Year — Andy Arthur.org

Five Major Trips I Hope to Take in 2012

Andy | August 2, 2014

Salmon River Reservior.

I am hoping to take a weekend trip up to Salmon River Reservior in Oswego County, kayak out to an island on the reservior, and spend a night. Possibly explore Winona State Forest, and then maybe visit Rome Sand Plains on the way back home. This might be a long-weekend trip.

Sand Plains of Western Adirondacks.

I am hoping to spend some more time exploring the Sand Plains of Adirondacks, particularly in the Western Adirondacks and Tug Hill Plateau, around the Black River Valley. The Otter Creek-area, while confusing to the new visitor, is a fascinating mix of sand plains, pine trees, and other open areas. Probably take this trip during the mid-summer.

North Country Trip.

I am hoping to take a North Country trip, visiting Deer River State Forest, Deer River Flow, Brasher Falls State Forest, Lake Bonaparte, and possibly other destinations in the Western Adirondacks such as the afformentioned Sand Plains. I would probably do this mid-summer, possibly part of the Adirondack Sand Plains trip.

Twin Tiers Trip.

I am hoping to take a trip back to the Twin Tiers. Some of the places I would like to visit include the Zoar Valley, East Otto State Forest (for camping), Allgeheny National Forest and Pine Creek Gorge. I might overnight one night at Sugar Hill State Forest. Possibly do this trip in early November, weather depending.

Horseshoe and Lows Lake.

I am hoping to get up to Horseshoe Lake again this year. Things didn’t work out so well last year, and it owuld be nice to explore of the Lows Lake, possibly canoe camping one night there, and spending another night roadside camping at Horseshoe Lake.

Green Mountains.

I am hoping to get back to Green Mountains, hike up Stratton Mountain and spend more time exploring the area around Kelly Stand and the Somerset Reservior. This probably would be just a weekend trip.

Time to Feed the Beast

Andy | April 17, 2012

Today is tax day. The day where we look back at how much of our income we paid in taxes, and how much additional we must pay by today to avoid even further taxes and penalities.

It would be one thing if taxes always served a purpose of benefiting the people. Yet, we know that increasingly is not true. Increasingly taxes buy deregulation of corporations, tax breaks on wealthy individuals, and increased regulation on working folks.

Take Obamacare. The Individual Mandate is just one example of the government supposedly helping the people, while it’s mostly just a way to drum up additional income for insurance companies by forcing everybody to buy landyacht healthcare policies.

We don’t really have much of a choice in paying income tax. But we as citizens have the ability to advocate that our government use such monies for our interest, and not just for corporate benefit. We can advocate against waste and corporate giveaways. We can fight back against such policies that force individuals to buy corporate products and those that are deregulation solely in favor of corporations.

Twenty-Nine

Andy | January 29, 2012

Today is my twenty-nineth birthday. Last year before turning 30. While people assure me that turning 30 is not a big deal, and everybody goes through it, somehow I feel like I got to make my 29th birthday, and make my 29th year something special.

Everytime around this time of year, I like to take a few minutes to think back about the past year and the coming year. In many ways this year is kind of a blank slate, something to be planned as things go along.

Not having big plans doesn’t mean I won’t do big things…

I already are thinking about many weekend and longer road trips, hikes, and camping trips. I at least don’t have to worry too much about my truck breaking down. I probably won’t set anything down in stone for sure, but I do want to get back to some of my favorite spots in the Adirondacks, the Green Mountains, Central NY, Finger Lakes, and the Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania.

I got to get a truck cap this spring, and kayak racks for my truck. Hopefully by mid-summer, I can my truck wired up with a second battery to power my camping gear without fears of running my main battery dead. I need to work to build up my savings, a lot of which went into purchasing my pickup truck last year.

I also got to look forward to future years. This year I will become vested in the State Employee Pension Plan, which means I will have other options opening. I might consider going back to college, or even moving out of the state. I look forward to the adventures of the coming year.

2011 Pictures of the Year

Andy | December 29, 2011

January.

After a fresh snow fall it was a winter wonderland in the Albany Pine Barriens, a forever wild ecosystem on the outskirts of the city. It felt like one was walking through a marshmallow forest.

A cold winters day at my parents house in late January, after a long cold spell that never seemed to want to end.

February.

A icy sheen shown on the snow at Partridge Run, as I went for an afternoon walk with the dogs up there in the middle of the month.

Snowshoeing back down Bennett Hill in late February.

March.

A recently logged section of Cole Hill provided breath-taking views of Irish Hill and the Fox Kill Valley down in Berne.

What a clear spring day up at Horseshoe Clove at Thacher Park. Warmer, nicer days can’t be far way.

April.

April 9th was the first day I got out camping in 2011. Spent the day exploring Rogers Environmental Center, camped at Moscow Hill Horse Assembly Area.

It may start to warm up earlier in lower elevations, but winter is still very much a force in late April in the Adirondacks. The East Sacanadaga River on this morning looks icy and cold.

May.

There’s Albany! From my kayak. I kayaked up to Downtown Troy from the Corning Preserve.

Spring finally comes to Adirondacks by late May. Paddling around Cheney Pond, looking towards Sand Mountain in the distance, on the other side of Hoffman Notch.

June.

Kayak camping on Stockmans Island in the middle of the Hudson River. What an adventure, one I picked on a night when they had fireworks up at the Coxscake Town Park.

Oswegatchie River up in Watson’s Triangle in Adirondacks. There are few places as remote as this that you can drive on largely unmarked and rarely traversed back country roads. Watson’s Triangle is a place far of the beaten path.

July.

A dramatically cloudy day, looking down towards Tupper Lake from Mount Arab.

Cooling off at the Potholers on an oppressively humid summer’s day.

August.

Exploring Beaver Creek at the Brookfield Railroad State Forest in Brookfield, NY.

Watching the fog burn off Beaver Creek at Brookfield Railroad State Forest on a summer morning..

September.

A beautiful late summer morning at North Lake in Adirondacks. North Lake is such a jewel, especially as you head farther north on the largely undeveloped portion of the lake.

Fall was well underway, and even past peak at Moose River Plains by September 20th.

October.

Second week of October, I went up to the North Country for some leaf peeping, hiking, and kayaking. The colors may be faded in Central Adirondacks, but still were good in lower elevation parts of the Northern Adirondacks.

And later in October, I drove up to Snake Mountain in Vermont, overlooking the Champlain Valley and the Adirondacks. Colors lasted the longest

And by October 30th, we had snow, actually several inches, as seen up at Lake Taghkanic State Park.

November.

In November I visited Monreau Lake State Park for the first time, and checked out the Palmerstown Ridge above the Hudson River and Spier Falls. These power lines transfer power from Spier Falls Hydro Dam over to Corinth.

I also hiked up Windham High Peak. I hadn’t been there in many years, and it was interesting to look down at Preston Hollow and Medusa, far, far below.

December.

On Christmas Day, I hiked up Hadley Mountain. While cloudy and cold, it was very beautiful.

While the pond at Thacher Park was frozen, there still is very little snow locally.

Looking Back at 2011 in Photos

Andy | December 21, 2011

Today will take a look back at Year of 2011 in photos. Next week, I plan on doing an article featuring the Best of Photos of 2011. UNIX_TIMESTAMP(‘2011-1-1’) AND `date` < UNIX_TIMESTAMP('2012-1-1') ORDER BY `date` ASC"; $query = mysql_query("$sql"); while ($series = mysql_fetch_assoc($query) ) { $date = strtotime($series['dated']); if ($prevdate != date('F', $date) ) { echo '

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