Search Results for: photo fair bit of water going over potholers

May 5, 2020 Night

Good evening! Mostly clear and 48 degrees in Delmar, NY. 🌃 There is a northwest breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. It’s a pretty nice evening out, I sat out back for a while but soon I’ll retire to bed. Fairly nice evening.

Well I think despite my doctor’s doubts 😷 I have Lyme and the doxycycline is working well now that I finally started taking it. The soreness and stiffness is gone from legs. While it was never totally debilitating and I kept walking and hiking 🚶 I had the fear of not being able to climb the stairs in my apartment because the Lyme really was making me stiff at times. But that is already gone. But the doxycycline really hit me hard this time – all day I thought I’d need tooth picks to remain awake through five o’clock. Fairly slow day at work, had a project come in and phone call 📞 to make in the afternoon but I made it to five. It also made me feel like I needed to puke half the morning.

Between my before work and evening walk 🚶 today I got five miles of walking in. Not too bad. I tried replacing the battery and testing my bathroom scale ⚠without much luck. I’m sure weighting myself everyday isn’t going to tell me much besides the fact I just drank a lot of water 💦 or more likely milk. 🐮 I don’t believe the doctors scale plus I was wearing my carhartt vest, steel toe boots 👢 and a rain coat.

Bought two gallons of milk at Stewart’s for the week, ironically standing behind a local dairy farmer at the store who was buying coffee ☕. Pre pandemic I’d buy a gallon and go like twice a week for the freshest milk 🐄 but I know they say you should avoid unnecessary trips to the store. 🏬 Next week is the big half gallon ice cream sale. Price has gone up 20 cents to $3.19 during the sale. I don’t normally buy ice cream these days but when the sale is going on I’ll have to spring for a half gallon. 🍧🍨🍦Too bad it’s going to be mad cold next week.

I am thought about going out to Five Rivers Environmental Education Center or maybe Schodack Island State Park after work ⛲ but I was pretty tired from the doxycycline and was worried about falling asleep driving 🚘. I don’t need groceries right away at any rate. I feel so much less stiff but keeping my eyes 👀 open all day has been a challenge.

Tonight will have patchy frost after 1am. Otherwise, mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 34 degrees at 5am. 10 degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around April 7th. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening. In 2019, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 53 degrees. The record low of 29 occurred back in 1969.

Tonight will have a Waxing Gibbous 🌔 Moon with 97% illuminated. At 9 PM, the moon was in the southeast (131°) at an altitude of 28° from the horizon, some 226,726 miles away from where you are looking up from the earth. 🚀 At the state speed limit of 55 mph, you’ll make it there by October 24th. Buckle up for safety! 💺 The Flower 🌷 Moon is on Thursday, May 7. The darkest hour is at 12:53 am, followed by dawn at 5:14 am, and sun starting to rise at 5:45 am in the east-northeast (67°) and last for 3 minutes and 9 seconds. Sunrise is one minute and 17 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌄 The golden hour ends at 6:25 am with sun in the east-northeast (73°). Tonight will have 9 hours and 42 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 2 minutes and 20 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will have a slight chance of showers after 3pm. Partly sunny 🌞, with a high of 57 degrees at 2pm. 10 degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 13th. Light northeast wind. Chance of precipitation is 20%. More sun than I expected. A year ago, we had light rain in the morning, which became light rain by afternoon. The high last year was 74 degrees. The record high of 89 was set in 1930. There was a dusting of snow in 1994.❄

Tomorrow I may drive down to the library 📚 to upload maps 🌏 and reply back to the numerous emails 📧 I’ve gotten related to people’s questions about state lands. 🌲🌳 At times I feel like I’m an unofficial ambassador to state land. I also should try to make my mind up on what screen house I want to buy for camping and just order it. 🎪 It will make long weekends in black fly season and summer vacation a lot more enjoyable.

