Pole Hill Pond is a popular hiking and cross-country ski trail to the west of Tongue Mountain. The trail back to Poll Hill Pond is 2 miles long. The full loop is 6 miles, crossing several unamed hills.
https://andyarthur.org/pole-hill-pond
https://dec.ny.gov/lands/53165.html
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.
While this was less then the 63 nights I did in 2020, with remote work winding down and more in-person meetings and events happening in Albany, I ended up not getting out as much as I did the previous year. Still 37 nights camping is still a lot of time in wilderness.
It was a lot rainier then some summers, so that also made it harder to get out of town for long weekends. When I did go camping, and I wasn’t remote working, I tried to make it a priority to find more-remote areas without cell service, so I could get solitude without the constant buzz of the phone. Plus I tended to stay in one campsite for two or three days, to avoid the hassles of taking down and setting up camp.
I started out my travels in late April on the East Branch Sacandaga River along NY 8, near Fox Lair. On Saturday, before arriving to camp, I hiked along Hope Falls Road and back to lower and upper Tenant Creek Falls. Sunday, I hiked around Fox Lair, sat down by the river for a while, did some fishing. Had a big ol’ fire. It was cold but also kind of spring-like.
Monday I drove up to Speculator to do remote work at the library and the town park/beach with my laptop. I set up camp at Campsite 17 and in the evening after work, I hiked along Old NY Route 8B, spending some time along Austin Falls and heading back to camp before it got too dark. Tuesday I worked up in Speculator, before heading home. Things were still very brown and gray in the Adirondacks, although I ended up stopping along the Mohawk River in Rotterdam and hiking on the bike trail before dark, and it was much greener down there.
Thursday morning I got up early and drove up to Speculator before 9 AM to work remotely. I worked until lunch time in Spectulator when I drove down to Campsite 17 and set up camp and worked from there. Worked all day on Friday from camp, mostly sending emails from the hammock although I also edited a report I was working on with my laptop at the table, and grabbed some files a colleague needed off the server over the VPN. Knocked over the lantern, smashing the glass and breaking the the neck on it. On Saturday I hiked back along Robb Mill Road and some of the side trails in the Conservation Easement. Sunday, I drove up to Watch Hill on Indian Lake, hiked that, while there was a constant threat of thunderstorms, so I did it fairly quickly.
After hiking Watch Hill I ended up camping at Mason Lake. I also spent some time walking around the Indian Lake/Lewey Campground, just seeing what was there I was hoping being a Sunday I could get a campsite near Mason Lakke, but no such luck. Ended up camping at Campsite 5, a ways from the lake, although in the evening I did walk down to the lake. I did have cell service where I was camping, but it was spotty, so come Monday morning, I headed back to Speculator for work. The black flies were bad camping there, until well after dark I spent most of the afternoon hiding under the screen tent. In the morning, once the sun was up and the tent was down, I was booking out there because the black flies were intense.
Junteenth Weekend, a new state holiday. Piseco-Powley Road was rebuilt, and I spent a lot of time down at the swimming hole there. I was working remote on Thursday, but I left home after work and drove north before dusk. Spent a lot of time cooling off in East Branch by the campsite, laying in the hammock and relaxing. Saturday I spent kayaking at Lily Lake, but none of the lilies were out. Sunday I spent the balance of the day the potholers.
After quite a run of rainy weather, we had part of weekend that wasn’t super wet. Also, many weeks in the summer, I preferred to just stay close to home, and catch the Nature Bus and spend Saturdays exploring Thacher Park for free. Friday was a personal day – I had a eye doctors appointment. Then I went north and set up camp at Hope Falls Road. Saturday, I hiked back to Ferris Lake and Tenant Creek Falls. Sunday, partially in the rain, I hiked back to both lower and upper Tenant Creek Falls. Sunday evening back at camp, it absolutely poured. I was originally planning to work remote on Monday and maybe Tuesday in Speculator but the weather was so wet, I decided against that.
Heading out to the Finger Lakes, I overnighted at Cherry Ridge at Charles Baker State Forest in Madison County. It was a stop over after leaving home after work. Noticed how much sway there was in front end of the truck, and the tires were getting loud as they were warn and cupped, grew concerned that I might have issues later on. Eventually in December I replaced the tires, the worn rear shock bushing. and bad sway links. I was dealing with some real anxiety issues at that point. But I had a little fire, then retired early to bed and then took camp down early in the morning and headed west to Montezuma Wildlife Refuge and the state Audubon Preserve.
