essays | Page 43 | Andy Arthur.org

Begin One Way, End One Way

Andy | December 9, 2010

Some struck me about these two signs along a short section of a one-way road at Colton Point State Park. They seemed to mean so much more then just their simple meaning for traffic, but something about life we all live.

We all begin one way, set off to find our way through the wilderness of life, with little more then a rough sketch where want to end up.

We wander through the wilderness, seeking that destination that we know want to reach, but even when the road is straight and narrow, it’s not always apparent on where will eventually end up.

We sometimes stop to check our way. We get out our binoculars and try to look to see if our destination is in site. It’s not always clear.

We glance off into wilderness the vista.

As we kick some dirt up along the road.

Trying to avoid the dead ends that seem to come upon as every few minutes.

We stop for a minute on a park bench.

And peer down into the canyon as a changed indivdual.

And eventually we end one way. Was it the same way we started? No! I really doubt that. We have changed. We may have ended one way, but we ended a different way then we started.

How to Burn a Milk Jug

Andy | December 4, 2010

Step 1: Light the lighter and set the milk jug on fire.

Step 2: Milk jug starts to melt and burn.

Step 3: Milk jug collapses on itself.

Step 4: Milk jug 3/4 gone; reduced to melted plastic, carbon dioxide, hydrocarbons, and water!

Step 5: It keeps burning up and disappearing.

Step 7: It’s almost entirely gone.

Step 8: All that’s left is a little resin left in the coals.

The fire has almost completely disposed of this milk jug that was previously just trash that otherwise would have lasted forever in a landfill. The fire will eventually burn out, and what remains will be burnt up in the next fire.

Reasons I Like Camping

Andy | November 24, 2010

No Real Rules except for Respect of Natural World.
No Schedule except the Fall of Darkness Over the Land.
Get to Visit Interesting Places; Explore New Lands.

Get to Play with Fire, Sit and Watch the Campfire.
Get to Burn All Your Camp Trash with Plastic Burning and Melting in the Fire.
Cooking Delious Meals Over the Fire or In Dutch Oven.

Beautiful Moonlit and Starlit Nights in the Woods.
Drinking beer and smoking cigerettes and watching the fire burn.
No Time to Get Up in the Morning.

Peace and quiet or music as one sees fit.
Having time to read and get away from all of it.
A big change in the routine.

Climate Change as a Check Engine Light

Andy | November 17, 2010

The “Check Engine” light can indicate a variety of problems with a car engine that needs to fixed, but is not a critical safety issue that would prevent you from driving home or to the garage. You might have a spark plug that is misfiring or a oxygen sensor that is out of range, but neither of those problems in over the next 500-1,00 miles is going to seriously damage your car.

Ignoring them for months or years, will likely plug up your catalytic converter or scour the cylnder walls by detonation. Ignoring a check engine light for an extended period of time can do serious damage.

Therefore, it’s a serious mistake to:

Totally ignore the check engine light, and drive for the next year or two.
Panic, and pull off the road, and wait for a tow truck (the Check Engine light is not the Low Oil Pressure light).
Scrap the car and buy a new one.

One might argue that pulling off the road and waiting for the tow truck, when the Check Engine light is on, won’t do any harm to the car. It’s the safest option. This is true. Yet it will do real harm to your day, your plans, and you’ll have to pay a towing bill that otherwise you would otherwise avoid by temporarily ignoring the Check Engine Light, driving home, and dropping off the car at the garage later in the week.

Climate change should not be ignored, but should be dealt with in an appropiate fashion not to ruin people’s quality of lives. The solutions to climate change will not be found in radical changes in energy policy or massive new taxes, but gradual changes, that will ensure the harm inflicted onto the environment by our carbon-based economy will be minimized to an acceptable level.

That means a moderate changes but not radical changes:

A gradual decarbonization of electrical grid, by mandating a greater portion of the power purchased by renewables.
A gradual decarbonization of fossil fuels by blending them with renewables such as ethanol in gasoline, and wood waste in coal boilers
A gradual increase in energy efficency by mandating new efficency standards for a broad series of appliances, automobiles, and industrial facilities

People forget that the problem of climate change is not due to any one individual or for that matter, any one power plant or industrial facility. The problem is largely a problem of scale — we are consuming, as society, so much fossil fuels that we are dramatically changing the percentage of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere — a trace gas, but a trace gas that is likely to double in coming decades over historical levels.

We, as a society, have a moral obligation to slow the accumulation of carbon dioxide atmosphere.

Camping in the Allegheny National Forest

Andy | November 10, 2010

Last fall I spent two days camping in the Allegany National Forest, which is south of Salamaca, NY and west of Bradford, PA. Two days in mid-November provided a limited time to explore the area, in part due to the short days between sunrise and sunset, requiring me to back to camp no later then about 3:30 PM in the afternoon to gather wood and prepare for the coming sunset at 5 PM.

Throughout the Allegenheny National Forest there are many truck trails that pass oil and gas wells, provide access to timber stands used for logging, and also access to hunters, fishermen, hikers, and camping. Most of the forest is not mature stands of trees, and indeed the whole area has a very working-forest nature to it, by no means is it wilderness.

Camping is allowed along all of the dirt roads except for roads specifically designated scenic byways. It is strongly discouraged by that vehicle travel off the roads any further then neccessary to prevent erosion. Dotted along the roads are places where people have camped in the past, in fields and other desirable places. Campsites are very primative, and have only rock fire places left by previous users.

