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A quick pot of oatmeal, a shower and finishing up packing and I’m off. ⛺

Samdil Farm, Walmart, Roger’s Orchard, set up camp, swim and ride is the plan for today. Got to maximize it as tomorrow still looks fairly wet.

Good morning! Happy Thursday. Mostly cloudy and 67 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☁ There is a south breeze at 6 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 65 degrees. The skies will clear around 1 pm.

Quick breakfast 🥣 of overnight oatmeal which doesn’t require any cooking and blueberries with yogurt and cold coffee ☕. Finish packing up now and get on the road early. Looking forward to some good sweet corn 🌽 and peaches 🍑 up at camp and floating on the tube ⭕. Looking forward to getting away from it for a while before a five day work week where I’ll be filling in for the role of the unit director in my office 🏢.

Today will have a slight chance of showers between 1pm and 2pm, then a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Patchy fog before 7am. Otherwise, partly sunny 🌞, with a high of 80 degrees at 4pm. Two degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around August 28th. Maximum dew point of 69 at 11am. South wind 6 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, which became thunderstorm by afternoon. It was somewhat humid. The high last year was 78 degrees. The record high of 97 was set in 1913.

I decided against bringing the kayak 🛶 as between swimming 🏊, hiking 🚶 and riding Blackie 🚵 I’ll have plenty to do. I don’t really feel that much like paddling in the Mohawk River and I’ve done the East Canada Creek a million times in the kayak. I’d rather just set up at House Pond Campsite ⛺ and float in the tube ⭕ from there.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 1:00 pm with sun having an altitude of 60.9° from the due south horizon (-10° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 3.3 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:18 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 7:56 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 4 seconds with dusk around 8:24 pm, which is one minute and 30 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Crescent 🌒 Moon in the west (280°) at an altitude of 4° from the horizon, 251,522 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 9:03 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and thunderstorms 🌩 and temperatures around 76 degrees. The dew point will be 67 degrees. There will be a south-southeast breeze at 9 mph. Today will have 13 hours and 53 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 35 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms before 8pm, then a slight chance of showers between 8pm and 11pm, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 11pm. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a low of 66 degrees at 6am. Five degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 68 at 6pm. South wind around 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. 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 61 degrees. The record low of 40 occurred back in 1981.

Tomorrow showers and thunderstorms likely before 2pm, then a chance of showers. ☔ Mostly cloudy, with a high near 77. Southeast wind 7 to 14 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between three quarters and one inch possible.

Not gonna to be a real nice day 📙 but I have several books to read and I’ll have the heater in case I get chilled through. Do some cooking and handing out at camp. 🍳 Probably can still do some hikes or riding Blackie 🚵 along Piseco-Powley as it doesn’t look to be a complete soaker of a day.

On this day in 1977, the Soviet icebreaker Arktika becomes the first surface ship to reach the North Pole. 💈And in 1982, the first Compact Discs (CDs) are released to the public in Germany. 💿 Seems like such an obsolete technology now with streaming.

Right now, a split verdict on the weekend. 😕 Saturday, a slight chance of showers before 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 70. West wind around 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. Maximum dew point of 57 at 12pm. Sunday, sunny, with a high near 83. Maximum dew point of 63 at 7pm. Typical average high for the weekend is 82 degrees.

The weekend looks much better ☀ but Saturday might be too cold for swimming 🏊 but excellent weather for riding Piseco-Powley or may be Old Edick Road with Blackie 🚵. Could be muddy though on Old Edick. But also I just like laying in the hammock watching the clouds 🌥 float on by.

One month 📅 from now will be Constitution Day 📜 when the sun will be setting at 7:03 pm with dusk at 7:30 pm. The average high temperature is 34 degrees, with a record high of 61 in 1895.