I knew arriving at the Finger Lakes National Forest on a Saturday would mean many campsites would be taken, including the site I wanted. I ended up tent camping at one of the primitive sites off Potomac Road. It was a one night deal as I prefer camping in the truck shell and I saw the people in the campsite I wanted leave, so I quickly grabbed that campsite in the morning. Ended up breaking one of the elastic straps in one of the tent poles, I still need to repair it.
My summer vacation was the Finger Lakes National Forest. I decided to stick close to camp for much summer vacation, not rushing too much from place to place, spending a lot of afternoons at the Watkins Glen Pool, doing some paddling in Seneca Lake and Cayuta Lake, hiking in Texas Hollow and Sugar Hill State Forests. Did a lot of reading and laying back in the hammock. The campsite I stayed at didn’t have cell service, so it gave me a much needed to respite from the internet for a few days. Had some nice fires, drank some beer, and got away from it all.
After summer vacation, I decided to take a long weekend — four days — up to Potholers, namely the House Pond campsite with lots of sweet corn, clams and beer. I can still taste the clams and beer, and I had plenty of them to eat over the weekend — they were breakfast, lunch and diner. But it was nice laying back in the hammock and swimming in the swimming hole by that campsite. I also hiked along old Edick Road and to Edick Road Campsite 1, which is way off from the main road, and then down to the ledge. Hiked back to House Pond, which was difficult as there was a lot of blow down from a storm earlier in the summer. Spent much of Sunday at the Potholers and then watched the sun set from the Kane Mountain Firetower. Didn’t bring the kayak this time.
With another warm week ahead, I decided to take off Friday and Monday off for one more week up at House Pond. This time I spent more time at Potholers, walking up there each afternoon, besides spending a lot of time at the swimming hole near this campsite. Did some fishing up House Pond, and a lot of drinking and reading from the hammock. Read yet another book about writing code in Python and Kristen Kimbell’s Dirty Life about farm life. I bought a large truck intertube for floating, but once I got to camp and started to setting up I realized I didn’t have an air pump with me, so I couldn’t use it while camping.
Friday, September 3rd was the final day of remote work – Labor Day Weekend. I got up early, drove to Speculator before 9 AM. I started working from Speculator Library but with my phone having hotspot service and cell service, mid-day I drove up to Hardwood Hill. This time I made sure to inflate my intertube before heading up north, and I spent Saturday evening until well after dusk floating in the Jessup River off of Jessup River. Then I drove to Sled Harbor after dark, hoping to catch a glimpse the illuminated Wakely Hill Firetower, but I could not see it as it I couldn’t find the good views of the tower from the road after dark.
Decided to do a weekend trip out to Schoharie County to hike the Catskill Scenic Trail south of Grand Gorge through the deep notch where NY 30 runs. Hiked down to Hubbell’s Corners from Grand Gorge then went for a very cold swim at Mine Kill State Park. Mine Kill pool was open late this year due to opening late at the beginning of summer. Water temperature was 58 degrees. Sunday I also went for a quick swim at Mine Kill Pool again. Still very cold.
On September 18th, I drove up to Piseco-Powley Road to camp for three nights, four days. Spent one night at the House Pond Campsite, which I set up in the pouring rain, and spent time floating in the my new rubber intertube. It was a nice day once he rain stopped but the water was very cold. But it was nice laying back in the hammock that evening, although prior to dusk there was a lot of deer flies around and biting.
On Sunday afternoon I drove further up Piseco-Powley Road to Powley Place to do some camping and paddling on the East Canada Creek. Monday I hiked back to Goldstream Falls then carried my kayak down to the East Canada Creek and paddled down to the first rapids, portaged past that to the second main rapids. The beaver dams were relatively low this time, due to water levels being higher then other times when I’ve paddled the East Canada Creek. Laid back in the hammock, did some reading and looking out over the campsite on these mild, starry nights. Also did some floating down the East Canada Creek
I took off the Friday before Columbus Day Weekend to hike Bear Pen Mountain in the Western Catskills. It was the start to a very colorful weekend. Betty Brook was nice, but it was good I got there relatively early — around 4 PM on Friday as the other campsites were quickly taken. On Saturday, I drove down to Stamford and hiked more of the Catskill Scenic Trail from Stamford for Bloomville then visited a friend in Summit. Sunday I hiked along Betty Brook Road to the snowmobile trail up Burnt Hill, then hiked over the dirt roads on Burnt and Rossman Hills, enjoying the leaves and wildlife. Hiked back to camp and laid back into the hammock well into the evening, which was quite mild. Sunday I hiked from Grand Gorge to Stamford on the Catskill Scenic Trail.
