Those clouds look scary, although we got no more rain for the rest of the day. Also, notice the beautiful COR-TEN guard rail, which is rapidly becoming an endangered species, as the DOT is going back to stainless. Maybe at specifically scenic locations, like here, they will choose painted stainless guard rail, as used on the bridge rails here (but not the guardrail).
Taken on Saturday May 21, 2011 at Vanderwhacker Mountain Wild Forest.I mean the bike shop wasn’t wrong when they said the worn out tires would be prone to flats and would ride like a pig, especially with the more worn one on the front tire. Another flat up front and I’m not riding anywhere until I get a new tire and maybe a tube in case I can’t patch it.
Good morning! Today 8:30 PM Dusk 🌆 . Most cloudy and 70 degrees here in Delmar, NY. 🌥️ Calm wind. Hey at least it’s not raining this morning but the temperature will drop through the day and only get cloudier.
Today will be be mostly clouds with some breaks of sun especially in the morning , 🌥 with a high of 70 degrees at 6am. Two degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around May 10th. South wind 7 to 10 mph. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 60 degrees. The record high of 91 was set in 1944. There was a dusting of snow in 1986.❄
Another shitty kind of weekend ahead, 💩 but at least this morning Mr. Preskta isn’t out working on the unit next door 🚪 shortly after getting done with the milking and feeding – – cow 🐮 chores at 6:30 AM in the morning. Enjoying the quiet for now, and will probably just end up spending my day at Five Rivers Environmental Education Center, 🐸 reading in the woods. The original plan called for riding over to Pebbles Island and go for a walk there, 🚶 but honestly the weather isn’t that impressive today. Plus I need to get a tire and maybe a tube – – at least as a back up should the patch fail.
Truth is after that crash I got into Thursday, 💥 my knee still needs time to heal. 🩹 A weekend off from riding is a good thing in my perspective. I will continue to research tires today 🔎and stop by the bike store tomorrow and buy two tires ⚫ and maybe also a bike tube in case my patch fails or for an emergency it wouldn’t be bad to keep in storage for while camping or riding should I get another flat. I should be back on the road by Monday assuming they have the tire in stock.
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:53 pm with sun having an altitude of 63.5° from the due south horizon (-7.3° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 3 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:20 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (287°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (293°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 8:00 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 9 seconds with dusk around 8:30 pm, which is one minute and 7 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 9:09 pm. At sunset, look for mostly cloudy skies 🌥 and temperatures around 61 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Today will have 14 hours and 17 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 24 seconds over yesterday.
After such a busy week riding back and forth to work, 🚶 I am okay with taking life slow and going for a walk today. And not doing much but a lot of reading and observing nature. I was at Five Rivers last night too, rode out there, hiked and red until dusk 🌇 and it was a good evening. I’m just not feeling really ambitious today and I don’t feel like driving anywhere. 🚘 I ended up riding back through the suburban subdivision last night, getting home in the pitch black around 10 of nine. I thought about riding out to Feura Bush for some ice cream 🍦 but I think I’ll wait for warmer weather then last night – – wasn’t a super warm day.
Tonight will have a chance of showers, mainly after 3am. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a low of 48 degrees at 6am. Three degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around May 14th. South wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. In 2023, we had mostly clear skies. It got down to 40 degrees. The record low of 29 occurred back in 1974.
That great cabin / acerage I was looking at in Rensselaer County was only accessible via Easement, so after talking to the real estate agent I decided to pass on further investigation. 🏡 Great location, not a bad commute, and really what I wanted – – off-grid pole-and-beam cabin with water and septic on 6 acres but the Easement road was a deal breaker. The price wasn’t cheap but including the cabin it was reasonable for the location if only it didn’t involve the Easement road. Might be a good hunting cabin, but it would not be possible to improve the road and even a written easement gets complicated. Maybe I’m hoping too much that I can fine the perfect turnkey solution, but what I need to do build my own. 👷I’m continuing to research and learn everything I can.
