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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.

Gorging on Gorges, An Adventure, Day 2

I awoke for Day 2 of Gorging on Gorges, and it was a fairly warm morning, at least for the day before Columbus Day, in the back country of the Finger Lakes National Forest. I decided I wanted a full breakfast this morning, so I got some sausage frying up, the coffee peculator doing its thing, then scrambled some eggs with mushrooms and sweet peppers. It was a good breakfast. Packed up my gear, folded the flag, headed out on Potamac Road, and stopped grab a few pictures of the pastures along the road.

Driving along all these back-country roads, I was amazed during most of my trip in New York State, on how many anti-SAFE Act signs there were in front of houses and farms along the way. If there ever was an issue that galvinized the backwoods of Upstate NY, it has to be that stupid gun law. I would reminded of the opposition to the SAFE Act all week, until I finally crossed into Pennsylvania state-line – the last SAFE Act sign ended a ¼ mile before I left the state. I bet you that poor dairy farmer, was awful pissed to live on the wrong side of an imaginary line, so they had to be subjected to stupid laws, high taxes, and anti-farm regulations.

Drove down to Trumansburg and then to Taughannock Falls State Park’s Gorge Overlook. The main overlook, next to the parking lot was a complete tourist trap, with dozens of tourists, many obviously traveling a long ways to get there, crowded around the overlook deck, as everyone – myself included – scrambled to get that one trademark photo of the falls. I was glad to get away from that overlook.

Started along the North Rim trail along the gorge. I was looking for secret places to find isolated, beautiful views of fall, and the hike did not disappoint. I found one perfectly shrouded in colorful fall leaves, but with a view of falls. I snapped a picture. I continued along, and found some good views in the gorge, showing the depth and width it below the falls. Then I ran into Robin Smith and his wife – Twitter and Facebook friend. Chatted for five minutes, then I proceeded on.

In part, I was in a bit of a rush, trying to find a place to take a piss. All that coffee plus maybe an eye-opener drink wasn’t great for the bladder. There also were a few to many people around to do it right on trail, especially being so close to the road most of way. But eventually I did it, and was on my way.

The North Rim trail runs into the Black Diamond Trail, which crosses an old railroad bridge, converted to a hiking trail via some concrete slaps and fence placed on it. The high, old railroad trestle provides views of a smaller, upper waterfalls and the little known, but quite impressive upper gorge. The upper gorge, above the falls, is a deep, narrow, but beautiful gorge where the Taughannock Creek runs, cutting deep into the valley. For the best views, you have to take the South Rim trail, which is what I took next.

The South Rim trail is impressive. There is the big parking lot from the Gorge Overlook on Taughannock Road, or you can alternatively take Gorge Road, and halfway down it, park in the smallish pull-off. Don’t miss it though. If you follow the South Rim Trail, there are some views of the gorge below the falls, and one view of the gorge, extending out to Seneca Lake.

I hiked back to my pickup truck, and then drove down to the main part of Taughannock Falls State Park. I parked in main portion of the park, rather then the always crowded and tight to park in lot next to the trail to Gorge Trail, which runs inside the gorge to below the falls. Not wanting my truck damaged by an overly excited tourist, I figured it’s always safer to park in an empty lot. Walked down to Seneca Lake, and noticed how green the trees were still on the lake shore. This contrasts to sections of US 20, the previous day, where the colors were burnt out to say the least. I was also surprised to see the AES Cayuga in Lansing, across the lake, burning coal today. They must keep in standby for when the line frequency drops to low locally. Stopped in the bathrooms at Taughannock Falls State Park, which were just very gross – clean, but rusty and in old shape – like so many state facilities.

Then I hiked along the gorge trail to the fall, taking several moments to stop and take photos, and explore the river bed. I had previously been here, in mid-July, but it certainly was different now that fall was in full swing. The trail was popular, and in some places, downright crowded, but the riverbed, at least as far as one could hike, wasn’t nearly as crowded. The gorge walls were pretty with the fall leaves, although by the time I got the falls, the sun was right over the top of the waterfalls, so most of the pictures of the falls came out pretty poorly.

Headed back to the truck, then drove down to Ithaca. The traffic was as awful as always in that city. I had stop at the pharmacy, then it was off to Buttermilk Falls State Park. I was surprised they were still charging – the last day must be Columbus Day. By now, it was too late to keep Robert Treman State Park on my list; that will have to wait until tomorrow. This time, I intentionally hiked up the North Rim trail, up to West King Road, then down into the gorge. Last November, I hiked up the gorge, so I figured it would be interesting to go the other way this time.