Originally I was planning to get new tires put on my truck prior to going to West Virginia, trip that was postponed multiple times. Ultimately I decided it wouldn’t be a bad idea to just wear out the tires and go for the trip. I hadn’t decided on where I was going to go until I was on the road, and ended up going to Binghamton, then down to Pennsylvania for my first night camping. It was a cold first night — got down to 14 degrees.
The first two nights I spent at Camp Run Primitive Campground at Miles, West Virginia which is located in a wash on the backside of Shenandoah Mountain. On Monday of that week I hiked up over Shenandoah Mountain, and watched the sun rise over Camp Run Lake. Tuesday morning I drove over through Judy Gap then up Spruce Mountain and hiked up that. In the afternoon I hiked up Seneca Rocks, something that had long been on my bucket list to do.
On Tuesday night I camped up in Canaan Heights / Table Rock outside of Thomas WV. I was going to stay multiple days but hearing a lot of wheel bearing noise in my truck, I decided it best to head north on Wednesday and see if I could either make it home or get the truck fixed. The wheel bearing burned up by the time I got up to Lock Haven but was able to get it fixed that day and head north to County Bridge.
The second time camping at County Bridge it wasn’t as cold. I had a fire and retired to bed fairly early. But come the morning, neither the camp stove or the heater was working. I thought I might have have run out of propane. Then packed up in the morning on Veterans Day and headed north to Chenango Forks State Park, which I wanted to explore. I then stopped at Price Chopper, got some groceries and headed up to Long Pond State Forest for two kind of cold and chilly, damp nights.
After spending the balance of Veterans Day, Thursday at Chenango Forks State Park, I camped for two nights at Long Pond State Forest. I was still having problems with my camp stove and heater, so it was kind of cold but I was able to find enough firewood to make do, and had some quiet evenings listening to the radio and just hanging out. Friday was pretty rainy, but I made due — beat having going back home. The fires were smokey but they were warm enough. And it beat being home.
I thought about getting out of town after Thanksgiving but the weather did not cooperate. Then my truck’s repairs and tires got dragged out to mid-December. I decided to take he week off before Christmas to go camping. I was thinking about Central New York and then the Finger Lakes, but ultimately made it no farther then the Finger Lakes. Saturday was pouring rain, and then Sunday was bitterly cold. And my camp heater and stove were malfunctioning. But ultimately I was able to get it working, after much fiddling at camp. I camped two nights at Stoney Pond, spending Tuesday poking around Cazenovia. Tuesday was very gray, and Wednesday was snowy. Wednesday I drove to Hamilton and hiked part of the Chenango Canal Trail.
My final night camping in 2021 was the Moscow Hill Assembly Area at the Charles Baker State Forest. I decided to camp there as it was more sheltered from the wind and snow, and in case we got more snow, I figured I wouldn’t have to worry about the snow, as the county highway isn’t that far away. They were expecting high winds and low windchills, but it turned out not to be too bad. I thought about staying another night on Thursday, but the weather for Thursday looked sunny, and wanted to do some hiking, plus I wanted to be home for Christmas Eve for a family Christmas Party.
Good morning! Happy Sunday. Rain showers and mostly cloudy with a few breaks of sun and 65 degrees, in a hammock at Cole Hill State Forest in Berne, NY. ☔ There is a south-southeast breeze at 6 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 64 degrees. The skies will clear around 3 pm.
So last night I went to Grace’s summer party at her mountain farm. 🐑 Beautiful land and old hippie type of farm house 🏡 surrounded by wildflower gardens up a steep mountain. She’s still working in Albany, going to be a heck of a commute for her come winter.
Afterwards I decided to spend the night up at Cole Hill State Forest. ⛺ Just a simple set up with a hammock strung between some trees and flashlight 🔦. I didn’t bother with a fire, I just laid back listening some podcasts under the moonlit skies. I didn’t even pack anything for breakfast, I’ll eat when I get home.
It wasn’t a bad evening 💦although there was a a few rain showers during the middle of the night and I ended up splashing DEET on due to the mosquitoes. 🐜
Today will have a chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 10am. Some of the storms could be severe. Mostly cloudy 🌩, with a high of 82 degrees at 4pm. Typical for today. Maximum dew point of 71 at 2pm. South wind 6 to 14 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 in the morning with a few breaks of sun the afternoon. The high last year was 86 degrees. The record high of 97 was set in 1975.