June 10, 2023 – Looking Ahead This Week

Really the big question is next weekend — Juneteenth on my mind, though also Sunday now that looks like the best day for the Gas Up with dad. 🚜 But first I got to get through this crazy weekend with work, so things can slow down for summer next week. 🏊 🏕 I am a little worried about the long range for next weekend, though truth be told most models beyond seven days are complete crap, projections easily thrown off by a butterfly flapping his or her wings in South America effecting the global climate model that far out. The good news is it looks like beneficial rain come Monday as things have been so dry lately. 🌧

Today. Feels like … May 27th.	Partly sunny. Northwest wind 6 to 9 mph. and	74 degrees	, 53 max dew point,	8:34 sunset.
Tonight. Feels like … May 23rd.	Patchy fog after 5am. Otherwise, partly cloudy. West wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening. and	50 degrees	,	5:15 sunrise.
Sunday. Feels like … July 4th.	Patchy fog before 7am. Otherwise, partly sunny. Calm wind becoming south 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon. and	83 degrees	, 59 max dew point,	8:34 sunset.
Sunday Night. Feels like … July 2nd.	Isolated showers and thunderstorms, then a chance of showers after 8pm. Cloudy. Southeast wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. and	61 degrees	, 60 max dew point,	5:15 sunrise.
Monday. Feels like … May 23rd.	A chance of showers before 2pm, then rain after 2pm. High near 73. South wind 9 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. and	73 degrees	, 62 max dew point,	8:35 sunset.
Monday Night. Feels like … June 22nd.	Rain and possibly a thunderstorm before 2am, then rain likely. Low around 59. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible. and	59 degrees	,	5:15 sunrise.
Tuesday. Feels like … June 8th.	Rain likely before 8am, then a chance of showers after 8am. Partly sunny. Chance of precipitation is 60%. and	77 degrees	, 60 max dew point,	8:35 sunset.
Tuesday Night. Feels like … June 5th.	A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy. Chance of precipitation is 40%. and	54 degrees	,	5:15 sunrise.
Wednesday. Feels like … May 19th.	Showers likely. Chance of precipitation is 70%. and	72 degrees	, 58 max dew point,	8:36 sunset.
Wednesday Night. Feels like … June 1st.	A chance of thunderstorms before 8pm. Partly cloudy. Chance of precipitation is 30%. and	53 degrees	,	5:15 sunrise.
Thursday. Feels like … June 11th.	A chance of showers. Mostly sunny. Chance of precipitation is 30%. and	78 degrees	, 56 max dew point,	8:36 sunset.
Thursday Night. Feels like … June 8th.	Partly cloudy. and	55 degrees	,	5:15 sunrise.
Friday. Feels like … June 4th.	A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny. Chance of precipitation is 30%. and	76 degrees	, 54 max dew point,	8:36 sunset.

Ice L.O.B.

Looking down at the Legislative Office Building from the Alfred E Smith Building in 2008, after the big ice storm of December 2008 covered everything with ice.

Taken on Friday December 12, 2008 at Ice Storm 2008.

East Canada Creek Below Edick Road Ledge

If you climb down the steep ledge off Edick Road Campsite 1, you can find a quiet place to watch wildlife from the shadows overlooking a marshy part of the East Canada Creek.

Taken on Saturday August 14, 2021 at Piseco-Powley Road.

Not Looking Forward to Being Stuck at Home

I am not looking forward to remote work this winter … 💻

While I am the first to admit that remote work during the summer months was kind of fun when I could camp and work out of Spectulator or other parts of the state, with winter underway, I am not looking forward to being cooped up, alone in my small, cold apartment.

I decided against getting wired Internet – for now I am using my phone for most of my work – transferring files to the laptop, but I plan to add hot spot service to my phone for things best done on the laptop.. Sure, I do play and work a lot on my phone but it’s not the same as computer internet with the smaller screen and processor. I should spend more time reading, or doing data analysis and soldering, working on Arduino projects, rather then wasting it browsing the web or using social media.

While the long, cold dark winter days are never fun, working downtown tended to break up the days, especially when I was busy in the office. I enjoyed going for walks on the Plaza on sunny and reasonably warm winter days, and having the Concourse to walk at lunch time even on the coldest a snowy days. Work in office always involved days around the office, bullshitting, interacting with people. You loose a lot of the human touch over Zoom and email. It’s easier to understand people in person.

Sometimes I do plan to be in my office. There are just some things that can’t be done remotely from a practical standpoint. Those days, broken up by the bus ride back and forth and the quiet time, will be a nice change, but still it’s a lot of gray, cold, and cramped days at home.