With the state campgrounds closed Memorial Day Weekend I am pretty sue I’ll stay in town that weekend and maybe take the following Friday off for a long weekend at Piseco Powley Road and the potholers. ⛺ I can always make my own three day weekend, I have quite a bit of time in my time bank 🏦 at this point working from home as no need to clock out if I feel a bit sick or need to run a quick errand.

I bet in a few more weeks the cold will pass ❄ it will be so sultry out. I’m kind of hoping to be back working downtown by then because I don’t have air conditioning at home and it could be a bit sultry working out of my truck. 🚘 I guess there is always a fan and lots of water with ice cubes.

In four weeks on June 2 the sun will be setting in the west-northwest (302°) at 8:27 pm,🌄 which is 27 minutes and 12 seconds later then tonight. In 2019 on that day, we had partly sunny, rain showers and temperatures between 76 and 49 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 74 and 53 degrees. The record high of 94 degrees was set back in 1895.

Looking ahead, 8:30 PM Sunset ️⛱️ is a month away, Primary Day 🗳️ is in 7 weeks, and Election Day 2020 🗳️ is in 26 weeks.

🇺🇸🦅Only 17 days remain until the start of Memorial Day Weekend!🦅🇺🇸

East Towards High Peaks

August 14, 2019 Night

Good evening! Partly clear and 71 degrees in Delmar, NY. 🎑 There is a northwest breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 58 degrees. Big bright moon overhead but it’s still warm enough that I decided to run the fan in my bedroom for a bit. My electric bill was only $48 last month which wasn’t too bad but I also left the water heater off because it’s been warm and I was gone for a week on vacation.

I am pretty sure this weekend I’m going to spend at the Potholers. 🏊 I’m going to make it a three day weekend, taking off Monday of next week. I just have to find coverage at work. I could even take off Tuesday but without a camping permit I’d have to camp somewhere else. I’ll have to think about it some more. I have the time, I’ve not taken off my this summer and it’s going to be quite warm.

Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌤, with a low of 59 degrees at 5am. One degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around August 21st. Maximum dew point of 58 at 10pm. North wind around 5 mph. In 2018, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It was sticky. It got down to 67 degrees. The record low of 48 occurred back in 1964.

Tonight will have a Full Moon 🌕 with 99% illuminated. The moon will set at 5:52 am. The sun will rise at 6:01 am with the first light at 5:31 am, which is one minute and 5 seconds later than yesterday. 🌄 Tonight will have 10 hours and 4 minutes of darkness, an increase of 2 minutes and 31 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will have a slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Partly sunny 🌞, with a high of 81 degrees at 3pm. Typical for tomorrow. Maximum dew point of 62 at 4pm. Light and variable wind. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. It was humid. The high last year was 88 degrees. The record high of 96 was set in 1959.

In four weeks on September 11 the sun will be setting at 7:12 pm,🌄 which is 46 minutes and 13 seconds earlier then tonight. In 2018 on that day, we had partly cloudy, rain showers and temperatures between 70 and 58 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 74 and 54 degrees. The record high of 98 degrees was set back in 1931.

Looking ahead, State Fair Opens 🎡 is in 1 weeks, Back to School Day 🎒 is in 3 week, September 11th 🇸 is in 4 weeks, More Night then Day 🌌 is in 6 weeks and Inauguration Day 2021 👴🏻 is in 75 weeks.

Otter View

June 17, 2019 Morning

Good morning! Final week of the Legislative Session. Or so I’m hoping. Sitting downtown at a railway station 🚉 one toke over the line. Or so goes the Brewer and Shipley song on the radio. Next Monday is Latest Sunset of the Year 🌆. About a half week after the first day of summer, due to the shifting transit of the sun. Now if the sun ever came out, we could enjoy that more. Maybe today. Partly sunny and 68 degrees in Delmar, NY. Calm wind. The dew point is 57 degrees. Going to a nice day.