I have the kayak and fishing pole on me 🎣 and I’m thinking of heading over to White Birch Pond to do some fishing later. I guess it depends on how hungry I am or if how much rain we get early 💧, I don’t really have any additional food on me. As morning has broke the day has gotten nicer but there is still a lot of storms popping up on the radar. ⚽
Solar noon 🌞 is at 1:04 pm with sun having an altitude of 64.9° from the due south horizon (-5.8° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 2.8 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:37 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (289°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (295°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 8:17 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 12 seconds with dusk around 8:47 pm, which is one minute and 11 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Full 🌝 Moon in the southeast (127°) at an altitude of 6° from the horizon, 241,004 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 9:28 pm. At sunset, look for rain showers 🌧 and thunderstorms 🌩 and temperatures around 77 degrees. The dew point will be 71 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 10 mph. Today will have 14 hours and 25 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 14 seconds over yesterday.
I tell you, every time I am out in the country 🐮 I am super jealous about those who make a living and a place to live in the mountains. 🗻 Some day I tell myself, I just need to work hard and save more money.
Tonight will have a chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 10pm. Some of the storms could be severe. Partly cloudy 🌩, with a low of 66 degrees at 5am. Five degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 71 at 7pm. South wind 8 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. In 2019, we had mostly clear skies. It became sticky as the night progressed. It got down to 66 degrees. The record low of 44 occurred back in 1976.
I thought my Moose River Trip was a pretty good one, even if I ran into some minor issues along the way.
It was a pretty foggy start to my morning when I first woke up with the fog picking up right before eight AM then burning off a little while after the sun rose. While Friday and Saturday nights were fairly chilly the same could not be said about last night. Yesterday was pretty nice paddling along the Cedar River Flow then up on Cedar River to Carry Lean-To, which as the name suggests is close to the end of the navigable waters on the river. Maybe you can “carry” and get to another section of deep enough water but I have my doubts. The leaves along the flow were quite colorful, although the mountains surrounding the flow where already past peak and starting to turn quite brown and gray, with only some deep reds from the maples and greens from the evergreens remaining. It seems ironic that Moose River Plains is already looking like late fall, with the weather still in the 80s. Cool weather, some with a frost in early September made the leaves fall on many of the trees, despite the big warm up of this weekend.
While I don’t know how truly warm it got up here on Sunday — September 24th I should note — my phone said it was 87 degrees by mid afternoon, and the water in the Cedar River wasn’t super cold. I went swimming every day I was up here. The weather this weekend was warmer then it was when I camped up here over the Independence Day Weeekend. So be it.
I got lost in the muck and vegetation looking for the Cedar River, which if your inexperienced paddling or been a while since the last time on the Cedar River Flow can be quite difficult to find. Fortunately I saw a passing kayaker and he gave me verbal advice on how to find the river. I had a topographic map on my phone but it’s only of limited use, because topographic maps are old, and do not reflect the lower lake level since the DEC put in the modern dam in 1969.
There was a dreaded beaver dam on the Cedar River, only a short distance from the entrance from the flow. I am really quite surprised a beaver dam survived the boats crossing the area and the trappers seeking beaver pelts. I guess beaver pelts haven’t been fetching the price they once did, and with less human pressures, beavers are able to build an dam up whatever they want these days.
Coming back over the Beaver Dam the second time, I managed to flip my kayak getting back into it. My smartphone stayed plenty dry in it’s protective bag, but my camera and tackle box got soaked. Well, only briefly, but my camera is drying out and I assume in a day or two it will be fine to power back up again. So for the last day of my trip, I am limited to smartphone pictures.
I haven’t paddled the Cedar River Flow in a while because I have been spending more time up in the western end of Moose River Plains, and it’s a big haul back there. At 15 MPH speed limit, it takes almost an hour. From Wakely Dam to Carry Lean-to, it’s an hour and a half paddle, assuming you find the entrance to the river with ease and don’t stop for an hour for lunch, personal business on the smartphone, and of course updating social media. I know, hah. But there is good AT&T GSM access from the upper end of Cedar River Flow, especially near Campsite 6. That’s not as common in much of the Moose River Recreation Area.
Driving to the Cedar River Flow from the camping area in the western part of the Moose River Plains near Helldiver is an hour long proposition, which is why I haven’t spent much time there lately. I’ve also been spending more time exploring things around Inlet, in part because I like being able to check my phone to see if any family or work things come on up. I also get a bit tired of all those bumpy miles of 15 MPH road, especially now that I know Cedar River – Limekiln Lake Road like the back of my hand.