I am still hoping that next weekend I can get out to Schoharie County, ⛺ take Friday off camp and ride throughout the weekend. Right now the weekend looks cold and showery 🌧️ but things could certainly change into he mean-time. I would like to ride the Catskill Scenic Trail, but I need new tires in the before I can do that as I don’t want to deal with another flat. And maybe find some good ramps to eat in the woods. 🧅It’s spring turkey, 🦃 so probably not hiking before noontime.
Possibly the following weekend, I might do a family trip 🚘 out to the Roger’s Center in Central New York, and then I believe the week after that is Memorial Day Weekend 🇺🇸 which I’ll have to decide where and if I want to get eaten alive by the black flies. 🐜 Last year the trip out to Cole Hill for two nights was a lot of fun hammock camping, so that’s another option. There is something simple and beautiful about laying back in the hammock as the sky gets dark and cooking over the fire. 🔥 At some point I want to get down to Catskill Mountain Cabins, the big show room in Kingston near the Thruway to look at the pre-fab cabins that have at the showroom there, but I think that’s more likely to be a June thing. Plus thoughts of the Potholers are on my mind 🏊♂️ come later in June but that gets hard to do in the sense that as summer progresses I’ll be busier with work at the campaign committee preparing for the autumn campaign season, running data exports and processing data.
Looking ahead, there are 4 weeks until 9 PM Dusk 🌆 when the sun will be setting at 8:28 pm. On that day in 2023, we had rain and temperatures between 69 and 60 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 76 degrees. We hit a record high of 94 back in 1918.
I guess enjoy it while you still can. It will be a nice morning for driving to the Glenmont to get groceries and supplies, maybe fill the propane tank in preparation of traveling next weekend should the weather be decent. I adjusted my bike derailleur and aired up the tires but who knows if I’ll get a chance to ride before the rain returns. I should also replace at least one of the bad windshield wipers too.
Good morning! Happy Sunday. Partly sunny and 44 degrees in Delmar. 🌤️ There is a west breeze at 6 mph. 🍃.
Out to Walmart this morning 🛒 to by food and the plastic packaging it comes in for fire starters 🔥 then over to Tractor Supply 🏮 to get propane so I’m ready to get out camping. 🌧️ As rain is coming later on today, I should also look at getting a windshield wiper blade for my truck. ⛽️ Then gas things up as I want to keep my truck full because with the Middle East going to all shit and summer coming, prices are only going to go up. Hello, inflation my old friend, how are you doing? Unfortunately I am concerned the Middle East situation causing inflation is going to mean elderly Joe Biden is going to get his clocked cleaned this November by the soon-to-be-convicted felon, Donald John Trump. But maybe it’s good, as government really needs to get knocked down a peg or two.
Today will have a chance of showers, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 2pm. 🌦 High of 55 degrees at 4pm. Two degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 11th. Maximum dew point of 46 at 6pm. 🏖️ West wind 6 to 9 mph becoming south in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning, remaining cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was 89 degrees. The record high of 83 was set in 1968. 1.4 inches of snow fell back in 1950.❄
While this morning is real nice, 🌞👉️🌧️ it’s going to turn to rain much too early this afternoon it seems. Getting shopping though before the rain will be nice, and I might try to squeeze in a bike ride later on now that I’ve adjusted the derailleur on my bike and aired up the tires. 🚴♂️ It should be a good for riding in at least the first half of the work week. Heading out to the parents house this evening, 👨👩👦 It’s good to visit the family, as you never know how many times you’ll get another chance to do it. If the rain holds off, I’d like a chance to get some exercise — be it a bike ride or an evening walk 🚶 but based on the latest forecast I’m not that hopeful.
