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April 27, 2016 Night

Good evening. A chilly evening with temperatures around 36 degrees with a stiff northerly breeze. The low for tonight is 30 degrees but at least in Finger Lakes, that breeze will make it feel much cooler.

I got the propane tank refilled today in Auburn today and I’m damn happy about it. It a cool night. Wish I almost had warmer clothes with me but the heater is helping. I have a small campfire but it’s very small because with the breeze I’m concerned of a fire risk. I’m overly cautious with fire. Stupid mistakes mean more restrictions on our freedom. I will drown and cover the fire with mud to make sure it’s fully out by bed time. They got rain here yesterday and things are muddy but still not greened up. The campsite is free of leaves and grass around the fire pit but the pasture across the road is still mostly brown. Needless to say, the cows aren’t out yet. Always is entertaining when the herd comes over to visit on the summer.

Didn’t have any luck fishing today. I think it was two dang cold for the bullhead and other fish to be biting in Nelson Swamp. The spot I fished in Cazenovia, the new public fishing area in NY 96, looked like it had some good trout holes but the two or three times I’ve fished there, never had much luck.

Those hills just past Cazenovia on US 20 are pretty steep. I forgot how much a climb they are. Burned some serious gas climbing them with the kayak on the roof and the truck loaded down. But it’s vacation. Still a lot less energy then taking an airplane down south.

My smartphone was great for finding a place for refilling the propane tank. Just did a Google Search and it took me right to a U-Haul place to fill the tank. I was happy with the result and didn’t freeze tonight.

Checked out Montezuma. I was surprised how Montezuma is only like 15 minutes from Auburn. It was nice but the main federal refuge is kind of divided by the roar of the Thruway. I also checked out the Audubon Center and some of the state land know as the Northern Montezuma WMA. The northern parcels are a lot quiter although the state land is mostly leased farm land with some muck marshes in between. It’s kind of interesting that the best farm land is also the best land for wildlife. Indeed, the best corn regions in America are the best places for high deer populations and monster bucks. I’m not really a birder but it still was interesting to explore and visit some of rural Wayne County, including the hamlet of Savana and the muck country and farm land around there. My heart is with the rural poor, they have the best toys and the most fun.

Drove through Seneca Falls but did not stop. The country between Seneca Falls and Ovid is pretty flat dairy country, high on the hills between Seneca and Cayuga Lakes. Somewhat boring but still interesting.

After a while I started to disagree with Waze and started taking my own way to the National Forest, taking Lodi Center Road South. Eventually I remember where I was. Got to the National Forest, and set up camp. Gathered a small amount of wood and waited to dusk to start the fire.

Nice evening but cold. Dusk wasn’t until 8:35 pm in the Finger Lakes. Nice starry evening, that 3 watt LED bulb lights up the flag just perfectly with a nice warm color. My old flag bulb would have a colder color when the air temperature was colder. Also, while you can’t see it in the photos, the flag light always lights up the trees, which looks beautiful as the stars sit in between the tree branches, especially in the winter.

While I wish it was warmer out, still a pleasant evening next to the heater. It seems like the heater burns a lot of propane, but in my experience I burn through a 20 lb tank full every 6-7 nights camping. I’ve gone through two tank fulls since November, or about 20 nights camping. It costs about $18 to fill which means about $2.50 a night. I wouldn’t have done so much winter camping without the heater. I expect my fuel use will drop when I’m using propane for light and cooking food throughout the summer – and leaving the heater home.

Tomorrow starts out sunny with clouds creeping in later. Cool with a high around 52 degrees. Might be good for trout fishing tomorrow. I got to get some photos uploaded. Showers possible tomorrow evening, so I may hang up the tarp. Usually the tarp keeps the rain away.