I cooked up some beef, cheese and chilies, and had some more burritos with Corona beer. After a few beers, with the hot sun all day, the five hours of paddling, I watched the fire for a bit then I retired for the night. I was probably in bed by nine. Which seems silly, as it was it was a pleasant evening with billions of stars above and temperatures in the 60s, but I felt like I needed toothpicks to keep my eyes open. I’ve also been trying to get more sleep these days.
In the past few years, I’ve camped up at Moose River Plains but it’s been at least two years since I camped in the plains formal — the area where the campsites are sand, the canopies are open and the surrounding area is quite swampy. The reason for not camping up here is quite simple — the bugs can be quite horrific during the spring and early summer — while the surrounding wooded sites tend to be bug free or have much fewer mosquitoes. It can be like night or day, especially in black fly season.
That said the “plains” campsites just are a special place to camp at with the big starry skies above in the remote country. I really enjoyed campsite 80, and should try to make sure to camp up here more often.
Broke camp before ten, walked down to the Moose River. Cooked up biscuits in the camp oven, took down the flags, put away the gear, hung out the wet stuff to dry, worked on the blog post, and once the fog burnt off it was a beautiful but rapidly warming morning as the leaves continued to fall.
First tried my hand at fishing the Moose River from the path behind my campsite, then I drove to the bridge over the Moose River and fished under there. Caught nothing. Hiked back from the Squaw Lake parking area first to Muskrat Pond and then to Indian Lake, that is the one in the southwestern most part of Moose River Plains. Nice hike, although at this point some of the colors are already done. Other places, less color. It varies a lot with elevation. But regardless the weather on this extended weekend has been amazing.
I tell you there aren’t many 80 degree days during the last week of September in the Adirondacks. It was nice sitting down by the lake with a fishing pole, even if I only caught a few bullheads. No mosquitoes which was nice too. And I almost slipped and fell in the lake which honestly today wouldn’t have been the worse thing. They’ve removed most of the signs and tables from the old campsites along the closed portion of Indian Lake Road, even if it’s in better condition than the open portion. The open portion of Indian Lake Road has been beat to shit by trucks and cars due to it being so wet and rainy this summer. Good colors along the road though. Definitely a beautiful day, not too humid with a lot of fair weather clouds.
Apparently I don’t have cell service up at Indian Lake or Muskrat Pond with my GSM phone like my old CDMA model. That’s fine but I do like to check in with the world from time to time. Oh well, by the time you read this I will be back in cellphone range.
I was looking at the map and thinking I have never hiked back to the Indian River. I didn’t have time today but I should add that to my list for next summer. Also hiking back to Cellar Pond by Cellar Monument now that the DEC has a big sign announcing the trail and they’ve blocked off the old dirt track used by hunters to drive down that way. I always go to the same places at Moose River Plains, I should explore new places.
After visiting Muskrat Pond, Indian Lake, and Squaw Lake I made it back to my truck closer to four PM then three. And I was at the Inlet gate around five, when I stopped and put the front and back ropes back on the kayak, and headed back via Old Forge.I didn’t feel like driving all the way back through Moose River Plains to Indian Lake, and heck, I haven’t been back via NY 28 in a long time.
Driving back through Inlet and Old Forge was really quiet. It was nice to be on the nice smooth black top, after driving over Indian Lake Road, the little used and little maintained section between the Falls Pond and Squaw Lake Trailhead was particularly rough. The sound of windshield washer fluid hitting the kayak on NY 28 made me pull over, but it was just that noise, the kayak was riding fine. But in general it seemed like all of the roads at Moose River Plains were rougher then usual after such a wet summer, with some heavy rains eroding away the roads and vehicles giving the road a good pounding in spots. I thought there was a McDonalds in Old Forge where I could get a milk shake, but I couldn’t find it.
NY 28 except for the small towns is really a good road, if not boring. The DOT has straightened and improved much of the road except through the small towns. Without summer vacationer traffic and being a weekday, there was very little traffic. I always like that section of NY 28 when it meets up with NY 12 south of Alder Creek, and becomes a four lane, but I think people always seem to speed on it and there are always cops watching for speeders. But the scenery is nice along this section of the road, looking down at the Mohawk Valley and the rough farm country, and swamp land of the greater Remsen area. I always find the rocky, rough farms cut into the mountains to be much more interesting to look at then the lush, more heavily capitalized and better maintained farms of the lush alluvial valleys you see in some parts of the state. The Tug Hill, in it’s upper elevations is a rough country, with lots of snow, and very hardy people. A big black F-350 Harvey Davidson edition passed by with Agriculture plates, and I had to think, “he must do some good shit, “no pun intended”.
