Good evening! Partly clear and 74 degrees at the Good Luck Cliffs. There is a west breeze at 7 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 65 degrees. The muggy weather ends Tuesday around 3 pm. 😓

I decided to hike up Good Luck Cliffs and watch the sunset. 🌇 I know it’s a pretty steep trail but I brought multiple flashlights 🔦 and plan to head down the mountain as soon as the sun dips below the horizon. Then just the long trip back to Albany – hope to be home before 11 pm, so I can get a good night’s sleep and then unpack in the morning.

This morning started out cool 🗻 with the low dew point making it feel a bit like an autumn morning than a mid summer day. As the day progressed it warmed up but still a great morning. Not a cloud in the sky to start out the day.

I hiked back to Goldmine Falls on Saturday and again this morning. ⛲ I had never been back to Goldmine Falls but I saw a bunch of people parked by there this morning 🅿 and decided I had to check it out. The Goldmine Falls were beautiful – the water has almost a gold color as it looks like the granite there has some pyrite or other sulfuric rock mixed in. They are really pretty and a nice series of gentle cascades with pools at the bottom. Looked like a nice swimming hole – seemed like a few people hiking back there had bathing suits on, 👙although truth be told I think for cooling off the Potholers are bigger and you don’t have the half hour walk back to your car to get all sweaty. Pictures some time this week.

Spent the morning at Goldmine Falls which was pretty, a great place to sit and contemplate, 💭 I was working on some blog posts until a big ol deer fly bit me and I dropped my phone in the drink. 📱 It dried out and all is good now.

I told myself I could stay one more night 🌃 and work from Speculator but truth be told I’ve been gone for nine days now and I really should get home as I should check the mail and my apartment. While I didn’t run out of propane the tank is close to empty and I really only bought enough clothes for four or five days but I stretched it by not changing every day and basically just have really dirty clothes left now. 👚

The Potholers were nice 🏊 but not a lot of water. 💦 I was surprised how much the water levels had dropped since last weekend. Water was also quite warm, probably due to the lower water levels. 💧 It was nice although I probably could have spent more time there and less in the hammock but I like looking at the trees as they away in the wind. I kind of wish I had my kayak 🚣 today but it would have been a pain to haul around all week and would have caused problems with solar for work. ☀

The day before got a big ol deer fly bite in my arm 🙋 while hanging out at the Potholers and boy oh boy did it swell up and was painful. But by this morning it was gone.

Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌤, with a low of 66 degrees at 5am. Four degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 65 at 8pm. West wind around 7 mph. In 2019, we had mostly clear skies. It became somewhat humid as the night progressed. It got down to 61 degrees. The record low of 47 occurred back in 1977.

Tonight will have a First Quarter 🌓 Moon with 43% illuminated. At 8 PM, the moon was in the south-southwest (210°) at an altitude of 36° from the horizon, some 226,352 miles away from where you are looking up from the earth. 🚀 At the state speed limit of 55 mph, you’ll make it there by January 14^th. Buckle up for safety! 💺 The Strugeon 🐡 Moon is on Monday, August 3. The darkest hour is at 1:05 am, followed by dawn at 5:10 am, and sun starting to rise at 5:43 am in the east-northeast (62°) and last for 3 minutes and 18 seconds. Sunrise is one minute later than yesterday. 🌄 The golden hour ends at 6:25 am with sun in the east-northeast (69°). Tonight will have 9 hours and 17 minutes of darkness, an increase of 2 minutes and 2 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will have a chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after noon. Some of the storms could produce gusty winds and heavy rain. Mostly sunny 🌧, with a high of 83 degrees at 1pm. One degree above normal, which is similar to a typical day around July 25th. Maximum dew point of 71 at 5pm. West wind 9 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. It was somewhat humid. The high last year was 88 degrees. The record high of 97 was set in 1955.

