Good morning! Happy Thursday. Vacation is going by much too quickly but I’m excited as today I’m going to West Virginia through Sunday. Three weeks to Halloween 🛥️. Sunny and 42 degrees at the Buzzard Swamp Coop Mangement Area. 🌞 Calm wind.

This morning I started out the day with walk back to Buzzard Swamp 🐦. Beautiful morning with fog 🌁 over part of the Buzzard Swamp. I really do tight invest in a good pair of binoculars. 🔭Maybe I’ll look at that for Christmas 🎄 sales time. Later it’s to Punxsutawney on PA 36 then Mount Davis Pennsylvania High Point and then Cannan Heights WV.

Today will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 66 degrees at 3pm. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around October 1st. East wind 3 to 5 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. It was humid. The high last year was 83 degrees. The record high of 89 was set in 1939. 0.8 inches of snow fell back in 1925.❄

The sun will set at 6:43 pm with dusk around 7:11 pm, which is one minute and 38 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 63 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Today will have 11 hours and 21 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 43 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be clear 🌃, with a low of 41 degrees at 6am. Typical for tonight. East wind 3 to 6 mph. In 2018, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became light rain by the early hours of the morning. It became very sticky as the night progressed. It got down to 61 degrees. The record low of 22 occurred back in 1943.

I set my alarm for six AM ⏰ which was pitch black this morning except for the stars. 🎑 I did hit the reset a few times more then I’m proud to admit but less than yesterday. The moon had set and it was cold but unlike yesterday, I was determined to break camp by eight to drive down to West Virginia. I saw the starting battery 🔋 was at 12.50 so I started up the truck with a bit to be safe.

Not so cold this morning and I made only a small pot of coffee ☕ so hopefully I won’t have to stop a million times on the way to West Virginia. I tried to leave early the previous day but it was so dark and cold and I had to the down the tarp and tent. Today I had a lot less gear plus I camped fifty miles to the south. Saved some dash cam video 📹 on my laptop.

Yesterday I decided to go to Warren Tops to buy groceries. I really needed ice and was running low on milk and cheese. I also decided to buy beer. 🍻 It’s now sold at selected grocery stores in Pennsylvania but it’s a completely separate unit – you have to pay for it separately from the rest of the groceries and they sell non standard sizes – I bought a 15 pack of Budwiser for $12.98 no tax or deposit which is cheap compared to New York. It maybe not, I often buy 30 racks at Walmart for $19.95 plus $1.60 in sales tax and $1.60. But unfortunately without a deposit, I’ll have to crush the cans and bring them back to the transfer station for recycling ♻. Forgot how much Warren stinks like oil country – its a mix of crude oil, hydrogen sulfide with a certain amount of sweetness to the air. Actually camp smells a bit like that.

Then I headed south along US 62 stopping at the Tidoute Overlook 📷 and then going to Nebraska Submergable Bridge. 🌉 It’s kind of fun to see it again after seeing many Facebook posts of people exploring it while it’s submerged. Honestly I was surprised how much traffic goes over the bridge but it’s a pretty big shortcut to a lot of hunting camps. Hit a lot of construction 🚧 on US 62 AND on PA 36. They were paving PA 36, big delays there.

Not a lot of interesting country 🐮 – some of the sections along the Alleghany River between Tidoute and Tionesta were quite pretty. I can get why that section is popular with kayakers. 🚤Flat once you climb out of Tionesta Valley, some farmland and some businesses supporting the pop business. Rather flat until I got down to the area around Cooks Forest and then timberland as I headed to Marienville. I did see a household burning trash, which is still somewhat common in rural PA but nothing like a decade ago. Some of that plastic stuff stinks, especially if it’s smoldering. 👃

After that I visited the Cook Forest State Park ⛲ which had a fire tower and a path down to the gorge where the Clarion River runs and a nice picnic area around a historic tree planation. 🌲🌲🌲 I took River Road along Clarion River. That road is narrow but beautiful. Almost hit a doe, ran up from the river bank and into the shadow. My tires squealed but I fortunately missed it. Reviewing the dashcam it would have been hard for me to spot it. Really in the shadow.