Feeling fairly decent this morning, 😀 only with a minor headache that isn’t bothering me too much. DIdn’t feel all that great after going to see my parents house, but then I went home and got to bed fairly early. I was originally planning to spend the night at my parents house in the camper shell, but it was kind of rainy, wet evening, so I decided to go home. 👔 I think it was a good thing though, because it gave me time last night to get my shirts hung up, and clothes put away before this most busy of weeks at work. I am just allergic to Mondays, or so I think. I did clean up the mildew in the bathroom, especially in the tub, 🛀 so hopefully that will help.

Today will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 79 degrees at 4pm. Nice weather, with temperatures typical for today. Maximum dew point of 57 at 8am. Low humidity, nice. Calm wind becoming north around 5 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. The high last year was 90 degrees. Much hotter. The record high of 94 was set in 1994.

I fully expect a long day at work. I packed lunch and dinner, and hopefully I will be able to find room in one of multiple mini-refigerators that have in the office to make up for the big dead one. 🍗🌯😋 I am guessing I will be taking the 9:45 or 10:30 bus home tonight, 🚌 but the nice thing about the bus, is even if I’m in a daze and tired, I don’t have to worry about the traffic lights or hitting something. Plus, I think most of the drivers know my stop, and I’ll set the alarm on the phone for 5 minutes before I expect to need to get off the bus. I’m going to take each day by day this morning, and only get my truck in evening if I expect to be released between 11:30 PM and 6 AM — which seems unlikely.

The sun will set at 8:35 pm with dusk around 9:10 pm, which is 21 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for partly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 72 degrees. The dew point will be 56 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Today will have 15 hours and 18 minutes of daytime, an increase of 15 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have isolated showers after 11pm. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a low of 59 degrees at 4am. Two degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around June 22nd. Maximum dew point of 56 at 7pm. Calm wind. Chance of precipitation is 20%. In 2018, we had mostly clear skies. It became sticky as the night progressed. It got down to 71 degrees. The record low of 39 occurred back in 1958.

Looks like a really nice weekend. Two options are on the short list for the weekend. ⛺ My preferred option would be to leave after work on Friday for Piseco Powley Road, paddle Lily Lake from Stewart Landing, see the Lilies 🌸, have a nice fire 🔥 and maybe do the Potholers on Sunday. I also want to hike back to Dexter Lake but I doubt I’ll be able to do that in a weekend. It would be nice to get back to the Adirondacks — the last time I was up in the area was in early May, and I would like to see Lily Lake before the lilies are gone, like happened last year.

But that all depends on how long the legislative session goes this week. 🏯 If I’m at work until 3 AM on Friday I’m not going to drive up to the Adirondacks unless maybe they give us Friday off. I also need time to pack 💼 and pick up some supplies although I guess I could stop on my way out there. It’s possible but unlikely that Wednesday will be the very late night. Maybe things could go into Friday daytime but I doubt it. I am not going to kill myself to get up there on a lack of sleep 😴 with Friday traffic.

The alternative is a Schoharie County trip. 🏊 Mine Kill pool opens Saturday so I could hike the trails around there, swim in the pool, ⛺ camp at Burnt Rossman, 🚶 hike the Cliffs of Middleburgh or Vromans Nose, fish the Schoharie Creek 🐠 and swim again. That could be nice alternative. I always like to do a few Schoharie County trips during the summer weekends, especially once that sweet corn is out. But I could get some strawberries 🍓 and maybe tomatoes 🍅 are Boriengers this weekend. If that’s the option I’m stuck with, which really wouldn’t be bad but I’d prefer the Adirondacks.

Wiring projects are done on the truck. 🔋I’m really interested to see how things preform with the additional battery, and how much power I’m actually getting out of the solar panel in various conditions. With the clouds yesterday, I only have a total of 82 watt hours from the panel, but to be fair it was cloudy and rainy yesterday, and the solar controlled floated the batteries after I had driven a bit with the alternator doing most of the topping off. I was thinking I am pretty much done with wiring projects, but now I’m thinking about getting an MPPT solar controller. ☀ That would help with charging the batteries better in low light conditions, and they’ve certainly come down in price, even if a decent quality one — like the Renology Rover, which I found for sale as low as $80. But not right away, as it would require some moving around of components and cutting new wires, and I’m in no rush to do it, when my existing PWM controller works just fine, and may be more then suitable for all my needs. Plus $80 bucks is money spent today is money that can’t be saved for a future, when I have land and actual need for a real MPPT solar controller for my off-grid home.