Hiking down Buttermilk Falls was scenic, but not as a scenic as I remember it. Maybe after all this time hiking in gorges and exploring the gorges, they also start to look a bit alike – and we are only day two. It’s more scenic then most of other glens, besides Enfield Glen and Watkins Glen, but it’s still a step below them. The gorge swimming pool at the bottom of the gorge it was nice.

It was a good hike, until descending the slippery stairs, I slipped, and dropped my camera, and it fell like 20 feet, hitting a dozen of the stone stairs before coming to a rest. The fall did some serious damage to the camera, as one might expect. The protective UV filter was shattered, the case was cracked up the lens. I was not pleased, to say the least. There may have been a few cuss words. But so be it. The camera was under a drop warranty that I bought when I got it, but I was more worried that the fall would damage the camera, so I would be out of luck for taking more pictures for the rest of the trip.

I might have been pissed at myself for my careless handling and missteps, for a little while, cussed myself out. I was less pissed when I discovered the lens wasn’t destroyed, only the $5 UV filter. The camera seemed to continue to work well, although the flash doesn’t always pop up – a feature I almost never use at any rate. The camera seemed to work okay, and I picked up a second UV filter at Walmart later in the evening. Later in the week, I noticed the automatic focus was sticking – fortunately I have a drop warranty on the lens too. One of these days, I will get around to sending the camera back to the factory for warranty repairs or replacement.

Once I got over the shock, anger, and amusement of smashing up my camera, and got the shattered UV filter off the camera – it took a little fiddling, as the impact of the fall bent the ring – I enjoyed the remaining hike and vistas of falls. Snapped several other quite nice pictures. Went to Walmart to pick up a few supplies, then back to Finger Lakes National Forest, for another evening at camp.

When I drove up to the campsites on Chicken Coop Road, I was pleasantly surprised to find out the campsite I like was vacant. Whoever was the night before packed up, and there was no mess left over. Hung the flag up, set up the table, hung lights up, and gathered wood. Started a campfire, cracked open a beer, had soup and sandwitches for dinner. The colors in the woods were about peak here. Around 6:15 PM, walked across the road, to take a closer look at the cows grazing in the pasture.

I stayed up until 8:15 PM, when it started to sprinkle, and quickly turned to a heavier rain, and decided it was time to seek shelter under the truck cap. Again a bit annoyed about the rain, and my stupidity about not setting up a tarp earlier in the evening. I listened to the radio for a bit, played on my cellphone, and retired for the night. The good news was that by morning, the rain would have passed, although the skies would be cloudy, damp, and the temperature only around 47 degrees.

New Theme for the Blog. Central Vermont/Green Mountains This Extended Weekend. Lift Kits vs Other Toys. Getting off the Grid.

Good Morning! Happy Wednesday. Yes, folks it’s Wednesday. I think this is the first note I’ve done in a few months, but so be it. It really isn’t that hard to do notes, especially now that I’ve switched WordPress, and everything is pretty much standardized and easy to use. It’s a long one, jotted down over the past week,w with lots of things to talk about.

Working on a New WordPress Theme for the Blog. When I brought the blog over to WordPress, my intent was not to create another generic looking WordPress blog, although in many ways that’s how it ended up. I also messed up some of the code, and didn’t build a proper client theme, instead relying on an adapted theme.

The result was a kind of bland mess. The good news is I am now learning how to build a proper client theme on top of an existing, much nicer WordPress theme — that doesn’t look so much like a generic WordPress theme. One of the reasons I avoided for so long going with WordPress, as I didn’t want to end up with a very generic theme. But somehow it all ended up that way. I think the new theme I am going to — based on the popular Pinboard theme is much nicer.

Hopefully it will be up by the start of September, if all goes well. New maps up are on the blog today.

Heading Up to the Northern Half of Green Mountains this Weekend. Probably leave Friday after work, first camp in the Southern Green Mountains near Somerset Reservior, then head North on Vermont 100. There looks to be a lot of neat places to see in the northern Green Mountains, and some spectular scenery.

Plan to stay for a long weekend, by also taking off Monday and Tuesday, which promise to be pretty nice weather. As I don’t really know the area, a lot of the trip will be about seeing what is up there, and going from there to figure out what to do. I will bring the kayak and camera, and certainly are keeping my mind open to taking a nice hike somewheres. They are talking about a continuation of the recent low-humidity, temperate climate weather over the weekend, especially as we head into Monday and Tuesday. Supposed to be some good meteor showers.

I’ve decided to do more of these long weekends, rather then take any full weeks off this summer. I guess you could say the July 4th week was technically a week off, although actually July 4th and July 5th were holidays at the office, so they didn’t really count.

I might take a week-long trip in October to Western NY and Pennsylvania during peak foliage season. That said, I also want to do an extended weekend trip to Moose River Plains and also Lake Kushaqua/Jones Pond and recently re-opened Loon Mountain firetower.