I was hoping to camp ⛺ at Loleta Grade campsite 16 which I like because it has good cell service 📱 which makes the night by go by quickly and makes the remote country seem less remote. It also has a good view of the stars ✨ and would be good for solar. But alas somebody already grabbed it with their camper, probably a bow hunter 🙇. They appeared to have solar too and probably cell service internet in their camp. That’s a much nicer campsite. This site on the Gurgling Run smells a bit like Hydrogen Sulfide from an oil well, I assume that’s what makes the Gurgling Run Gurgle. 💩 And it not only smells, it gurgles. Plus I don’t want to spend three nights without cell service. 📱

It thought about staying here for three nights then going to see the Elk and drive the Elk Drive and do Hyer View on Sunday. 🚙But then I would miss West Virginia and I don’t really like the campsite I ended up in. It doesn’t look good for me getting down to West Virginia in 2020 as it’s a busy election year at my other job and they’re could be recounts or snow in November.

So I decided instead to drive down to Thomas, WV for the long weekend, heading back to County Bridge Campground. 🗻 Heading down now to Mount Davis, Pennsylvania High Point via Penna 36 and US 219. More of that highway is built through Somerset and some of those new expressway bridges look like they’ll have amazing views. It’s a lot of driving but less than I really had in my original plan as I’m not going down to the New River Gorge – just Dolly Sods one day and the other – the cloudy and potentially rainy Saturday I’ll do Maryland High Point and Blackwater Falls. But it’s fine. Sunday I’ll take Cooridor H, visit the Mount Storm Lake 🏭 and the massive power plant and then take to the road Keyser and then to Cumberland Maryland, then take US 220 and Interstate 99 to Mount Pisagh State Park for a drive with hopefully good colors then overnight at County Bridge outside of Troy.

I will pitch the tent down in West Virginia with the heater. No fires down there due to continuing fire ban 🔥 but I’ll save the paper plates and other burnables and have a fire the last night when overnight in Pennsylvania. I also have a little bit of kiln dried wood to burn at County Bridge. It’s fine – most nights I’ve been laying back in the hammock fairly early and letting the fire go out. It’s going to quite mild and the tent heater will be toasty. Not having to gather wood means that I’ll have more time for relaxing and reading 📖. Fires are really a lot of work and kind of a waste of fire wood.

As previously noted, there are 3 weeks until Halloween 🛥️ when the sun will be setting at 6:13 pm with dusk at 6:41 pm. On that day in 2018, we had mostly cloudy, patches of fog and temperatures between 61 and 28 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 54 degrees. We hit a record high of 73 back in 1946.

Good evening! Clear and 48 degrees at the Allegheny National Forest. There is a east breeze at 7 mph. 🍃.

Today was a nice quiet day. 🚶 I did a nice hike from Kinzua Beach to Rimrock and walked on the Cornplanter Bridge. 🌉 After the hike I sat down by the reservoir for a while with the third book of vacation, this one on the National Security State. I got back to camp, cooked dinner and built a big fire 🔥 before laying back in the hammock. The ample sun today meant the solar panel put out 192 watt hours while I was parked down there – not bad figuring its a 100 watt panel and its the October sun. 🔋 That extra battery helps a lot at camp.

Tonight will be mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 41 degrees at 4am. One degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around October 10th. East wind 5 to 7 mph. In 2018, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It became humid as the night progressed. It got down to 62 degrees. The record low of 27 occurred back in 2001.

Tonight will have a Waxing Gibbous Moon 🌔 with 87% illuminated. The moon will set at 2:37 am. The 🌕 is on Saturday night with mostly clear skies. The sun will rise at 7:19 am with the first light at 6:51 am, which is one minute and 6 seconds later than yesterday. 🌄 Tonight will have 12 hours and 34 minutes of darkness, an increase of 2 minutes and 46 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 65 degrees at 4pm. Two degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around October 4th. East wind 5 to 7 mph. A year ago, we had light drizzle in the morning, remaining cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was 81 degrees. The record high of 83 was set in 1949. There was a dusting of snow in 2000.❄

Whats the next step I ask myself? I was thinking I really do crave the scenic beauty of West Virginia and I don’t need to have a fire down there. I have the heater and electric lights which are working well. 🗻 Tomorrow I morning I could break camp early, take US 219 to Thomas WV and camp there through Sunday. I would stop at Mount Davis tomorrow and then hike Hoyes Crest on Thursday or Friday and the opposite day do a day trip and hike at Dolly Sods and maybe Cannan Valley Refuge. Come back on Sunday, overnight at County Bridge Campground outside of Troy Penna.