Drove down to Poland and Middleville via NY 28. I like this part of NY 28 even if the villages are pokey, just because it’s pretty along the East Canada Creek. I should try my hand trout fishing there one spring — I just got to find a good place to camp up that way — it’s a bit of a trip for a day trip from Albany in my opinion. Middleville is quite the quaint little town, reminding me of what America used to be like.
Then it was down to NY 169 to Little Falls from Herkimer. I like this section of road, even though it’s hilly, because it’s quite beautiful. I like seeing the farms and valleys, and a landscape that works but isn’t that perfect, and still somewhat rough. Drove through Little Falls, a nice little but struggling city that has much potential. Yeah, I was there last weekemd at Moss Island, then onwards toward the Thruway. Stopped at Fink Basin Road to tighten the kayak on the roof of my truck.
Right before getting on the Thruway, I decided to shun pike some more, and take NY 5S from the Little Falls exit to Canjahoharie. I don’t like having to drive through Fort Plain and then Canjahoharie before getting onto he Thruway, but so be it. I do like that section of NY 5S high above the valley though. Some farms in the valleys haven’t cut silage yet due to the high temperatures (more growing seasons, more yields) and lack of frost.
When I got to Fort Plain I almost stopped at the Red Dragon Chinese place. I like Chinese and they tend to be inexpensive. People always think small town Chinese places are bad, but actually some can be pretty good, especially if families are trying to make a living in a place with few other options. I liked the Chinese I got in Canastota when I was working there, but then again, I got awful tasting Chinese food in North Syracuse. I don’t know, I passed as it was getting dark and I wanted to get home.
When I got on the Thruway at Canjahoharie it was getting pretty dark. My eyes were watering up and I ended up stopping at the rest area outside of Amsterdam. Took a piss and washed my hands good — nice bathrooms — then went into my truck and cleaned off my contacts and reinstered them. That made the rest of the drive easier.
Got home around 8 PM and things unpacked, well mostly so, before the heat started to get to me. Then I took a shower, and finished up this blog post. And here we are now.
My current smartphone isn’t as good at picking up distant radio channels and I didn’t play with it much so I missed hearing the news during my extended weekend trip at Moose River Plains. I doubt I missed much, most of the things in the news don’t effect me much. I’m sure my political Facebook friends will post plenty of memes to fill me in on what I’ve been missing.
Good morning. Still pretty foggy out but now we are up to 65 degrees on our way up to 82 degrees under ample sun. The dew point is expected to be quite sticky today so it really will feel like a mid July day. Cooler and possibly somewhat rainy and cloudy tomorrow but still above average temperatures around 72.
The sun will set at 6:58 pm with dusk around 7:26 pm, which is one minute and 47 seconds earlier than yesterday. At sunset, look for partly clear conditions and 79 degrees. The dew point will be 65 degrees. There will be a southeast breeze at 6 mph. Today will have 12 hours and 19 minutes of daytime, an decrease of 2 minutes and 51 seconds over yesterday.
Tonight will have a slight chance of showers after 4am. Mostly cloudy, with a low of 61 degrees at 5am. 11 degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 65 at 6pm. Light southeast wind. Chance of precipitation is 20%. In 2016, we had mostly cloudy skies. It was sticky. It got down to 65 degrees. The record low of 32 occurred back in 1959.
While Saturday I did not get locked through on Lock 17 — which admittedly is the biggest lock elevation wise on the Erie Canal — I did have a lot of fun paddling along the Mohawk River along the Moss Island and down the river a ways in search of the bridge foundation for the old bridge at Finks Basin along the river. I did find it it but first overlooked it because I was expecting more of a concrete foundation for the old bridge, not hand laid stone. But then again, the original bridge across the Mohawk River had to have been quite old, and I guess for the light traffic that the one lane bridge was expected to get it was decided a formal concrete foundation was not needed. Paddling along the Mohawk River there were some big carp that jumped up. Some had to have been two feet long, in the shallows of the river. I brought a fishing pole but I didn’t toss it in, partly because I doubt I could have caught any of them from a kayak with my 10 lb test on my fishing pole.