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:56 pm with sun having an altitude of 57° from the due south horizon (-13.8° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 3.9 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 6:59 pm with the sun in the west (278°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (284°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:37 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 59 seconds with dusk around 8:05 pm, which is one minute and 9 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the First Quarter 🌓 Moon in the west-southwest (239°) at an altitude of 66° from the horizon, 243,304 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:41 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and thunderstorms 🌩 and temperatures around 54 degrees. The dew point will be 47 degrees. There will be a southwest breeze at 6 mph. Today will have 13 hours and 25 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 47 seconds over yesterday.
Yesterday ended up staying home 🏠️spending a lot of the day reading and thinking 💭 or maybe better said dreaming. I finished up a book on permaculture 🧑🌾 and one on beef farming 🐂 and was doing another book on Java programming 🖥️ and ended up digging into writing C code and working with CSV and Excel files 🤓, as I want to improve my C programming skills as a lot of the code we work with at work is written in C.
Tonight will have showers and thunderstorms before 10pm, then a chance of showers between 10pm and 11pm. 🌧 Low of 47 degrees at 4am. Eight degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around May 5th. Northwest wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. In 2023, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 52 degrees. The record low of 21 occurred back in 1940.
Been watching as the landlord works on the unit next door. 👷♂️ Been doing quite the gutting of the next door apartment, but I realize it’s been a least a decade since that unit was overhauled and I think it needed a lot of work as does my unit. 🧹 I don’t feel nearly as guilty for all the wear and tear in my apartment, things wear out and building materials — especially cheap ones like my apartment is made up — have a fairly limited lifespan. The refigerator in my apartment is more then 30 years old, and I am sure the carpets and floor are probably at least that old if not older. The mold issues aren’t my problem, or the water that is everywhere due to issues with the foundation not being properly insulated and the building not properly vented. 🏚️ It’s a cheap, dumpy apartment but despite all my complaints I kind of love it and hope to stay here until I find a permanent home.
Looking ahead to May, which isn’t that far away, there are 3 weeks until Cinco de Mayo 🤠 when the sun will be setting at 8:01 pm with dusk at 8:31 pm. On that day in 2023, we had partly sunny, rain showers and temperatures between 64 and 40 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 68 degrees. We hit a record high of 91 back in 1944.
Get your motor running, head out on the highway, looking for adventure and whatever comes my way.
Good morning! Happy Saturday. Going to be a beautiful start to the weekend for doing some driving around. Partly cloudy and 39 degrees in Delmar, NY. ⛅ There is a west-northwest breeze at 6 mph. 🍃. Temperatures will drop below freezing at Monday around 2 am. ☃️ I do wish I could go out camping, but things are going to be muddy after the rain, plus I’m thinking a week from next Thursday of heading up to the Adirondacks for a three-day weekend, assuming they don’t get a shit ton of snow up north in the meantime or it’s pouring rain all Easter weekend. 🐇
Things are going better since I’ve been doing more research 🛖 on housing options, and realizing I have to be more flexible on my thinking — even if it means a longer commute then is ideal to live rural. 👨🌾Spending a lot of money on gas ⛽️ and burning through cars 🚗 every 8-10 years ain’t fun, but I may have to push closer to 35 mile commute rather then the less 30 mile commute I was going for. The thing is in 8 years from my next car purchase in 2025, I’ll have built up my solar system and there will be far more options for electric vehicles. 🔌 I really like some of the options for modular cabins, especially the smaller ones built to code for residential use at a factory and delivered to the site with full interior built. Right now I’m quite enthralled by the Zook Settler and similar style small-one floor code-compliant pre-built residential cabins. I am thinking one floor, no basement, smallest size for a smallest possible electrical and heating demand. I like the wood-walls, that won’t sure the dirt like drywall, and the metal roof for fire safety and insurance savings, lest an ember fall on the roof.