I’m going to retire soon for the night. Sleep well. Dawn is at 5:33 am with sunrise is at 6:04. That’s only like seven hours away, so I probably won’t awake right away for dawn unlike today. But I do have the coffee pot ready for tomorrow, so once I get up, I’ll have coffee within 5 minutes thanks to how fast the stove brings the water to a boil in the percolator. Nice breakfast of eggs and sausage tomorrow. No rush to get going tomorrow.

I will get photos uploaded tomorrow, especially once I have a better Internet connection in Watkins Glen. Really, I should get to bed because the sun will be in my eyes before you know it.

October 15, 2015 update

I decided to leave West Virgina on Tuesday, in part because I wanted to stay at a developed campground where I could get a shower, and because I was getting awful tired of the narrow, steep roads of West Virgina. I’m sure not every road is awful in West Virginia, but it sure seems like I have been driving up them – from Dolly Sods Road to Spruce Mountain Road – to say nothing of the somewhat larger but much heavier traffic of US 33 as it crosses Judy’s Pass to Franklinton then again over Shenandoah Mountain. I just hate the steep climbs, the descending in low gear, and the traffic wanting to blast pass.

Shenandoah National Park was on my list to see. I figured if I was going to be in West Virginia, I better also swing east to Skyline Drive and the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. I was generally heading that way from Grandy Creek, the other alternative was to head south to WV 22 and out that way, but I wanted to see Spruce Mountain, which there is a road that takes you up 4,823 feet to the highest point in West Virginia. You certainly can’t drive that high anywhere in New York on a public road, and only the highest of high peaks take you up there. The summit of Spruce Mountain is remarkably beautiful and mostly undeveloped besides a narrow paved road that takes you to the top, a small picnic area and observation platform. The drive down Spruce Mountain was so steep though.

US 33 was quite the climb and descent over the two mountain ranges from where I was to Virginia. It was steep but once you reached the Shenandoah Valley, US 33 cuts through a beautiful section of the George Washington National Forest without a bend  in miles. You quickly forget the awful drive you just made over Shenandoah Mountain. To make matters worst, US 33 was being repaved over Shenandoah Mountain, so I ended up getting stuck at the bottom weighting for the pilot car to bring me and a long line of traffic up the three miles up it on the West Virginia side. The Virginia side was just as as steep, but the lanes were wider and despite the hairpin turns,seemed much more navigable.

Harrisonburg, VA is a pretty large city. I had no idea until I arrived downtown and had to fight traffic on six lane roads. The Shenandoah Valley was pretty with a lot of chicken farms and some dairies, but this general area was also rapidly suburbanizing, with houses abutting farms. I’m sure that leads to a strained relationship at times between the farms and the suburbanites. Smelled somewhat like farm country, not unlike around Lowville or any of the great agricultural valleys in New York. Harrisonburg sucked to drive through, but once you got 5 miles out of town it was a four lane road with occasional traffic lights and a fairly heavily volume, but eventually it became open, rolling country. US 33 drops down to 2 lanes with occasional passing lanes as you entered the park. I would like to get down and see more of the Shenandoah Valley away from the city. Maybe tomorrow or Friday.

When I first arrived at Shenandoah National Park I was under-impressed, as the section of Skyline Drive  north of US 33 isn’t immediately impressive despite the overviews. The wonderful weather of Tuesday morning had turned to clouds as I headed east into the the front. It might have been sunny and beautiful in West Virginia, but by the time I was east in Shenandoah Valley it had gotten cloudy and hazy. The Shenandoah Valley also suffers from a major air pollution problem, which is somewhat less in West Virginia in the very rural area around Spruce Mountain. The wilderness area around Spruce Mountain and Dolly Sands is very impressive, some of the views at Shenandoah were less impressive.