It’s really great that Moss Island was preserved and not used for a bridge abutment for the flyover ramp to the Thruway from Little Falls. What became the Thomas Wind Bridge really is quite a beautiful, graceful bridge, and it avoided damaging the natural history and geology of Moss Island. 45 years later, I think Moss Island has to be one of Little Falls’ greatest strengths, it’s protection made things like Canal Place possible. It draws rock climbers from across the region, to say those who are interested in the beauty of gracefully carved rocks. It apparently didn’t end up costing the city much more to build the bridge some 500 feet south of the original plan, and honestly, I think the bridge is straighter and probably less congested had it connected up exactly where the old river road is now, where the statute had originally required the Thruway Connection to terminate. It would have been tragic if the natural beauty of Moss Island had been destroyed. I’m really surprised the tourism bureau in Little Falls and Herkimer County don’t do more to promote this area. I guess more use would require further development of the facilities and designated trails for people to stay on, so the little known nature does make it a lot more wild.
I was also struck by the beauty of the lands outside of Little Falls. You have the deep Mohawk Valley surrounded by the Adirondack Mountains and the Foothills. A lot of agriculture in the area just north of Little Falls, some amish, some conventional dairying, and a mix of rural households. Beautiful rolling country for sure. Lots of wind power too. Those big wind turbines not only generate renewable energy, but also jobs and revenue for farms that host them. I just love the beauty of the somewhat messy homesteads and farms, the junk people have in their yards, the rural freedom of not having a government tell rural people how they must keep their yard perfect — even if the radical environmentalist types have gotten the state to ban open burning of trash and other junk. It’s the kind of life I dream of, but obviously not in New York with the Sullivan Act (it shouldn’t be a priveledge, approved by a judge, to own a hand gun), or the SAFE Act or the complete horseshit burn ban. I would love to live outside of a place like Little Falls in the future, but not in an obnoxiously liberal and New York City dominated state like New York. I like Pennsylvania a lot but I have some concerns about the direction of that state too.
Saturday night was pretty decent, although dark without out the lights. Fortunately I had enough of a charge after hitting the low-voltage disconnect to have some light in the truck cap. After being disconnected from the load all day, the battery floated up to about 12.3 volts. Sunday afternoon, once I got home I just had to patch the exciter wire to the battery isolator — it had broken lose, and I was back in business. Things are charging once again. I also ran a switched wire — that is only hot when the engine is off to power the floor LEDs I installed in the truck cab. This way they shut off when I start the truck, so they aren’t distracting while driving at night but will come on automatically when I get to camp.
Despite not having any electric lights due to the issue with the accessory battery not charging, it was a nice with a good roaring campfire, candle light and the campfire. But it sure gets dark early in mid-September, and after a few drinks, one gets tired rather early this time of year compared to early to mid-summer when it’s really still somewhat light out until quarter to 10. I remember hiking back from Ice House Pond on the Forth of July Weekend and even though ten o’clock was rolling around it wasn’t pitch black. Mid-September is much different. And the days only get shorter going forward. The only good thing is it was so darn warm out, that it felt more summer time then September, and indeed by the campfire, even with a t-shirt just on it started to feel a bit too warm after a while.
Some high clouds meant the stars weren’t perfect when I walked out to Powley Bridge from my campsite, but I still enjoyed camping here for the first time and probably last time of the year. When I cam here in August, this site was taken, and in June the bugs were awful so I stayed away. Nice warm evening, so it was nice to just stand out on the bridge with a nice cold one. Maybe next summer it will be clearer camping at Powley Bridge.
I retired to bed around 10 pm last night but I worked on this blog post for a while. The coyotes were singing their song and I heard a screech owl a while during the night. The woods can be a bit errie at times. I’m a bit surprised that the coyote call wasn’t followed by gun fire but I guess nobody was out shooting yotes at 3 AM.
Woke up a bit hung over this morning, and it was foggy. But fortunately the orange juice helped on the hang over. I wasn’t going to have eggs this morning until I decided I’d rather have them instead of muffins, and I would avoid having to set up the Coleman Oven. Already a remarkably warm morning for mid-September — actually September 17th to be exact.
I knew I had to head back early to Albany today because I have a lot of things to do when I get back home. I thought about going for a paddle on the East Branch of the Canada Creek but decided against that so I would have time to visit the Potholers one more time on this warm day. I like paddling the East Canada Creek but it’s a pain to take down and retire up the kayak, and I’ve done the East Canada Creek many times in the past. Rather enjoy the East Canada Creek one more time while I’m still able to with the warm weather. I don’t expect to be back up here until the end June 2018 now, especially not swimming. So I figured enjoy the Potholers while I still can. They weren’t too cold, and the flow was nice, for mid-September. The horse flies though at times were pretty bad.