Surprisingly thought for all the adventures 🚘 and work outside of Spectulator I’ve not racked that many miles up on my truck and I spent two weekends up at the Potholers. ⛺ I am due for an oil change. 🔧 I’ll just take it to the shop because it’s a pain to find motor oil and the filter can be hard to get off. Probably the local shop because I’m no longer working downtown and it’s easier to just walk over there.

Friday evening after work went for a brief swim 🏊 and got ice cream 🍧 at Speculator Creamery. I was under impressed with the carmel sundae I ordered – I thought it was overpriced and super salty. Honestly, I am craving Glen Dairy bar. 🍦I love that place. 😍 Maybe I’ll end up in the Finger Lakes in two to three weeks.

I was kind of hoping to get one of those campsites in Powley Place 💭 or maybe the Clockmill Corner Campsite or one of the other ones farther north. But all but the Sand Lake Roadside Campsite 18, Campsite 16 and Campsite 14 were taken. Maybe Campsite 5 and 6 were open but I didn’t want to camp the same place as last weekend, so I didn’t drive down that far. I was surprised how popular it was on a Friday evening, when often in years past a lot of sites never get taken but on holidays. I’ve heard camping and wilderness activities is more popular these days and there are fewer campsites with the road closure. I am thinking at this point with the road closure the next time I’ll be up here is during Indian Summer come September after Labor Day Weekend. But who knows, I might be busy with work then but I’m hopeful for one more weekend at the Potholers. 🏊

Funny enough, more campsite opened up on Saturday. ⛺Saturday night I could have camped at Powley Place Bridge aka Big Alderbed Trailhead. I love that site, especially at night hanging out on Powley Bridge. Be different this year with the new bridge. 🌉 Seems odd that people would camp all weekend and leave for the weekend but maybe their three days were up or they planned to head somewhere else on Saturday.

Campsite 14 is fine, it’s camping at Piseco Powley Road ⛺ but it’s hardly anything special – although over time it grew on me and I might camp at this site some future night. Not quite as remote as I thought – I felt like the campsite was over a half mile away but I still could hear music 🎶 and hooting and hollaring from the other site so I reduced my music down too. 🎵 That said, it was kind of cool because it lead me to discover Goldmine Falls and let me see more of the land around Notch Mountain and Goldmine Mountain. ⛲ That said, I was kind of hoping for the site at Clock Mill Corners or Powley Place but even at 5:30 on a Friday most were taken.

The driveway to campsite was steep 🚙 and eroded. I found a bunch of rock, stone and mud from the road to improve it but it’s still probably not perfect for passenger cars but it easy for 4×4 trucks. While before I repaired the driveway I drove my truck up it, it was steep to say the least and I wouldn’t wanted to back into the driveway like I was able to do after visiting the Potholers, lest I bottom out. It was that bad. 😕 With the gear up it was impossible to turn around although even before I set up camp it was tight. It’s not a real big campsite by any means.

In four weeks on August 23 the sun will be setting in the west-northwest (286°) at 7:48 pm,🌄 which is 38 minutes and 28 seconds earlier then today. In 2019 on that day, we had mostly sunny and temperatures between 77 and 58 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 80 and 59 degrees. The record high of 94 degrees was set back in 1947.

Looking ahead, I have a long drive home 🏡.

Good morning! Happy Tuesday, back to work from Speculator. Partly sunny and 59 degrees in Speculator, NY. There is a northwest breeze at 5 mph. 🍃.

By working up here I could stay another day in the Adirondacks and if I camp overnight, ⛺ I’ll drive home Wednesday evening about when the weather gets more stormy. I’ve been off the internet all weekend as I had no service which is nice for a change, it’s good to be away from work and everything else. 💼 With the primaries and everything else going on it seems like most of weekends previously were quite busy.