Going to Put Off Getting the Lift-Kit Installed Until at Least March. Originally the plan was to have a lift-kit installed on my truck in October. But after giving it more thought, and carefully reviewing the options, I’ve decided the best option is to wait another six months or so. For one, I want to wear down the stock tires more, so I’m not wasting them as much, and also so I’m a bit closer to end of the factory warranty — the lift kit isn’t covered by the truck’s factory warranty, and while it wouldn’t invalidate the whole warranty, certainly any damage (as unlikely as it is) it could cause wouldn’t be warrantied.

But the other part of the rational is partly money-wise, and because I’m not totally sold on the lift-kit idea. I’ve thought about getting a snowmobile instead this winter, and have been looking at Want Ad Digest. That said, the more I look at it, the more I am not in a rush to get a snowmobile. As much fun as it would be to get deep in the back country in winter — assuming there are groomed trails back there — I worry about break downs and the alike. Not to mention, snowmobiles use a lot of gas, and really aren’t much more efficient then automobiles, because the snow drags them down.

The money-wise issue comes in that things are more expensive then I first estimated a year ago. I think I am going to go with 35s and a 6″ lift kit from a good brand like BDS. Any bigger then that isn’t cost-effective, and non-pratical. That will get me up high enough. The final increase in the height of the truck will be something like 8 inches, because the 35s are 4 inches larger in diameter then factory 31s, and a six-inch lift is half foot higher.

I also think I will go for full-leaf replacements in the back rather then add-a-leafs, to ensure the weight of the camper shell and equipment in the back won’t cause the nose to be pointing in the air, etc. Going to have it re-geared to save fuel, add some more power, not kill the engine or tranny. And there are some other things like the narrower brake lines that are recommended, among other parts, I would probably spring for when it comes to lift-kit. Plus all that labor cost, which will easily be a grand on it’s own.

I want to ride up higher. I am a tall guy. It also will give me a chance to “freshen” up the look of my truck, which after 2 1/2 years will be getting kind of boring and old. I want something I can get 10 years or more out of without getting totally bored with. After I do the lift kit, there are other projects for future years, such as getting the rocker panels Line-X’d, and replacing the bumpers with those awesome Ranch bumpers, that can actually be used for parallel parking without being damaged.

Or maybe I’ll find other toys to spend my money on. It’s good having some extra disposable money kicking around, as I’m sure future jobs won’t nearly pay as much.

Been Reading and Watching More Videos About Getting Off the Grid. Being somebody who camps most weekends from April to November in the back of my pickup truck, and relies heavily on my inverter and the deep cycle battery to keep things lighted up all evening long. I cook my own food in the woods, clean dishes using bottled water, burn my garbage, and dig a whole in woods when I need to go to the bathroom. Heck, with my laptop and the wireless card, I can be up in woods and surfing the web, doing work, and even fielding calls over my cellphone.

I have a pretty decent working understanding of electricity, and how all the off-the-grid thing too. I grew up in the country, are comfortable in woods, and know how to build a good fire in woodstove. I am fascinated to learn more about some of the relatively inexpensive and simplistic living arrangement many-off-the-griders live with, without all costs and hassles of an on-grid house.

My grandfather had one of those absorption-cooler refigerators/freezers in his RV at his campsite in Warrensburg. They’re neat, as one needs more then just a cooler when you live somewhere permanently, rather then wondering the wilderness in your pickup truck. They burn like 5-10 gallons of propane a month. But there also is these high-efficiency refrigerators that are electric and have a lot of insulation, so they don’t strain batteries in a PV/micro-hydro/wind system as much.

But a bigger issue for me is the ability to take showers and get cleaned up properly wherever I live. For that purpose, there are amazingly small tankless-water heaters that use a small amount of propane, but can get water very hot quickly. If you think small, you don’t really need that much flow, compared to a full-scale modern house with a massive-tanked water heater. Hot showers, and hot water for dishes is a necessity to keep clean. If I can get away with it from the code inspectors, I’d be fine with composting toilets or even just a plain old outhouse. That’s a luxury in woods.

Woodstoves, radiant flooring, and other familiar technology is self-explanatory. Having good insulation is a must in this part of the country. I don’t want to have trash pickup — I’m happy enough burning what can be burnt, and taking the glass and metals for proper recycling in the normal industrial fashion.

I like small houses. Smaller is better. I would rather spend my money on land, that could not only be used for recreation like riding quads, shooting guns, and hunting, but also for money by grazing livestock and timber. I am not a greeny, I don’t got a problem with using styrofoam plates for dinner and disposing them in an open fire. I just hate the whole upper-middle class, fancy house living style in the suburbs.