I have next week off from work.

I have next week off from work. With the shorter days and cooler weather my plans are less ambitious than what would have happened in November but I expect have a nice trip out in the Finger Lakes late autumn camping under blue skies and starry nights. 🌌

I wanted to call the Forest Service today to see if the road I’m thinking camping on is plowed in the winter in case of snow, although I don’t think there is much snow at all up there based on the forecast. ⛺My tent wouldn’t hold up in the snow at any rate, so I would need to head home if snow was in the forecast. I will bring a snow shovel and a bag of rock salt just in case. I’m not going to park far from the road, I’ll instead bring like 100 ft of power cord to feed power back from the accessory battery to the campsite.

I’m looking at getting a good quality axe for splitting wood. I have a hatchet and a saw but I’m thinking I will need to build up a pretty good wood supply.🔥 That said, I won’t have a fire until dusk at quarter to five o’clock and if it gets cold out I’ll probably retire to the tent for the night, and can warm up next to the heater on low, shutting it off before bed. I’ll make sure to put fresh batteries in the co detector, not that I’ve ever seen it read above “5” and that’s usually from campfire smoke blowing in the tent. I doubt I’ll stay up much past 8 or 9 pm most nights and then wake up each morning before dawn around 7 am so I can start breakfast and have coffee ready and breakfast well underway before the sun rises around 7:30 am. ☕It’s fun watching the sun rise on a crisp morning, sitting out next to the heater. ✉

I got to oil up my guns well so they don’t rust with the moisture. 🔫 I need my back tag, it’s southern zone. I got to bring my good knives too. I need to find all the tarps and bungees I have so I can build a wind block.💨 I don’t expect a ton of wind but even a light breeze can make it cold this time of year. I need to test out the heater and lantern either on Wednesday or Thursday to make sure they are working. Don’t expect problems but it’s better to be safe. 💡

I want to park the truck where I am not only close to the road but also have good southerly exposure for the solar panel. 🔲 I expect with the bright sunny skies I should have plenty of sun to fully charge the accessory battery and freshen up the starting battery without ever having to start the engine although I’ll probably still idle the truck for ten minutes if I’m there for multiple days to be safe. I’m figuring the accessory battery when fully charged in the cold conditions will have 40 amp hours at 12 volts each night or 480 watt hours. It’s a 105 amp hour battery but the low voltage relay disconnects the load once it falls below 12.1 volts or 50%. It actually cuts out a bit earlier than that due to line drop but it’s keeping the battery really healthy. I should be good for power as long as I limit my consumption to reasonable amounts – and there is plenty of sun hitting the panel each day.😎 Certainly when I have an off grid cabin I’d want a bigger system but for now my system works great, ever since I added the panel.

I got some books from the library and I am looking at some others to pack from home or get through interlibrary loan. 📚 Long nights mean a lot of reading, which will be good especially with the gas lantern and maybe electric lights. I also plan to listen a lot to the radio and podcasts. 📻 Where I’m camping might not have really good cell service from the campsite itself but that’s fine, I spend too much time on social media at any rate. I will check in though from time to time.

I’m working on the packing list. Lots of long underwear, insulated overalls, wool socks, boots, face mask, hats and gloves. Usual winter stuff. I might bring skis as there might be cross country skiing opportunities. I don’t know for sure though. I’ll have plenty to stay warm and if I need additional things Walmart isn’t that far away.

Also working on a menu for supplies. Higher calorie foods in the cold are good. 🍛 Been reading a lot lately about stews one can make easily on a cold night in the wilderness using common ingredients. Plan to make a lot of rolls and muffins, soup and pizza. The camp oven will be put to good use. I really should pick a few different recipes to try out for the first time as I have a lot of time at night. I’m not worried about cooking after dark with all the lights and listening to the radio or music – few animals are bold enough to raid a campsite like that. I’ll have my shotgun around if animals need a louder bang to get the message to take off. 🍪 Don’t expect I’ll need to buy much ice during the week.