The alternative which is probably more sensible is to tomorrow drive down to the Southern portion of the Allegheny National Forest. ⛺ There is this big open campsite outside of Marietta on Loleta Grade that is remote yet has an open canopy for solar and looking at the stars ✨. Good wood supply and I could drive over to the Buzzard Swamp one day. I’d have to get ice and more milk and cheese tomorrow in Warren then maybe take US 62 south. Maybe visit the Tionesta Vista and Nebraska Bridge which is probably not underwater right now. Sunday visit the Elk Center in Benzette and drive the Elk Route along the very scenic West Branch of the Susquehanna River and drive up to Hyner View. Overnight at County Bridge, get home on Columbus Day. That would be a lot less miles and much quieter option but it means no West Virginia until November 2020 or later.

I think I’ll choose the later but I’ll sure be disappointed 😥 about not making it to West Virginia. But the leaves by Sunday might be much better in Elk County and they’re really cool 😎 to watch graze. I ‘ll see come the morning. The Elk Drive is a lot of fun and maybe quite beautiful but the rest of the week is kind of bland compared to the alternative.

In four weeks on November 5 the sun will be setting at 5:05 pm (Standard Time),🌄 which is one hour, 40 minutes and 42 seconds earlier then tonight. In 2018 on that day, we had rain showers, partly sunny and temperatures between 48 and 31 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 52 and 34 degrees. The record high of 75 degrees was set back in 1994.

Looking ahead, Election Day 2019 🗳️ is in 4 weeks, 7:15 AM Sunrise ⌛️ is in 9 weeks, Christmas Eve 🎅 is in 11 weeks, New Years Eve 🎆 is in 12 weeks, Coldest Week of the Year 🌬 is in 14 weeks and Martin Luther King Day 🖤 is in 15 weeks.

I set my alarm for 6:30 am well before dawn here so I can take down camp and move onto whatever the next step is. ⏰

Good evening! Nice evening laying back in the hammock. A barn owl is hooting in the distance, and I hear from crickets. The moon is obscured by the clouds but it’s still not super dark in the woods. Rain has been gone since midday 🕛 and now the woods is fairly dry with a dropping dew point. There is a group of bow hunters 🙇 a quarter mile down the road – they’re the group with the big jacked up 3/4 ton truck with the pick up camper. Far enough way that the only way I know there down there is occasionally a I hear their coon dog 🐶 howling or an occasional hoot or holler from their camp – that an I drove past their camp earlier. Coyotes are loud tonight.

Mostly cloudy and 53 degrees at the Allegheny National Forest. ☁ There is a west-northwest breeze at 6 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 47 degrees. The skies will clear around 11 pm.

Today as expected was kind of a damp and somewhat rainy day ☔ although the rain ended much earlier than in Albany but the first sign of any real clearing was not until around sunset. I sat out and read outside for a while but started to feel cold and damp and decided to hot tent with the book. 📖 I got through my second book of vacation – as I noted earlier – Andrew Revkins book on Weather. Nice picture book, sometimes adults like books with lots of graphics. Second book I’ve read on vacation. 📚 Very warm at times in the tent – that heater kicks out a lot of heat and with temperatures in the mid 50s I kept having to turn it off.

I drove over to Jakes Rocks for a while this afternoon to top off the batteries but ended up disconnecting the accessory batteries from the alternator when I started smelling ozone. 🔋 I don’t want to accidentally fry the alternator while I’m on vacation or even just burn up a wire or a fuse. It’s fine – after today the sun will be shining and I’ll rely entirely on the solar for the accessory loads as the sun will out. ☀

Walking around Jakes Rocks was nice although it was rather cloudy and dark ☁. But other than that a fine afternoon. I’ll admit today was a quiet day but my expectations were pretty low.

Tonight will be mostly cloudy 🌥, with a low of 42 degrees at 6am. Typical for tonight. Northwest wind 3 to 6 mph. In 2018, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became light drizzle by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 50 degrees. The record low of 21 occurred back in 1964.

