January 26, 2020 Night

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Good evening! Mostly cloudy and 37 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☁ There is a southwest breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. The ground is mostly free of snow and tonight will remain above freezing. ☃ ️Temperatures will drop below freezing at tomorrow around 9 pm. ☃️

Went to my parents house and they made stuffed shells 🐚 and carrot cake 🎂. It was good but I eat too much. I got home, hung up my shirts 👚 so they don’t have too many wrinkles. I went out for my evening walk 🚶 and are listening to the the Skeptics Guide to Universe and are about to kill the lights.

Tonight will have a slight chance of rain and snow showers between 10pm and 3am, then a slight chance of snow showers after 3am. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a low of 34 degrees at 5am. 20 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around April 6th. South wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. In 2019, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became light snow by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 11 degrees. The record low of -23 occurred back in 1994.

The Snow ❄ Moon is on Sunday, February 9. The darkest hour is at 12:09 am, followed by dawn at 6:46 am, and sun starting to rise at 7:17 am in the east-southeast (115°) and last for 3 minutes and 12 seconds. Sunrise is 51 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌄 The golden hour ends at 7:59 am with sun in the east-southeast (123°). Tonight will have 14 hours and 14 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 2 minutes and 9 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will have a slight chance of rain and snow showers before 10am, then a slight chance of rain showers between 10am and 11am. Partly sunny 🌞, with a high of 42 degrees at 2pm. 11 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 10th. South wind 5 to 14 mph becoming west in the afternoon. I like spring weather. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. The high last year was 40 degrees. It was pretty nice last year too. The record high of 62 was set in 1974. 9.3 inches of snow fell back in 1963.❄

I am sure the solar panel will keep all the batteries 🔋 well charged with the higher sun angle 📐and the ample sun this week.🌞 On Saturday the batteries were well enough charged that the alternator shut off and ran entirely off the batteries for a short period of time like it will after an extended period driving. It should work great come the summer during an extended period of camping at one campsite in the woods.

Mom and Dad gave me a $100 check for my birthday 🎂. I am thinking about getting an enclosed canopy to use for camping, especially during black fly season on Memorial Day Weekend or during other extended trips when we might have rain ☔ or bad bugs. It would be nice to have a protected area on a buggy or rainy day to camp be outdoors with a book, a meal or just listening to a podcast and not be trapped in the truck cap. It looks like they range from around $200 to $300 but they are quite popular out camping it seems and it would be great for extended weekends camping. That said, this year with work it might not be an issue – not sure if I’ll be able to get out of town for Memorial Day Weekend. But maybe for summer vacation?

Also this year I think I want to do more back country camping. ⛺ As much as I like truck cap camping with all the gear I have such a craving to do more nights in the wilderness alone. I want to do more different things this summer, I always camp in the same places year after year and it gets kind of boring 💤.

In four weeks on February 23 the sun will be setting in the west-southwest (257°) at 5:36 pm,🌄 which is 36 minutes and 27 seconds later then tonight. In 2019 on that day, we had mostly cloudy, sleet and temperatures between 38 and 20 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 37 and 19 degrees. The record high of 69 degrees was set back in 2017. In a month we will be creeping towards spring and starting to get a bit warmer.

Looking ahead, Ground Hog Day 🐻 is in 1 week, Snow Moon 🌕 is in 2 weeks, March 🌨 is in 5 weeks, Daylight Savings Time 🌆 is in 6 weeks, Ides of March ✝ is in 7 weeks, Palm Sunday 🌴 is in 10 weeks, Easter 🐰 is in 11 weeks, Mothers Day 👩‍ is in 15 weeks, Pack Rat Day 🐀 is in 16 weeks, Strawberry Moon 🌕 is in 19 weeks and Fathers Day 👨 is in 20 weeks.

🇺🇸🦅Only 116 days remain until the start of Memorial Day Weekend!🦅🇺🇸

Channel on the River

I Should Think About Exploring the Hammond Pond Area More.

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I really should think about exploring the Hammond Pond Area … 🌲🚶

I rarely get up that way in the Adirondacks because I don’t like driving on the Adirondack Northway, but there could be a lot to explore up that way, even if they’re isn’t the roadside camping nearby — unless I head back along Boreas Road and camp at one of sites along Boreas Road or NY 28N. That might actually be fun and hike the Roosevelt Truck Trail the next day.

It looks interesting to hike back to Berrymill Flow and Moose Mountain Pond. I could stay at the lean-to there or in my hammock overnight, once Black Fly Season is done. None of those hikes look particularly strenuous, and I think because they’re not mountain tops and are in remote country, they’re probably not super popular either. I would like to spend more time in the remote country, and with my rechargable lantern and battery pack, I probably wouldn’t need a big heavy lantern, and during the summer months could pack lightly, possibly without a big heavy pack frame — or at least not so heavily weighted down.

WVU researchers promote maple syrup production in West Virginia – West Virginia Explorer

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WVU researchers promote maple syrup production in West Virginia – West Virginia Explorer

With more than 400 million maple trees, it’s no wonder maple syrup is one of the fastest-growing industries in West Virginia.

To help keep the momentum and overcome challenges, a team of West Virginia University experts wants to educate landowners, foresters and loggers on the nuances of southern sugarbush management.

According to Jamie Schuler, lead researcher and associate professor of silviculture in the Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design, continuing to grow the industry requires increasing the number of tapped maple trees.

“West Virginia has more total tappable trees than Vermont, but there are several barriers that limit participation in maple syrup production,” he said.

Those barriers include limited landowner awareness as well as misinformation about forest resources and perceived forest management or harvesting principles.

NPR

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Bigleaf Maple Syrup Flows As Profits Drip From Once-Maligned Northwest Tree : NPR

There's probably more written on how to kill a bigleaf maple tree than how to grow one, according to Neil McLeod of Neil's Bigleaf Maple Syrup, a farm in the tiny northwestern Washington burg of Acme.

"It's hard to kill," McLeod says with a wry smile. "A great tree. Perfect weed. It makes good syrup."

In his humid, densely-scented sugar barn puffy steam pours out of an evaporator through several big stacks and into the cold winter air. The damp perfume permeates his T-shirt and clouds his glasses as he leans over the vats, inspecting them for any out-of-control foaming.