Mostly will stay near camp, hunting and hiking the nearby woods. ⛺ One day or two might visit a few other state parks and forests and maybe head down to the Watkins Glen library one day and see the lights in town at dusk – probably when I need supplies. I’ll have to go to Ithaca though if I run out of propane. Not planning to do a lot of traveling on this trip.🚗 I lack a set return date – I took the full week off from work but I’m really thinking 4-5 nights but maybe longer if the weather is good and I’m having a good time. I don’t have a set schedule.

Started looking at solar power for camping

For some time now, I’ve wanted to learn more about solar electricity. I have read books on it and know how it works in principal, but I have basically no first hand experience as it comes to solar power. At the same time, my electrical load is growing on my truck when camping, especially once I install the CB radio installed in my truck.

Why I Am Thinking Of Going Solar

I hate having to turn on the truck to charge the battery every couple hours, especially when I am sticking around a campsite all day rather then traveling. With higher gas prices this year, due to being an election year, I am thinking of spending more time at a campsite – especially if I do more hunting and fishing this year.

Idling the truck works okay for creating electricity, especially in summer evenings when the darkness is short, and I’m usually not back to camp until 8 or 9 PM. But sometimes when I am hanging out in camp – especially in the morning – it’s a pain to have to start the engine up and listen to the racket it makes, in the quiet of the woods. A solar cell would start charging the battery as soon as the sun rises, and by the time I awoke, the deep-cycle would probably be almost fully charged.

I worry about idling my truck a lot too. Car and truck engines are not designed to idle at a set speed for long periods of time. While engines are a lot better then years past, I’ve always felt it puts a lot of strain on the engine doing this. That said, I had my previous truck until it was 13 years old, and the engine ran fine. I got rid of it because I wanted a new full-size truck and the old one had increased mechanical costs from things like brakes and suspension parts that kept breaking down in the boonies.

I’ve started looking at solar panels, especially in the light of the fact that solar power has come down so much in price. They say it’s about $1 a watt, although for the most part the solar panels I’ve looked at are closer to $1.40-$1.50 a watt. Even at the $1.50 watt price it’s not unreasonable, as I’ve seen several 100 watt panels below $150.

Not only that, but the modern solar panels are mono-crystalline, so they more produce more electricity in less space. The 100-watt mono-crystalline panels I’ve seen have dimensions of roughly 3.5 feet by 2.5 ft. Pretty darn small, especially compared to the amount of energy they generate. Have you ever tried generating 100 watts riding on stationary bike? It’s a lot of work – despite the fact we use incredible amounts of fossil energy in our homes. Even if I get only 50-60 watts out of the panel, that’s still a 1/2 a kilowatt hour per day.

Storage box I am thinking of building to store my solar panel when not using it camping.

Why I Don’t Use Solar Power Right Now

I’ve pondered solar power on and off. I’ve thought about mounting solar panels on my truck cap, but generally have frowned on the expense and the cost-benefit ratio. The reality is idling my truck to charge up the accessory battery works fairly well, and is low cost compared to driving it there and back.

Most of my energy use is at night when I am at camp for the night, sitting by the campfire, listening to music, lighting up the flag, the decorative lights, and LED lamps for general camp lighting. The sun doesn’t shine at night, so I would still have to use the alternator and idle as the battery runs low. Finding direct sunlight sometimes can sometimes be challenging at campsites far back in the woods. That’s why you have to make sure you have enough wire of sufficient gauge to put a solar panel a far distance away. But at 8.5 amp of current, the wire size shouldn’t have to be enormous.

I also had concerns about mounting the solar panels on the roof of my truck, going through car washes or if trees brushed along the roof top of my soon to be jacked up truck. I also figured it would reduce my fuel economy by wind resistance, canceling out all benefit to mounting it on the roof.

But the main reason I put off going solar, was it just seemed like very little power for a lot of money. Spending like $200 bucks for 5-6 amps of power, didn’t seem like a good use of money, especially when the alternator puts out so much current. However, unlike an alternator the solar panel runs whenever the sun is up, while the alternator only spins when the engine is running – typically 10 minutes every 1.5-2.5 hours.

Solar panel prices have come down a lot lately, and while they produce a lot less electricity then a big gas engine that is running, they produce it all the time when the sun is shinning.

Andy Arthur.org

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