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August 20, 2020 Night

Good evening! Clear and 67 degrees in Delmar, NY. There is a south breeze at 5 mph. πŸƒ. The dew point is 55 degrees. πŸŒ†

Definitely a nice late summer night. Went down to the park and read πŸ“– for two hours although midway through I was interrupted by some kind of hoola-hoop πŸ™†β€β™‚οΈ even with dozens of kids and parents together doing some kind of exercise activity. Park was fairly crowded πŸ‘ͺ but I found a quiet picnic table in the back to read at.

Continuing to read πŸ“– that book on hog farming. 🐽 I’ve learned a lot about showing pigs, apparently that is a big thing for 4-H kids πŸ§’. Probably not my thing to show hogs but I’m a lot about small scale pig raising. I want to get this book finished up this week as I have a bunch more books to read from the library that are due soon although right now they’re not collecting fines for overdue books. πŸ“š Its going to get tough to read at the park soon after work as the sun sets so early.

I debated Five Rivers 🐦 versus the park but decided that park would be better as I’ve not been reserving enough time for reading πŸ“–. That said there will only be a week or so of enough daylight to walk 🚢🏻 out to Five Rivers until its too dark after work. We are loosing so much daylight each evening. Maybe tomorrow or early next week if the evenings are nice and not ungodly hot. 😰

Today I finally had a bit of downtime at work 😌 which was nice for a change. I got down to the library and uploaded πŸ‘† some pictures πŸ“Έ and new maps πŸ—Ί. Look forward to cooler days working down at the library parking lot come autumn.πŸ‚ Tomorrow will be much busier.

Tonight will be mostly clear πŸŒƒ, with a low of 57 degrees at 3am. Two degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around August 31st. Maximum dew point of 55 at 8pm. South wind around 6 mph. In 2019, we had mostly clear 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 68 degrees. The record low of 42 occurred back in 1977.

Tonight will have a Waxing Crescent πŸŒ’ Moon with 4% illuminated. At 8 PM, the moon was in the west (269Β°) at an altitude of 12Β° from the horizon, some 227,771 miles away from where you are looking up from the earth. πŸš€ At the state speed limit of 55 mph, you’ll make it there by February 9th. Buckle up for safety! πŸ’Ί The moon will set in the west (280Β°) at 9:07 pm. The darkest hour is at 1:00 am, followed by dawn at 5:39 am, and sun starting to rise at 6:09 am in the east-northeast (73Β°) and last for 3 minutes and 2 seconds. Sunrise is one minute and 5 seconds later than yesterday. πŸŒ„ The golden hour ends at 6:47 am with sun in the east (79Β°). Tonight will have 10 hours and 20 minutes of darkness, an increase of 2 minutes and 37 seconds over last night.

Definitely a really pretty little sliver of a moon tonight. πŸŒ›Stars ✨ are out and the crickets πŸ¦— are singing 🎢 their song. Wouldn’t be a bad night for camping πŸ• but alas I have to work tomorrow. I thought about leaving for Schoharie after work but I think it will just be an overnight trip with lots of time at the pool πŸŠπŸ»β€β™‚οΈ, some at the fishing 🎣 hole and some at the farmers market. 🌽

Tomorrow will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 84 degrees at 3pm. Four degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 62 at 11am. South wind 5 to 9 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Going to be a fairly warm late summer day. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. It became somewhat humid as the day progressed. The high last year was 85 degrees. The record high of 98 was set in 1916.

Tomorrow I have a Zoom meeting πŸ“Ή at noon πŸ•› and I’m giving a Zoom presentation at 2 pm so I will probably work down at the library most of the day πŸ“š to save bandwidth on the work network and for reliability purposes. πŸ“Ά Going to be a fairly hot one but I’ll drink fluids πŸ₯ƒ but not too much I have to pee 😭and maybe I can work in the shade in a lawn chair at least for the first meeting that I’m not presenting. Probably won’t stay at the library until five but will finish my day off at home. 🏑

In four weeks on September 17 the sun will be setting in the west (273Β°) at 7:01 pm,πŸŒ„ which is 47 minutes and 50 seconds earlier then tonight. In 2019 on that day, we had sunny, patches of fog and temperatures between 73 and 47 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 72 and 51 degrees. The record high of 89 degrees was set back in 1942.