Today will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 77 degrees at 4pm. Six degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around September 1st. Maximum dew point of 59 at 8am. West wind 5 to 7 mph. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning with more sun in the afternoon. It was humid. The high last year was 91 degrees. The record high of 101 was set in 1930.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 1:05 pm with sun having an altitude of 66.9° from the due south horizon (-3.1° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 2.6 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:50 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (293°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (300°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 8:32 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 22 seconds with dusk around 9:05 pm, which is 52 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Crescent 🌒 Moon in the west-northwest (293°) at an altitude of 5° from the horizon, 232,588 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 9:49 pm. At sunset, look for partly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 71 degrees. The dew point will be 57 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 6 mph. Today will have 14 hours and 54 minutes of daytime, a decrease of one minute and 50 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌤, with a low of 58 degrees at 5am. Four degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around August 27th. Maximum dew point of 57 at 8pm. Northwest wind around 6 mph becoming light and variable after midnight. In 2019, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It became humid as the night progressed. It got down to 66 degrees. The record low of 47 occurred back in 1970.

It was a nice long weekend camping at Piseco Powley Road, at times quite nice but for a while Sunday evening when the wind died down it was rather muggy. 😰 But when the breeze picked up it was pretty cold nice. Rained from a thunderstorm late Sunday night. ⚡ I’ve enjoyed being off the grid, having no cell service 📱 or ability to take calls all of the long weekend. I’ll upload some pictures later in the day. 📷

Saturday I walked the closed portion of Piseco Powley Road. 🚧 The south bridge is damaged from the October 31st storm and repairs will be necessary for Stratford to fix the other sections. That said, beyond the substructure of the bridge being rebuilt and some fill and a culvert needing replacing, most of the tools to rebuild the road shouldn’t be particularly difficult or unusual to implement.

On Saturday I also patched the hole in the screen tent. 🎪 It isn’t pretty as it doesn’t quite match in color and I wish I had had gotten the fabric a little tighter but it provides a good bug free area for camping. 🐜 Bugs have been bad this weekend, especially the deer fly although not so bad in the Potholers and times in the screen tent have been nice. After dark and early mornings I’ve been using the hammock a fair bit as the deer flies aren’t as bad then.

The Potholers were nice in the heat 🏊, I spent several hours laying in them and cooling off. I sat down there listening to podcasts 🎧and just enjoying the cold water 💦 and hot sun ☀. During the weekend there was a fair number of people there although I expect I would see a lot more were the road to be fully open. I am hopeful though that once the bridge is repaired, they can get the road repaired relatively quickly. I’m still thinking it might be done by hunting season. That will certainly make visiting the Potholers a lot more of an option come 2021.

Only one real shit moment at camp. 😮 On Monday evening after parking at camp I noticed something hanging out below the front axle like something was broken. Turned out to be just a root but I was afraid that I had broken something on my truck. Just a silly shadow of a root. Pulled it up and tossed it in the woods. This campsite is a bit of a mud wallow at the parking spot but has been as long as I’ve camped here. At least it’s very quiet here with the road closed heading south bound from the Potholers – the only traffic is those going down there.

I thought about moving down to Powley Place last evening so I could enjoy the stars ✨but ultimately I decided against that. It was fine, I was in by 9:30 and at that point wouldn’t have seen many stars. But I did stop by Powley Bridge briefly this morning to see the new temporary bridge and observe what has changed since the October 31st flood last year.

On this day in 1925, Dayton, Tennessee high school biology teacher John T. Scopes is found guilty of teaching evolution in class and fined $100. 👮 Darn criminals ruining our country. The judge incorrectly set the fine, rather then letting the jury do it, so his conviction was overturned on appeal. 🏫 The law would remain on the books until it was repealed 1967. Also in 1983, the world’s lowest temperature in an inhabited location is recorded at Vostok Station, Antarctica at −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F). ⛄ They should build a pipe and send it up north to cool off people efficently.

Been doing a lot of reading 📖 while up in camp. Re-read Heather Thomas’ Raising Beef Cattle 🐮 which is an interesting book on the ins and outs of cows. They’re pretty amazing animals which do pretty good most of the time on grasses, water, salt and some careful human hands to train them and take care of their needs. Beef cattle don’t have the complicated nutritional needs of the high performance Holstein cows 🐄 used on most dairies.