It will be interesting to see what happens with marijuana this week. 🚬 For sure. I think it’s an interesting agriculture crop 🌾, especially after reading that article this weekend in the Buffalo News that I shared below about the possibility of home growing. Turns out it’s a pretty easy crop to grow in a backyard flower pot, which is not surprising as you sometimes find it growing in the woods. I think it could get people interested in gardening and agriculture, although I do think there are legitimate concerns about the smoke and odors of people burning it especially in urban areas. It really stinks and the odor lingers around — I can tell when people are smoking pot in the parking lot 100 feet from my place — or when somebody gets on the bus after smoking.💨 Few things besides mucking a hog or dairy barn are as pungent in the air or on your clothes. 🐽

Hopefully with the majority of the nation’s population legalizing it we can see national action as that would make it easier for growers and avoid potential headaches for gun owners with the existing laws, although I’m not sure how they’d know if you bought legal pot or not. It might be a fun crop to grow in a pot or garden with other herbs and veggies 🌿 and cure when I own land, although I doubt I’d ever pay the high price for it commercially. 💰 Maybe if I got it free at a reception or party, but I’m not going to spend $20 bucks for a hit of it at some fancy-pansy commercial place. I would never use it heavy, but maybe a few times a year, a hit or some pot brownies would be good, especially when I own my own land.🍰

On this day in 1972, Five White House operatives are arrested for burgling the offices of the Democratic National Committee,👮 in an attempt by some members of the Republican party to illegally wiretap their opposition. 👂This would become the basis for the Watergate scandal. Then Tom Paxton wrote a fun song about it. Had they not burglarized the Watergate, Mr. Paxton would have had to write a different song. The DNC stuck there for decades after, but lately has moved to a newer shiny office building of their own.

As previously noted, next Monday is Latest Sunset 🌆 when the sun will be setting at 8:37 pm with dusk at 9:12 pm. On that day in 2018, we had rain and temperatures between 76 and 61 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 80 degrees. We hit a record high of 96 back in 1943.

More Pond Scumb

May 5, 2019 Night

Good evening! Partly clear and 56 degrees 🌉. There is a east-southeast breeze at 6 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 49 degrees. The skies will clear tomorrow around 11 am. Not a terrible evening but I decided against sitting out back after my evening walk. Should be a great evening for sleeping. 💤

Sipping on some nice cold drink of water with a hint of that cider vinegar. 🍏 I’m so glad I quit drinking alcohol. 🍻 Budwiser is so tasty now that it’s a rare treat in the wilderness. Water is so much healthier and has zero calories. And cheaper. Maybe the slight acidity is bad for the teeth but I can’t imagine it’s any worse than soda. I do get regular check ups at the dentist and I still drink a lot of milk 🐮 although not as much as I once did as milk is kind of expensive and a lot of calories.

All and all it was a pretty sucky weekend weather wise, 💦 but except for running to the store I pretty much stayed home. I did get groceries so I’m not totally out of food like yesterday when I was stuck eating cream of chicken soup 🐔 dunked with stale bread. Hey, it had to be used up and I was in a cranky mood yesterday so I wasn’t going to go shopping. I figured sticking around home saves money. As does using up what is at home before buying more.

Tonight will have a slight chance of rain before 10pm, then a slight chance of showers between 10pm and 1am. Cloudy 🌧, with a low of 49 degrees at 6am. Five degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around May 21st. East wind around 6 mph becoming north after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 20%. In 2018, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became light rain by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 54 degrees. The record low of 29 occurred back in 1969.