I decided to camp at Matthew’s Arm Concentrated Camping Operation, the farthest north campground along the parkway – 21 miles from the northern start of Skyline Drive. It was a nice campground although it was fairly rustic. It has flush toilets and running water in the bathrooms, but it refill water containers, you had to drive to the trailer dump station and water filling area (separate faucets, obviously). One thing this campground lacked was showers, which was a disappointment. But they recommended you visit the pay showers 15 miles down the road at Big Meadows. This campground was $15 a night with no taxes or fees, it did not have electricity in the campground. They had heated bathrooms with running water. No hot water at Matthew’s Arm but they did have hot water at Loft Mountain. I had dinner and a few beers and was in bed by 9 PM. They openly allow (and sell alcohol) at the Shenandoah National Park campgrounds which is kind of nice. Still having neighbors and having to keep the music down and being brief with idling the engine to keep the batteries charged, is less nice.

I had to get up early to go to the bathroom, and ultimately decided to get up around 6:45 AM to drive over to one of the overlooks to watch the sun rise. While a somewhat cloudy morning, it was a beautiful start to the day. Broke camp around 9:30 AM and started south on the parkway, stopping at several of the overlooks, then when I got cellphone service, uploaded some photos to share with people, along with previous nights posts. Stopped at Big Meadows Visitors Center and also at the showers at Big Meadows around noontime.

In the nicer weather, spending more time on the parkway, showed how beautiful many of the views are along the parkway. The haze wasn’t as bad in the clear, drier weather, although still notable across the valley. Some of the overviews from Skyline Drive are remarkably beautiful, others less so. The leaves aren’t peak everywhere, but there is some nice colors showing up in various directions. Got a campsite at the Loft Mountain Concentrated Camping Operation. Picked a site high up on the hill, hoping to get cellphone reception and at least good radio reception. The cellphone reception was pretty marginal from camp, but I did have good radio reception for listening to any local radio station within reason. Watched the sun set from one of the overlooks. I retired to bed around 10 PM. Nice flush toilets, hot water, and heated bathrooms. Showers just down the road.

Today’s plan is to head further down Skyline Drive until I reach the Blue Ridge Parkway. I will probably go a ways down the Parkway, and hopefully find some place to camp at a campground along it. When I reach Interstate 64 on the Blue Ridge Parkway, I will take that west back to West Virigina and on Friday night camp on at site along one of the roads in West Virigina. From there I will take I-99 in Pennsylvania to Wellsboro and the Grand Canyon Country, overnight there, and return to Albany on Sunday afternoon.

October 10, 2015 evening

Good evening from the Allegheny National Forest somewhere near Marienville, PA. While I am well aware of where I am via the GPS, I have never been back on this road. Based on map I’m familiar with the road it connects with. It’s labeled a narrow, rough, dirt road, and while I didn’t think it was that bad in Big Red, it certain is narrow. I had to pass a hunter’s pickup, and I think we passed with about 5 inches between our pickups and he had to be 5 inches from the steep drop off from the road. The current temperature is 42 degrees under clear skies. The nice weather is expected to continue through Monday and then turn to rain for Tuesday. The rest of the week look okay after Tuesday. Tomorrow is expected to be 67 and partly sunny and Monday will be 70, at least in Marienville.

Today was a sucky day, but nothing went bad that will screw up the rest of the week. The main two things that went wrong was I simply planned to go too many miles in one day, and traffic was very heavy being Columbus Day. I think 90% of the time when I was on US 6, I was in a line of traffic. I like the open road, I hate to get stuck in a line of cars, keeping my eye on the road at all times to watch for stopped traffic. I-88 had the most traffic on it that I could remember, I spent most of the time either getting passed or passing cars. The foliage was wonderful most of the way across, although around Wellsboro it was green, and when I stopped at Kinzua Bridge the foliage was already past peak. With fall it always seems like you have either greens or foliage past done.