Then get an EPA-certified, efficient wood stove and a small heat pump and use one of the bedrooms as a mechanical room — for batteries, split-phase inverter, well pressure tank, and maybe eventually a washing machine and computer equipment. 🔋 If I get serious about the map making business, I might eventually get an used plotter. I am thinking the heat pump can be used when I’m not there to keep things from freezing in winter. ♨️ Wouldn’t run much though, as I’d keep the temperature low on the heat pump in the winter, 🌨️ and the thing is a cabin built to 2018 federal energy standards, as required by NY State, passing blower efficiency tests, 🌬️is going to have minimal heat loss. I am going to need a quality gasoline generator like a Honda, which will have remote start, which can be triggered off inverter on low battery, which can keep things from freezing up in winter if I’m away for an extended time. Plus as much as I personally loathe air conditioning, the climate is warming 🌎️ and it sure would be nice to come home to on that sultry summer nights, especially when the batteries are full and it makes sense to be keeping the cabin cold rather then wasting the solar energy. 🧊 Use a standard electric refrigerator and probably a gas stove converted to use propane — and in winter, sometimes use the wood stove to atop. If I’m only using propane for the stove, I can get away with 30 lb propane tanks, that I can throw in the pickup and get filled at any propane retailer rather then paying a big truck to come out there and be dependent on one supplier. That said, it’s going to be a lot of money, but I’ve saved for a long time, done well in the markets. What I’m building is far smaller then your typical suburban home and will consume far less energy, especially fossil energy.
Today will be partly sunny 🌞, with a high of 54 degrees at 5pm. Nine degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 5th. West wind 5 to 8 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, remaining cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was 51 degrees. The record high of 82 was set in 1990. 13.4 inches of snow fell back in 1956.❄
At any rate, that’s all fun and games, 🕹️ though first I have to find land that I love ❤️🔥and is a good fit for me. The commute thing sucks, but I want to find a place that feels like and will be my home for the rest of my life. 🚗 I am exploring Rensselaer County today, not because that’s necessarily where I will move, as I’m biased towards the Hilltowns of Albany County, but as far as birds eye distance goes 🦜 there’s more remote country, closer to work then in the Hilltowns, being that work in Menands. 🐐 The roads kind of suck and traffic in Rensselaer County, (Hoosick Street and NY 7) but as a property owner, the conservative politics of land of Joe Bruno would suit me well. 😃 What’s good for my business, as I like to say, might not necessarily always be good for myself. Not only do I want to look at a list of parcels I’ve seen listed in Hoosick Falls, Petersburg and Grafton, I also want to explore some of Petersburg State Forest for mountain biking, hiking and camping 🏕️ 🥾 in the future. It’s fun to drive the back roads.
Solar noon 🌞 is at 1:05 pm with sun having an altitude of 45.9° from the due south horizon (-25° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 5.8 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 6:26 pm with the sun in the west (263°). 📸 The sunset is in the west (269°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:04 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 53 seconds with dusk around 7:31 pm, which is one minute and 10 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the First Quarter 🌓 Moon in the southwest (215°) at an altitude of 73° from the horizon, 239,018 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:05 pm. At sunset, look for partly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 50 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Tomorrow will have 12 hours and 4 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 54 seconds over today.
For the Easter weekend, 🐰 as I was noting, I really want to get out of town to go to the Adirondacks. The burn ban doesn’t apply to small campfires, and I don’t think it’s going to be bone dry up north at that point based on the forecast. 🔥 Plus I really want a good fire to help myself sleep better 🛌 and burn up some of the accumulated papers. I have nothing but disdain for the burn ban, but I understand the fire risk this time of year, as I know how easy it can be set your yard on fire, and as a future property owner I don’t want that to happen. 😐️ You can say what you want about New York State, but it pays my bills and it’s my home. Building standards mean I will end up with a quality, energy efficient building even if I have my views on the gun laws and open burning restrictions. Happy March 16th.
Tonight will have showers, mainly after 2am. 🌧 Low of 41 degrees at 6am. 14 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around April 22nd. Light southeast wind becoming south 6 to 11 mph in the evening. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. In 2023, we had partly cloudy skies. It got down to 32 degrees. The record low of -1 occurred back in 1916.