Tonight will have a Waxing Crescent Moon 🌒 with 5% illuminated. The First Quarter Moon is on Friday night with mostly cloudy skies expected. The Flower Moon 🌝 is on Friday, May 17th. The sun will rise at 5:43 am with the first light at 5:12 am, which is one minute and 17 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌄 Tonight will have 9 hours and 42 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 2 minutes and 22 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will be partly sunny 🌞, with a high of 71 degrees at 5pm. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around May 20th. Maximum dew point of 49 at 4pm. North wind 3 to 5 mph. Should be a nice day. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 65 degrees. The record high of 89 was set in 1930. There was a dusting of snow in 1994.❄

Tomorrow is another work day but with my south facing office 🏢 the sun will be nice ☀. I love the views of the Heldebergs and Catskills from my office and with all the greenery from the spider plants 🌾 its always nice. I’ll definitely walk outside to the Capitol.

Over the weekend I worked on some improvements to the blog that make it easier for me to locate old content for refeaturing and updating. After all these years of blogging it becomes hard to constant think up new things. 💭

I won the eBay auction for the hand drill 🔩 I plan to use for drilling holes in quarter inch luan plywood for building LED signs. Minimum bid $8, even with shipping I think I got a fair deal – certainly cheaper than buying new and much higher quality rool. I am thinking my first project will be a USA red white and blue sign for use at camp.💡 I’ll probably just run it at five volts USB power with everything in parallel. If I drive the LEDs at 15 mA I can run 30 in parallel and draw about 1/2 amp at 5 VDC or 2.5 watts.

I also ordered two more HC-05 Bluetooth modules and a USB to serial adapter 🔌 from China to replace the one I burnt up this weekend. Still haven’t paired the two together I have but I’ll figure it out eventually. I also played with the waterproof temperature sensor a bit today. I got to get it now working with the esp32 that drives my VMS display and run the wires outside so I can measure the outside temperature. ❄

I started thinking more about what life would be like without an automobile 🚘 this weekend. I’ve thought a lot about the savings but less about the costs – ride sharing fares, more bus fares, car rentals, laundromat, paid trash pickup vs hauling my own, and even having to either order online or buy from Hannaford rather than buy cheaper at Walmart. The big savings seem less than at first. Well I guess the same thing is true when I study car insurance 🚙 options – big savings don’t materialize by shopping around if you want to maintain decent coverage. The way you save big bucks is by dropping the amount of coverage you have which increases your risk especially in case of severe accident. Being that I don’t own a house nor have my money tied up in property it’s less safe from liability lawsuits so I want to have decent coverage. 💵 Plus I think it would mean a lot less nights in the wilderness.

Right now, next weekend looks pretty nice. 😎 Saturday, partly sunny, with a high near 64. Maximum dew point of 46 at 6am. Sunday, a chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 64. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Maximum dew point of 44 at 11am. Typical average high for the weekend is 68 degrees.

If the weekend forecast remains true, 👍 I’m still thinking about Piseco Powley Road and then Little Falls on Saturday. ⛺ Things could change before the though. I know that the gates are closed north of the Potholers but the lower part of the road will be open and hopefully won’t be too soft. Or I could consider other alternatives.

In four weeks on June 2 the sun will be setting at 8:27 pm,🌄 which is 27 minutes and 14 seconds later then tonight. In 2018 on that day, we had humid, partly sunny, patches of fog and temperatures between 78 and 60 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 74 and 53 degrees. The record high of 94 degrees was set back in 1895.

Looking ahead, Mothers Day 👩‍ is in 1 weeks, 8:30 PM Sunset ️⛱️ is a month away, Fathers Day 👨 is in 6 weeks, Dog Days of Summer 🌻 is in 2 months, National Nude Day 👱 is in 10 weeks, Sunset Before 7:30 PM 🌆 is in 17 weeks, Autumn 🍂 is in 20 weeks and Average High is 60 🍂 is in 23 weeks.

Spent a while yesterday on the Great Stairs looking down at Enfield Glen

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!