Tonight will have a Waxing Gibbous Moon 🌔 with 80% illuminated. The moon will set at 1:38 am. The 🌕 is on Saturday night with mostly clear skies. The sun will rise at 7:19 am with the first light at 6:51 am, which is one minute and 5 seconds later than yesterday. 🌄 Tonight will have 12 hours and 32 minutes of darkness, an increase of 2 minutes and 46 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 62 degrees at 4pm. One degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around October 10th. Northeast wind 5 to 7 mph. A year ago, we had cloudy skies. It was somewhat humid. The high last year was 63 degrees. The record high of 80 was set in 2017.

I’ve decided to stay at this campsite one more day. ⛺ I just don’t feel like taking down camp with a week’s worth of gear and a tent to put away that is still a bit damp. Going to be a nice day tomorrow, so I definitely want to go hiking and park the truck somewhere to fully charge the accessory batteries. I might go to Titusville as I didn’t visit the museum last time I was there in 2012 or might just go for a walk along the reservoir, parking down at the swimming beach and maybe hiking up Rim Rock. 🚶

Wednesday who knows. 💭 West Virginia is still a possibility. The US 219 isn’t that far away and if I get up well before dawn and leave by eight I can probably do both Mount Davis State Park and Hoye Crest in Maryland before setting up camping in Cannan Heights. It looks as of the last time I checked the burn ban is still on but I don’t have to have a campfire. I always have the lights and the heater. And good music to listen to. I would probably stay until Sunday there and then come back through Pennsylvania and stay at the County Bridge Campground on Sunday into Columbus Day. Going to be mild and sunny the rest of the week.

Alternatively, I could drive up through Allegany State Park and camp, hike and hunt squirrel in Cattaraugus County or fish and hike in the Zoar Valley. 🐠 I’ve always wanted to check out the Eternal Flame Falls in Orchard Park – I read about it a lot now that I work with several Buffalo clients thee days. ⛲ Maybe the leaves are better up north in New York? 🍂

I could also move to somewhere farther south in the National Forest, check out Nebraska Bridge and that wildlife refuge down that way. Saturday or Sunday visit the Elk center and do the Elk Scenic Drive🐯 along with visiting Hyner View Park which might have good color by then. I would also overnight at the County Bridge campground. Or honestly, I could stay at the same site all week. At any rate, wherever I camp that final night, I don’t want to be more than four driving 🚘 hours away from Albany so I can get back relatively early and have time to stop for lunch, visit some parks, take back roads and get back early enough to unpack.💼 It was too long of a drive for my sanity all the way out to Allegheny National Forest on the way it here.🌲🌲

The damn camp lantern I bought mantles for remains real smokey with yellow flames and tons of soot 🏮. Not sure what the issue is. I was thinking that that the generator tube is clogged with dirt but the filter on it seems fine as does the gas pressure. I checked that I installed the proper mantles. Yeap. Everything seems fine but the inside of the lantern is filled with oily soot, the glass keeps on getting sooty and the top is dripping with soot. Fortunately I have plenty of electricity power off the truck, the lantern is just a backup in case of undervoltage and for extra light. Wouldn’t want to have it alone.

In four weeks on November 4 the sun will be setting at 5:07 pm (Standard Time),🌄 which is one hour, 41 minutes and 7 seconds earlier then tonight. In 2018 on that day, we had partly cloudy, rain showers and temperatures between 51 and 36 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 53 and 34 degrees. The record high of 76 degrees was set back in 1994.

I do really like that green Don’t Tread On Me – Live Free or Die shirt 👚 I bought online. I would want to get caught dead wearing it in Albany but it’s fun here in the wilderness. I’m no fan of Donald Trump – he’s a racist moron with generally bad ideas 👺but I do think government should be downsized and stay out of people’s business. That’s why I’m eventually thinking of moving to a state like Missouri when I own my off grid property with solar on the roof, composting for the toilet and a burn pit out back for the trash. An an AR-15 because they sound like a lot of fun to shoot.

Looking ahead, Average High is 55 🍂 is in 3 weeks, Veterans Day 🇺🇸 is in 5 weeks, Cyber Monday 🛍️ is in 8 weeks, First Sunday of Advent ✝️ is in 8 weeks, Earliest Sunset of the Year ⌛️ is in 9 weeks and Festivus 🍖 is in 11 weeks.