I left the Potholers at noon, drove back home by 1:30 PM via the Thruway and Johnstown/Amsterdam. Sunday afternoon was busy with a long list to do: unpack the truck, run into the city, buy stuff for Sunday dinner, figure out why the accessory battery is not charging and be out to my parents house by 5:30 PM. Cooked burgers with dad, they were good. It sure was a busy day, but it all got done. Sunday was nice late summer day, all things considered. Maybe even a bit hot back here in the city.
I am definitely really digging this Bluetooth keyboard. It just makes typing blog posts on my phone so much easier and natural, compared to hunting and pecking on the cellphone. I just set the phone in front of keyboard, laid up against something, and then type my post. I am actually thinking of looking on EBay for some kind of easy and inexpensive plastic cradle from China so I can prop up my phone where ever I go, in front of my Bluetooth keyboard for typing. Also thinking of getting an inexpensive Bluetooth mouse to use with my phone. After first I wasn’t that comfortable using the Bluetooth keyboard with my phone but once I got used to using the keyboard and doing a lot of typing on it, I’ve gotten quite proficient and fast typing it on it, and I think I much prefer typing blog posts using the keyboard then on the phone itself.
Looking ahead to autumn, next Monday is More Night Then Day in Albany when the sun will be setting at 6:46 pm with dusk at 7:14 pm. On that day in 2016, we had mostly sunny skies and temperatures between 67 and 38 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 68 degrees. We hit a record high of 89 back in 1970.
In recent months I have done a series of articles about truck camping and my set up. This time I decided to do an article with pictures, showing my set up over the years and some of the equipment I currently use.
This picture was taken camping down by Betty Brook in the Burnt Rossman State Forest. This is one of my favorite places for camping. No fancy gear set up here, just unloaded the things I needed from the back, started a campfire, and enjoying the afternoon sunshine on this cold fall afternoon.
Lanterns are okay for camping in the back country. I however like being able to camp with electrical lighting and small electrical appliances when I am truck camping, as I have a ready source of energy — the truck’s battery. My current inverter (Vector 800-watt inverter) has voltage meter that displays how much power the truck’s battery is putting out, so as it gets lower, I simply just turn on the engine for 10-15 minutes to recharge the battery. At idle speed, especially in summer months, the truck uses minimal gasoline to recharge the battery.
In this picture, you can see the wires coming out of the cab, from the inverter, out to Christmas Lights, and to the regular old power strip I have in the bed of pickup, which provides places to plug in the lead lamps, the alarm clock, more Christmas Lights, and anything else that needs juice like my camera battery charger or even my laptop.
I use a set of 9-watt, 12-watt or 26-watt compact floresecent lamps in conventional lead lamps to light the campsite. I swap out light bulbs depending on my need for light, choosing smaller bulbs to conserve energy whenever possible. These compact lamps put out the equalivent of a 40-watt, 60-watt, or 100-watt conventional light bulb respectively.
The light is largely flicker free, much brighter and higher quality then white-gas lanterns, and is superior for reading. I frequently read late into the night when I am out camping.
I originally bought this inexpensive tarp from Walmart for privacy while taking “showers” from my portable shower bag. I use it far more to keep the rain off my head on rainy days when camping. Usually it’s just attached to surrounding trees with bungee cords, other times I use a mixture of poles, trees, stakes, and occassionally the kayak.
In this picture, the tarp is held up entirely by trees and long bungee cords, when I was camping up at Moose River Plains down by the Otter Brook.
I frequently store one or more plastic tubs in the cab of my truck at night, usually with food and other things that I want to keep away from animals and don’t want back where I am sleeping.
This picture shows some of the wires, camping gear, and box full of beer I had when I was camping up at the Allegheny National Forest.
Camping at Sugar Hill, with my wooden table in my pickup, a little bit before the un was up. I have a table lamp up there, and below the table is all the blankets I brought to stay warm this time of year.
Using my tailgate as a table as I have breakfast when I was camping up at Stoney Pond.
Camping up on Leonard Hill last summer. The beer is chilling on the bumper, and the campfire in the front, along with Christmas light.
Camping up at Allegenheny National Forest. Getting ready and packed up for the morning, burning off some trash before I head out for the day’s events.