All this reading library books gots me thinking …

But for now I’m fine. As a transition though, I think I would next like to live in a small, handsome, downtown, one that is walkable to a bar and a store, but also provides ample-off-street parking. I think it would be a lot of fun to have an apartment on the second or third floor, above a shop, and be able to sit out and look at my window and watch the traffic go by.

Anywhere I live, I want to be near a National Forest or State Forest that allows free, primitive camping, in a remote-roadside fashion. Not to mention scenic vistas, places to hunt, fish, hike, and spend time outdoors. But I really want to get out of New York, at least eventually. I think it would be fun to own an AR-15, and eventually get a concealed carry permit from a must-issue state, without any pesky questions about whatever stupid things I did decades ago back in college — that hurt nothing but folks egos. To say nothing of not being in a state that’s totally anti-rural and not into the philosophical nature thing.

Far off I guess. Things aren’t that bad right now.

Finger Lakes National Forest

For the second day of the Finger Lakes Trip I spent a night at the Finger Lakes National Forest, a series of rather large leased public pastures interspersed with forested areas and ponds. National Forests are managed by the US Department of Agriculture, and this area in particular came under USDA jurisdiction in the 1930s when the Federal government bought out unproductive farms. This land was destroyed by the overuse of deep plowing for crops without proper management of soil erosion and fertility. It has since been well restored, thanks to controlled grazing and the creation of various wetlands.

I left around 10 AM from Balsam Pond, and headed out Route 23 to Cortland then down to Ithaca via Route 13. It was a beautiful day for sure, and there is some truly amazing country out around Pharsalia. I stopped briefly at the Cortland Walmart to buy a tarp and some windshield wipers — both badly needed as the rain would come later in the week. I also stopped down at Stewart Park in Ithaca briefly and snapped a few photos before heading west to the area of the Finger Lakes National Forest.

Here is the route I followed. The red line follows the route of my pickup on Sunday. The orange route is the auto tour I took on Monday. The blue point is Balsam Pond, the many red points are where I stopped to explore the National Forest.

View Finger Lakes Trip June 2009 in a larger map

Hiking along the orange trail in the northern part of the National Forest. Other trails allow horses, just not this one through the forest.

The northern portion of the Orange Trail passes this beautiful pond. There are places for tent camping along it — the USDA Forest Service is less restrict then DEC about camping, you need only be 50 feet away from water to set up a tent. They do not allow you to set tents up in cattle pasture during grazing season, for obvious reasons.

A beautiful orange butterfly was seen nearby that pond. There was an amazing amount of wild and domestic animals around when I explored things. There also was many deer, birds, and other things, to say nothing of both beeves and dairy cattle.

Many times the trails crossed into cattle pastures. To keep the cows from getting out, they had big reminder signs. It’s amazing that people could be so stupid to let the cows roam lose by accident. They don’t use cattle guards in this National Forest like they do out west, instead cows are fenced into pasture and off roads.

Howdy says the cow as you pass it on the trail. I think he liked my black stetson. They don’t see enough of them back east here.

Mind where you step on the trails.

There are some pretty big pastures in this National Forest.

Later in the day, it started to rain.

It really opened up and was raining so hard it was tricky to drive the dirt truck trails I was unfaimiliar with. That kind of sucked. Knowing that I wouldn’t be able to easily set up a tent in this heavy rain, that lasted most of the evening, and unable to find the road-side sites for camping (which I found in the morning).

I decided to stay at the Blueberry Patch primative campground in the National Forest, which costs $10 a night, via the honor system. They also have a group area, where groups can stay for $10 a night + 50 cents a person over 20 people. Quite neat. I paid, in part because the basic facilities (table/firepit/outhouses/nice tent platforms), where very well maintained.

Once I got settled in, I got the tarp hung up over the back of my truck.

And made some coffee mixed with Jack Daniels, and poured it into a styrofoam cup. It was real good and strong. It was good, dulled the pain and missery of the rain, and kept me up half the night.

In the morning I drove around the National Forest to just check out some more of the lands and the beautiful pastures. This was my route around the area. Red was the drive on Sunday, Monday is in Orange. Free Campsites are marked with a tent, the $10 a night Blueberry Patch campground has a picnic icon, and the part of the orange trail I hiked along is marked with a blue line.

View Finger Lakes Trip June 2009 in a larger map

Here is a map of the entire parcel from the Federal Government.

Andy Arthur.org

Search Results for: photo grazing away

November 16, 2016 6 PM Update

Gorging on Gorges, An Adventure, Day 2

New Theme for the Blog. Central Vermont/Green Mountains This Extended Weekend. Lift Kits vs Other Toys. Getting off the Grid.

Finger Lakes National Forest