Getting started this morning I knew I wouldn’t get an early start. I did a lot of packing last night and shopping but I was dog tired after a long and stressful week. Work lately has been challenging. I’m glad I’m getting out of the office for the week. Rotating the tires on my truck and getting a state inspection proved to be a lot more of a process then I ever expected. The Quicky Lube I first tried to take my inspection at turned me away, because they said Big Red wouldn’t fit in the garage. Then I went to Gochee’s garage during the week, which did the inspection and rotated the tires, but forgot to do recalibrate the TPMS and left off one of the hub centric rings off of one of the wheels. It involved two trips back there, because I didn’t discover the TPMS error until I had driven 15 miles – the TPMS took a while to figure it was reading the spare tire and not one of the wheels that was actually rotating. Stupid shit, but it was early in the morning. I would be a little more concerned if it was something that could have left me broken down along the road – I’ll give them another try in the future, but if they screw up again, I will have to find yet another shop in Delmar. On top of all this, I was commuting out to my parents house every day, which meant I had little time to get ready at home during the week.

This morning I had to pack the food, the clothes, and few other things. I did do the water and most of the equipment last night. I decided to go to the laundromat in the morning, so I would have closer to the number of shirts and jeans I need for the week – I previously bought two additional pairs of jeans and shirts at Walmart – but I need 8 changes of clothes for the week, as I don’t want to have to visit some random laundromat in West Virgina or Virginia. I had to go to the bank, check the oil and fluids in the car, and top off the pressure in the tires, so they would be a nice 45 PSI, so I got a firm ride and not waste fuel or have excessive wear. Then I had to go to the bank, to pick up $200 in petty cash. I didn’t want to pick it up in advance, because I worried about losing it. I keep most of the petty cash in a locked box in my truck, until I need it, doling out when I get to firewood vendors, farm markets, tag sales, or campsites that requirement payments.

I have to admit I’ve gotten a bit bored with taking US 6 across Pennsylvania. I used like the trip and all the scenic vista and farm towns along the way, but I’ve made the trip a few too many times, and really need to come up with other places to go. Allegheny National Forest is fun, but I think I’ve done it a lot before. It seemed like a perfect stop over on paper on the way to West Virgina, although now I’m starting to think I’m a bit too far and will have to backtrack, even if I take US 219 south to West Virgina. I’m thinking the place I was originally planning to camp in West Virgina isn’t what I want, so I may have to head a bit farther east. Taking I-99 might have been a better choice. Driving all the way to Allegheny National Forest is a haul, especially on the way home. I have made this trip many times before in one day, heading back home, but never out to camp. Heading home, it’s a haul, but once you get on I-88 you set the cruise control on it and cue up a podcast, and nod off for about two hours. In contrast, going to Allegheny National Forest from Albany, puts all the small hick towns and the bulk of the trip after that long trip on I-88. When heading home, if you get home late, you can just collapse in your bed once reach home, the opposite is not true when you have to search for a campsite, as darkness is rapidly approaching.

I reached the Pine Creek Gorge at 3 PM today. Which sounds late, but it’s actually how long it takes after leaving Albany at 9:15 AM and stopping at the bank and Stewart’s for firewood plus multiple piss breaks because I drank too much coffee then water in the truck on the way over. I wanted to drive up to Colton Point, because in places the color looked perfect out there – and other hills it still looked green – but time wouldn’t let me. I knew I had a choice between Pine Creek George and Kinzua Bridge, and I chose later as I knew after today there was no chance I would get to Kinzua Bridge. The colors unfortunately were fairly dull and past peak on the bridge. Sunset was coming too fast, and even when I got to Kinzua Bridge at 5 PM, I knew I had only a half-hour because it was at minimum a half-hour to Kane, and whatever time I would take to find a campsite from there. I felt most of the day I was flying from place to place, and despite all the amazing color I saw, I didn’t get many pictures. It didn’t help that the best colors were along the expressways with no parking or on roads with absolutely no shoulder. Tomorrow may also be a rushed, long day – but not quite as many miles as today. But once I’m down in West Virgina, I don’t expect to be nearly as rushed for the rest of the week.