Not sure if I’m that excited about the colder weather πŸ‚ and the higher utility bills but then again I don’t usually turn the heat on until mid November and while probably after Labor Day I’ll need to turn the hot water heater back on, πŸ€‘ truth by told it only really boosts my utility bill by $30-50 a month during the coldest months of year and that’s easily offset by less traveling and less fuel used in my truck. β›½

Looking ahead, 6:30 Sunrise πŸŒ‡ is in 3 weeks, Constitution Day πŸ“œ is in 4 weeks, Average High 70 πŸŽ‘ is a month away, October πŸ›₯ and Harvest Moon πŸŒ• is in 6 weeks, Average High is 60 πŸ‚ is in 8 weeks, Thanksgiving πŸ¦ƒ is in 14 weeks, 7:15 AM Sunrise βŒ›οΈ is in 16 weeks, Christmas Eve πŸŽ… is in 18 weeks, New Years Eve πŸŽ† is in 19 weeks, Coldest Week of the Year 🌬 is in 21 weeks, Inauguration Day βœ… is in 5 months, Wolf Moon πŸŒ• is in 23 weeks, Don’t Cry over Spilled Milk Day πŸ₯› is in 25 weeks, National Drink Wine Day 🍷 is in 26 weeks and 5:30 PM Sunset πŸŒ† is in 6 months.

Sailboats Along Grand Isle

Floodwood Loop in St Regis Canoe Area

On a nice weekend, expect many people to be joining you on the ever popular Floodwood Loop in the Saranac Lake Wild Forest. While technically not part of the Saint Regis Canoe Area, this area is considered part of series of ponds that makes up this area, and this loop is the most popular of all the canoe routes in this area.

Big Alderbed

Alternatively, take a look at this Google Map of the loop. Balloons are designed campsites, there are no charge to use these sites. Red lines are portages and other trails.

At around 10 AM I headed out. Bright sunny day, a lot of glare. None of the ponds are paticularly large.

Heading Out on Floodwood Pond Loop

The Fish Creek between the ponds is quite narrow, and don’t be surprised if you hit some traffic. In parts the current can be fairly swift, although one can still paddle up or down stream with relative ease, just avoid the other boats.

Fish Creek

Heading Into Little Square Pond

Little Square Pond

Bright Day on the Lake

Spatterdock on Fish Creek

Coppreas Pond

Heading Across Coppreas Pond

Traffic on Coppreas Pond

Canoe Carry to Whey Pond

There is a 1/4 mile portage between Copreas Pond and Whey Pond. Despite being mostly sandy soil, with some roots, do NOT drag your kayak, if you want to avoid putting holes in it, as I learned the hard way.

Poliwogs on Whey Pond

Trees Along Whey Pond

Out on Whey Pond

Paddling Across Whey Pond

There also is another short portage over a road, and through the Rollins Pond Campground, after you leave Whey Pond.

Passing Rollins Pond Campground

Heading Across Rollins Ponds

Traffic on Rollins Pond

Past Swimming Beach at Rollins Pond

Narrow Passage Between Rollins Pond and Poliwog Pond

Back Out on Floodwood Pond

Towards St Regis Mountain

St Regis Mountain

Parked a Campsite on Floodwood Pond

Designated Campsite on Floodwood Pond

Private Kayak

Small Island

Heading Back Into Shore

Overview of the Saint Regis Canoe Area, including other ponds and all of campsites.

At the Shore

And if you prefer roadside camping with a trailer or pickup truck cap, take a look at these sites.

… I hope you enjoyed these pictures and maps from the Floodwood Loop.