Should be a great weekend. 😎 Saturday, mostly sunny, with a high near 82. Maximum dew point of 59 at 8am. Sunday, a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 83. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Maximum dew point of 63 at 7pm. Typical average high for the weekend is 83 degrees.

I haven’t decided if I will stay all week in the Adirondacks. 🗻 Only three nights until the weekend so I could get a campsite near Speculator and work up here to the weekend and then go back to Piseco Powley Road. I’m undecided though because working and camping can be kind of tiring, especially if I don’t get enough sleep. 😴

Looking ahead, there are 15 weeks until Election Day 2020 🗳️ when the sun will be setting at 4:45 pm with dusk at 5:15 pm (Standard Time). On that day in 2019, we had partly sunny skies with a few rain showers and temperatures between 53 and 30 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 53 degrees. I was really sick that day last year with Lyme disease. We hit a record high of 75 back in 1990.

Good evening! Rain and 74 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☁ There is a east breeze at 8 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 71 degrees.

Back home from the Green Mountains. 🏡 It was nice to get away and avoid the heat and humidity but I didn’t feel like camping in the rain ☔ and it looked like all Saturday would be rainy. While it would be nice to have the day off from work when I had more time to play around in the mountains Saturday didn’t look very nice so I came home. I really liked that campsite down by the Deerfield River swimming hole 🏊 but it’s not normally easy to get unless you go up there midweek.

I didn’t like how much litter 🚮 and toilet paper flowers I found up there but I tried to clean things up to the best of my ability. I didn’t take home the junk tire or the multiple bags of garbage I found dumped back in the brush but I did burn and pack out cans for recycling from the one bag of litter I found out front. ♻ Campsite is a lot cleaner than when I found it.

The drive back home was uneventful 🚘 started to rain hard as I left but it helped with the very wash board Somerset Road. The rest of the trip was quiet except for getting onto the Molly Stark Highway at rush hour – kind of busy. 🚚 🚙

The Hoosick Valley was a bit pungent of cow manure, 💩 they were spreading it on hay fields before the rain probably so it soaks into the ground good and to keep the slurry tank from overflowing should we get a ton of rain. 🐮

It was odd driving past the state employees overflow parking lot 🅿 and seeing it all barricaded and closed but I’m guessing it’s not needed or used and the shuttles aren’t running 🚍 with most state workers telecommuting during the pandemic.

Tonight will have showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. 🌧 Low of 71 degrees at 5am. 10 degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 72 at 11pm. 🏖️ East wind 7 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible. In 2019, we had partly cloudy 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 71 degrees. The record low of 48 occurred back in 1986.

Tonight will have a Waining Gibbous 🌖 Moon with 67% illuminated. The darkest hour is at 1:01 am, followed by dawn at 4:54 am, and sun starting to rise at 5:28 am in the east-northeast (58°) and last for 3 minutes and 24 seconds. Sunrise is 45 seconds later than yesterday. 🌄 The golden hour ends at 6:10 am with sun in the east-northeast (65°). Tonight will have 8 hours and 54 minutes of darkness, an increase of one minute and 15 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will have a chance of showers, then showers and thunderstorms likely after noon. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a high of 88 degrees at 2pm. Six degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 73 at 9am. South wind 6 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. It became humid as the day progressed. The high last year was 86 degrees. The record high of 98 was set in 1936.

In four weeks on August 7 the sun will be setting in the west-northwest (293°) at 8:07 pm,🌄 which is 26 minutes and 10 seconds earlier then tonight. In 2019 on that day, we had humid, partly sunny, thunderstorm and temperatures between 84 and 69 degrees. Come August we loose daylight in the evening quickly. Typically, you have temperatures between 82 and 61 degrees. The record high of 102 degrees was set back in 1918.

Listening 👂 to the rain, I’m glad I’m home at camping in wet weather isn’t much fun. Just everything gets wet and smokey. I still should plan on taking a summer vacation 🏊 in a few weeks and with remote work not expected to end anytime soon I have plenty of opportunities to head back to the Green Mountains or anywhere else I have cell service and work remotely from there.