At Coudersport I stopped at McDonalds and got a coffee, which helped keep me awake as I headed to Kinzua Bridge and ultimately to Kane and then camp. I also stopped at a farm stand at Coudersport, and got some mushrooms and peppers. They didn’t have sweet corn, which was a disappointed. Probably the frost has ended the corn season in the Coudersport-area which is fairly high in elevation. I have a bit of Appalachian accent, but nothing like the farmer from Coudersport. Mid-western, Appalachian accent. Not like the more southern accents I expect to here once I reach the Virginas tomorrow. He seemed like a good guy, and had very affordable prices.

I got to Allegheny National Forest and wanted to camp near Kane or somewheres south. I remember the campsites along Forest Road 133 near Kane, but ended up deciding to take Forest Road 152 south from there, because I figured the farther south I went, the last south I had to go tomorrow. But it turns out there were no campsites on Forest Road 152 – despite driving 15 miles at the sky got darker and darker. Then I got on a forest road near Marienville, and ended up driving like 10 miles further south, not finding any campsites, until it was almost pitch black, and I found a campsite. Just in the nick of time. I had the firewood I bought at Stewart’s, so I got a fire started and got going.

And then stuff didn’t work. The 12-volt extension I have hooked from the deep cycle battery to my cellphone charger didn’t work when I plugged it in this morning. Total surprise. I think the fuse blew in the cord, but I don’t know. I will have to test it with a volt meter later in the week. I just plugged the cellphone charger into one of the main battery outlets, which works fine, but I like to have it run the accessory battery, in case I forget about it. Then later on the day, the brand new Halloween ghost lights I picked up at Walmart worked for 10 minutes until I bumped the string. $10 for 10 minutes of use seemed to suck. Then the string went dark. Eventually though the string started working again, once I played with the string. But it didn’t come back until I played every socket.

I am taking most of the photos on my Digital SLR or point and shoot camera, so I won’t be uploading most of the pictures until the evening each night, or when ever I have cellphone service. I’m not crazy about the quality of my new cellphone camera, so I have to download the photos from my other cameras to my laptop, then to the phone. But I will try to keep up with the photos as much as possible.

It was a crazy first day of vacation. Tomorrow is going to be another crazy day. I’m setting my alarm clock for 6:30 AM, which is coming fast. Unforutnately, out in Western Pennsylvania the sun doesn’t rise until 7:25 AM, so it will be a dark morning. But at least I have lights to help light the woods as I make breakfast and get going. I might just get coffee on the road, to speed camp tear down.

Good night! Sleep well.

The Night of 12 Hours

Today is the first day of fall. It’s also the first night of year when the night time equals or exceeds daylight. It seems rather strange after a summer of short nights and long days, to have the process reverse, but it’s a natural process, that man can not overcome.

I was setting up camp last night, and it really struck me how long the night time really was. I had to be camp by 7 PM, because it was already dark. The sun doesn’t rise until 6:30 or so now in the morning. It makes the evenings awful long with all their darkness, even if my campsite is well lit.

North Fork Mountain

Long winter nights are all part of nature’s cycle. New England ecosystems depend on those winter nights, to keep ecosystem healthy. Darkness is just part of the whole cycle of winter, and cold and snow it brings. But it sure seems like 7 PM is an awful early hour to get dark.

It will be even stranger when the time changes in November, when the days start after 6:40 AM and end a little after 4 PM. Winter certainly is dark in the northeast.

Evening Colors

Regardless, I guess the darkness doesn’t matter that much. Man has gotten good at lighting the way, so any darkness is offset by man’s artificial light. But it seems so strange returning to days when darkness exceeds light.

Today is the first day of autumn. While technically we have a little more daylight then night, we are now in the season of when they nights will grow longer then the days.

September 18, 2015 evening

Good evening. Currently 62 degrees at the Otter Creek Campsites in Greig, NY. There is a stiff breeze on top of the mountain that is making it feel cooler than the mercury says. The clouds and high pressure will keep the temperatures from dropping off much more.

