the bucket shitter, started the coffee got a few more minutes of shut eye then it was breakfast started by frying onions up, then spinach, tomatoes and garlic in the food processor then eggs. Wanted to make an omelet but things were runnier then expected so it became scrambled eggs. It’s been a nice weekend but like always too short.

Good morning on this Labor Day! Partly sunny 🌞 and 61 degrees at the Perkins Clearing. Calm wind. The dew point is 60 degrees.

Already starting to take down an organize camp ⛺ but I’m waiting for more sun to take down the screen tent 🎪 and other gear like the flags. Also want to cook up a good lunch, I guess I could do that in advance and bring it along on the trail but first some hammock time.

Labor Day will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 83 degrees at 4pm. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around August 13th. Maximum dew point of 63 at 11am. Calm wind becoming west around 6 mph in the afternoon. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with a few breaks of sun the afternoon. It was sticky. The high last year was 87 degrees. The record high of 97 was set in 1929.

Today I am heading down to Spectulator 🛶, I’m not sure if I will kayak the Sacandaga River and swim in the beach 🏖 first or do a bike ride 🚵 up through the Long Level past Elm Lake in the Spectulator Tree Farm. Ultimately I want to end the day at the Spectulator Creamery which hopefully won’t be as packed as on Saturday and it much warmer. Then sometime before six o’clock when I head home I’m thinking of parking 🅿 at the lower Old Route 8B bridge 🌉 and riding up along the old road on Blackie, visiting Austin Falls and points along there. Alternatively I could go to Tribes Hill and ride some of the Canalway Trail though I don’t think it’s a good day to do that with the heat which will be worse in the valley. 😰 Maybe come the autumn.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:58 pm with sun having an altitude of 53.7° from the due south horizon (-16.2° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 4.4 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 6:52 pm with the sun in the west (274°). 📸 The sunset is in the west (281°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:30 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 59 seconds with dusk around 7:57 pm, which is one minute and 47 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:35 pm. At sunset, look for partly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 77 degrees. The dew point will be 64 degrees. There will be a west-northwest breeze at 5 mph. Today will have 13 hours and 6 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 54 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have patchy fog after 1am. Otherwise, partly cloudy 🌃, with a low of 58 degrees at 6am. One degree above normal, which is similar to a typical night around September 2nd. Maximum dew point of 65 at 8pm. Light north wind. In 2022, we had light rain. It was somewhat humid. It got down to 59 degrees. The record low of 37 occurred back in 1974.

After floating for a few hours on a rubber truck tube ⭕ at the swimming hole on Perkins Clearing Road at Jessup River, 🏊‍♂️ rode about 20 miles round trip from the swimming hole to the Spruce Lake Parking Area at the wilderness border. 🚵 It’s a nice ride but a surprising climb to the Spruce Lake parking area. 😰Good scenery, would have visited Spruce Lake if it wasn’t six o’clock and didn’t want to ride back in the dark.🌄 Ironically I made good time back on the return trip, I flew down the down hill and was back only a few minutes after seven.

Wish I had gotten an earlier start spent too much time chewing over my day plans then I fell asleep in the hammock 😴 and made a good lunch of onions, garlic, zucchini, tomatoes and chicken. Dinner was red lentil pancakes topped with cottage cheese with avocado and dessert was watermelon. 🍳 🥑 🥞

Much cooler next weekend, rain showers but some sun. 🌦️ Really almost autumn like. Saturday, showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 72. Chance of precipitation is 60%. Maximum dew point of 63 at 9am. Sunday, a chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 69. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Maximum dew point of 58 at 8am. Typical average high for the weekend is 77 degrees.

Might be a good weekend to go to Thacher Park 🏞 on the Nature Bus 🚍 bright and early, pack a lunch with my mountain bike 🚵 and ride all day, visit Thompsons Lake and even poke around many of the roads up that way. Sunday who knows, could just be a quiet day then go out and see the folks as it’s been two weeks now.

Looking ahead, next Monday is September 11th 🇺🇸 when the sun will be setting at 7:17 pm with dusk at 7:44 pm. On that day in 2022, we had mostly cloudy, rain showers and temperatures between 74 and 64 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 76 degrees. We hit a record high of 98 back in 1931. Can you believe the terrorist attacks were 22 years ago? I was a freshman back in college then. 🎓 That said, I don’t ever want to go back to those days, much less go back to a formal classroom again.

Andy Arthur.org

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