Day: October 4, 2019

Good evening! Mostly clear and 44 degrees in Delmar, NY. There is a north-northwest breeze at 7 mph. . Cool but pleasant.

Got everything packed up that I can do tonight and retiring to bed early after taking a sleeping pill . It’s a long drive out to the Allegheny National Forest from Albany and I plan to stop at some parks and scenic vistas on the way out so it’s going to be a long drive. Going to buy bagged firewood as it might be close to dusk by the time I start setting up camp. I kind of wish it was a slower pace tomorrow but I’ll have at least a lot of chance to enjoy the leaves driving through the hills and countryside on what promises to be a beautiful autumn day. Rain and clouds on Sunday and Monday but I can have a nice fire and will pitch my tent with the heater to stay toasty. I have lots of warm food to cook up and my camp stove is working well.

A few things left to buy. Need to get extra lantern mantles and paper baking cups. Then just the firewood and gas up the truck before Pennsylvania so I can avoid buying the expensive gas there.

Is West Virginia totally out of the question now? Ninity precent yes but if they get a good soaking rain Sunday and Monday and the burn ban is lifted I could consider it, at least going own to Cannan Heights WV for the remainder of the week. Hope isn’t totally dashed on that. So much more I’d like to explore around there. But the New River Gorge is probably not going to happen until 2020 or later. But I’m thinking more likely then not I’ll head up through Allegany State Park and explore Cattaraugus County and the Western Finger Lakes and maybe do a little hunting and a lot of enjoying of the scenery. Disappointed yes but it still will be a good time with some nice nights in the wilderness with a full moon by the end of the week.

As much as the fire ban sucks on cold long October nights, just as bad would be the dust on those dirt road campsites. Every time a car or truck passes by enormous clouds of dust fly everywhere including in your coffee cup and your dinner. Those dusty days of yesteryear really were pretty awful during times of drought.

At least I won’t have to drive those narrow steep West Virginia roads. But there will be some nice scenery in Western New York with the leaves close to peak foliage. Plus I can hunt and fish as much as I want.

Tonight will have areas of frost after 3am. Otherwise, mostly clear , with a low of 35 degrees at 5am. Eight degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around October 31st. North wind 3 to 7 mph. In 2018, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 46 degrees. The record low of 26 occurred back in 1965.

Tonight will have a First Quarter with 54% illuminated. The moon will rise at 2:27 pm. The First Quarter Moon will be tonight with mostly clear skies. The Hunter Moon is on Saturday, October 12th. The sun will rise at 6:55 am with the first light at 6:27 am, which is one minute and 7 seconds later than yesterday. Tonight will have 12 hours and 24 minutes of darkness, an increase of 2 minutes and 52 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will have areas of frost before 9am. Otherwise, sunny , with a high of 60 degrees at 3pm. Four degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around October 15th. Calm wind. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, which became mostly sunny by afternoon. It became humid as the day progressed. The high last year was 61 degrees. The record high of 91 was set in 1941.

Got a perfect little camp shovel ♠ at the hardware store. Not a folding shovel just a small wooden garden shovel. This should allow me to dig much deeper and wider holes for dumping the bucket shitter and properly burying the waste – which can be a lot over multiple days. Really should be a good improvement over the little trowel I use. Also perfect for ditches for draining camp and digging out fire pits or smothering fires.

In four weeks on November 1 the sun will be setting at 5:48 pm, which is 43 minutes and 34 seconds earlier then tonight. In 2018 on that day, we had rain showers, mostly cloudy and temperatures between 59 and 48 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 54 and 35 degrees. The record high of 78 degrees was set back in 1950.

Looking ahead, November is in 4 weeks, Buy Nothing Day is in 8 weeks, Average High is 40 is in 2 months, Saint Nicholas Day is in 9 weeks and Latest Sunrise of the Winter ️ is in 13 weeks.