Tomorrow the summer heat lasts for one more day, heading up to 80 degrees. Then the front comes through and temperatures will drop to 45 degrees by morning. Showers as the front comes through. Sunday will only reach 64 degrees for a high. Sunday evening will be even colder with a steady breeze. No snow is expected, and heck, the first half of autumn is shaping to mostly be above normal temperatures. I guess it’s kind of like an extra summer with short fall days.

Tonight was the first sunset before 7 PM in Delmar although out in Lowville being further west, sunset held off until 7:06 pm. It didn’t matter that much as I couldn’t see the sunset from camp. But with the clouds it was getting dark NY 7:30 PM. The lights are nice but they don’t replace the long nights of early summer.

This morning I had nothing packed but I did go grocery shopping the previous evening. The first thing I did was put the kayak on the roof of my truck, carefully with the step ladder that I bought yesterday. I had a fear of re-injuring my ankle but it was fine, if not easier with the steps tool compared to climbing on the floor boards of the cab. My ankle doesn’t hurt that much these days although I felt it by the time I got packed.

I stopped in Boonville to take a piss break and to drop a bill from the doctor at the Post Office. Nice downtown buy surprisingly bustling and a challenge to park. But then it was off to Turin and eventually to the Otter Creek Campsites.

I was pleasantly surprised that the Otter Creek Campsites had been relocated up the hill, spread out and with new outhouses, picnic tables, and fireplaces. I liked the Otter Creek Campsites because they were close to Whetstone Gulf and Lowville but didn’t like the crowded conditions or wear from heavy use. The new sites are a real improvement. Some are grouped together but the most part are spread out. There remains six sites, with three designed to be wheelchair accessible including accessible outhouses, tables, and a flat gravel base. It’s nice to know the state has developed all these accessible sites, especially if someday I have a severe injury that otherwise confines me to a wheelchair. After spraining your ankle you think about such things more.

This evening went for a drive out to Confusion Flats and out to by Chases Lake. Last time I was up here it was quite rainy and the camera quit working early on the trip before I got pictures. Took both Instagram photos and Digital SLR pictures. Confusion Flats is such beautiful Adirondack Sand Plains. The maps up here are terrible, including the topographic maps and ones created by DEC data. There are a lot of old roads and paths cut through Confusion Flats that are now horse trails, while the truck trails often differ from old routes on topographic maps and some are better quality then the Jeep Trails on the map would suggest. All of the roads up here are just sand and the frequent equestrian use means that the are pitted by horse hooves. At least horse hooves don’t damage sand like the washboard roads of Moose River Plains.

Set up a tarp so I’m prepared for tomorrow’s rain which I’m sure isn’t going to materialize with the tarp up. The Bluetooth adapter with my powered  computer speakers aka now camp speakers works great. I love being able to play on my phone while listening to music, podcasts, and radio – and change the station or song without even leaving my seat. Technology is pretty cool.

I hope you had a good evening. Sleep well.

September 14, 2015 afternoon

Good afternoon. Currently 73 degrees and with blue skies and some clouds. One thing I’ve noticed since September has rolled around is how much the evening shadows are creeping over downtown buildings. Sunset is at 7:07 PM and civil twilight at 7:45. New moon.

As had been the case recently, traffic leaving the city is really bad. The few extra cars due to school being in session and vacations being over have caused extensive delays. At least I’m not driving.

Last night enabled a new feature on the blog that lets you like posts and photos. Made some other adjustments and miscellaneous blog fixes, and will be featuring new, more modern maps that include the wildlife management units. Little fixes here and there. I don’t expect many major changes this winter.

Off to Mom and Dad’s house to pet sit. I thought about going out back to the campsite at the creek but things are a bit wet and the wind probably would make it cold sitting out back by the fire. Maybe tomorrow.

Been playing with my camera phone and figuring out what I can do with it on Instagram. The fixed lens and camera quality sucks on the first generation Moto E I have but I’m learning how to use it for creative effect. As much as the camera sucks, I love the FM radio feature. It’s nice being able to listen to All Things Considered on the bus ride home without using a ton of bandwidth.