I camped off of Forest Service Road 154, quite a ways above the Allegeheny Reservior. It was a decent little site, pretty far back, and nice and hard, so I need not worry about sinking into the ground. I also felt wildfire danger was lower this time of year, as there was not the dry grass here, and the leaves where damp from dew.

I strung a line out to hang up the Christmas lights I used for ambiance and background lighting at night, and built a campfire in the firepit. I was moving stuff between the cab and the back of the truck when I took this picture.

Inside my camping rig when I was camping up there.

In the evening, watching the sun set, a little after 5 pm…

There are many things to see at Allegheny National Forest (all free) from the Rim Rock to views from Jakes Rocks to the views of Reservior. There probably was much more I could have seen had I spent more time camping up there.

… I hope you enjoyed this brief look back from my experiences camping up at the Allegheny National Forest in November 2010.

Camping at Stoney Pond

Andy | November 7, 2010

Stoney Pond State Forest is located in the highlands between Morrisonville and Cazenovia, and includes a camping area that requires a free permit in the summer. I camped there on November 7, 2010 on a very cold morning.

Waking up truck camping in November meant morning came real early, especially because I had to get going with night approaching fast. This was campsite number eight under the morning light. All of the campsites at Stoney Pond had these great round fire rings.

Walking Through The Woods. There isn’t much in the way of leaves on the trees right now.

Frost on the Leaves.

Truck Camping. In the morning, having my cup of coffee and getting ready to face the day’s adventures. I need to get a table, so I don’t have so much clutter on my tailgate — there are no picnic tables at Stoney Pond.

Icy Ruts. It was that cold in the morning that muddy ruts up there iced up.

Outhouse. In the summer months they also have port-a-poties down by other campsites.

Campsite 8. This is where I camped at, as seen from the road. I liked this site a lot because it was well set back.

Campsite 4. Another really nice campsite, although a bit closely spaced.

Path Down to Stoney Pond. There is a road that goes down to Stoney Pond for those wanting to launch a boat into it.

Stoney Pond. On on side, there is a sandy beach/boat launch.

Campground Roads. There is no charge to camp here, although they want you to call the forest ranger for a free permit in the summer to control usage.

Campsite 1. Not a very nice campsite, but I guess if you want a drive to place where you can camp, and other 15 sites are full, it can be used.

Maps.

Here is a map of the Stoney Pond Camping Area.

Here is the State Forest Map.

Arterial photo of the area.

View Larger Map

Late Fall Camping at Sugar Hill

Andy | November 7, 2010

On my way down to Pennsylvania and on my way back to Albany, I spent a two nights camping out at Sugar Hill State Forest, lower Assembly area. While the area is primarily designed for equestrians, it does offer a person who seeks drive-in camping without a permit in Finger Lakes Region a place to stay.

On the Sunday night driving down to Pennsylvania, there was nobody else around but a bow hunter I saw in the morning. On Friday night, there where a lot of horse owners, because the Upper Assembly-area was closed for the winter. I drove around, hoping to visit the fire tower a top the Assembly area. Unfortunately, it was closed for the year. I did get some interesting shots from Tower Hill Road, heading up there, looking down at Seneca Lake.

On the other side of the ridge from Tower Hill Road, you can see Keuka Lake. It looks a lot different this time of year then in other times of year. I do wish I could have seen it from the fire tower, although I guess the fire tower has limited views due to trees growing up. I could have hiked up to the tower, but it’s a ways back, with the road gated off.

Next I drove down to Birdseye Hollow State Forest / Sanford Lake. Got lost. I know this time of year you don’t need camping permits for it, but it looked it was only tent sites. Things where pretty grown up, and it was getting late. I ended up driving back up the hill, to Sugar Hill, and settling in at the Lower Assembly area. On Sunday night, all the horse campers had packed up and gone back home.

I proceeded to make baked zita in the dutch oven, over a warm open fire. Somebody had left firewood from the previous weekend, and there was ample dead and down wood nearby in the forest, so I really nice warm fire.

I like the campsites down at Sugar Hill, although I wish they offered more privacy. Yet, I guess that’s not how Assembly areas work at horse camps. That said, on a Sunday evening, there was nobody else around. It was a bit more crowded the following Friday, for my return trip. It was a nice night, and great meal.

Morning unfortunately came early, with the change of day light savings time, and it was dark when I set my alarm clock for 6:30 AM. Yet I knew I had a big day ahead, driving down to Pennsylvania, so I was before dawn. But eventually the sun rose over the pines of the Lower Assembly day, and it was a beautiful morning.

I packed up my gear, headed across a muddy truck trail to get packed up, took kind of a bath using a tea-kettle with hot water, and I was on my way to Pennsylvania. The camera lens kind of was fogged up from the cold.

The drive to Pennsylvania was spectular, especially just South of Sugar Hill in Coon Hollow (really a wide valley), with beautiful farms lining the road, and tall mountains surrounding it.

As a side note, I also stayed here on Friday, November 12. There where a lot of equestrians that where using the area by around 9 PM, with lots of horse trailers. Many came late. This Lower Assembly area doesn’t get much use in the summer, compared to the Upper Assembly area, but this time of year with the Upper Assembly area closed, many where down here for the weekend. Weekdays, you’ll probably be alone camping here — especially in the winter.

Here is a map of Sugar Hill.