One month 📅 from now will be Average High is 60 🌷 when the sun will be setting at 7:40 pm with dusk at 8:08 pm.
Definitely won’t get so soaked riding in this morning. It feels almost spring like. I feel refreshed, even if it was a tough night with smoke detector problems again with my windows closed. Things are tough these days, but they’ll get better. I just got to keep pushing forward, I’ve worked hard to get where I am and have a lot of potential ahead.
Good morning! Yeah, it’s Friday! Sunny and 31 degrees in Delmar. 🌞 Calm wind.
Riding to work on this beautiful morning. 🚲 Oiled my chain well after yesterday’s very wet ride to work. It was starting to bind up and click from the rust. Been a while since I last lubricated it. It was so wet riding in yesterday. The ride home wasn’t bad, and I even stopped and got eggs at the supermarket 🥚 and rode the rest the way home, the long way via the bike trail through Slingerlands with still some light left by the time I got home. And no eggs were broken in the process. 😀
I’ve been complaining a lot lately, especially about my living situation, but there is hope. I love my new position as the Director of Data Services 👨💼 as it involves skills I’ve been using for a long time, and there is a lot of creativity and thinking involved in developing the queries and scripts to get the data outputted and delivered to clients. Plus, yesterday I got the official position description, and it somehow strokes my ego 💪 the way it’s written.
Today will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 53 degrees at 3pm. 11 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 2nd. Light and variable wind. A year ago, we had cloudy skies. The high last year was 39 degrees. The record high of 68 was set in 2012. 6.5 inches of snow fell back in 2013.❄
Continuing to read and research buying land to build a house. 🔍 To get a mortgage or pay cash is one of the big questions on my mind, but I’m trying to get hard facts on the costs of doing it both ways. I am determined to do it right, even if it takes time. ⏲ Spend the money that is necessary, pay the right professionals a fair amount. Everybody has a different opinion! But that’s good, I will weight what is right for my situation. I would like to close on land before the winter, and move out to the land and camp there 🏕 until my place is built next year if at all possible.
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:07 pm with sun having an altitude of 42.7° from the due south horizon (-28.1° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 6.5 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 5:17 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (258°). 📸 The sunset is in the west (265°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:54 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 55 seconds with dusk around 6:22 pm, which is one minute and 12 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:55 pm. At sunset, look for mostly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 50 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Today will have 11 hours and 38 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 53 seconds over yesterday.
Closed my windows as it was cold last night and the damn smoke detector went off two or maybe three times from accumulated smoke, dust and humidity in my apartment. 👩🚒 This really is killing me, I only replaced the alarm a few months ago and I don’t want to go without a smoke detector in case of a real fire. Plus the air quality is so bad it’s hard to sleep with the windows closed, though I don’t have the visible mold problems my apartment once had since the landlord fixed all the leaks and I got serious with the bleach, but it’s still not good. Maybe I got to try to clean more though I’m not convinced that’s the problem.
I tell myself, I got to get out of this place. 🏡 That’s what I tell myself. Now is the time I can make that change but it’s going to take time ⌚ as moving is complicated especially if I want to live in my dream place out in the country off grid. At least soon it will be warm enough most days to have the windows open which will help with the moisture and air quality issues. 🔲 It would be nice if I could point to something that was wrong, but nothing obvious appears to be wrong. Maybe I got to try to clean better. I guess I should probably reach out to my new slumlord before the fire department shows up.
Tonight will have increasing clouds ☁, with a low of 33 degrees at 5am. Nine degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around April 5th. Calm wind becoming south 5 to 9 mph in the evening. In 2023, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 28 degrees. The record low of -14 occurred back in 1943.
In 1965, Thirty-five hundred United States Marines are the first American land combat forces committed during the Vietnam War. 🪖 After promises in 1964 of no escalation in the conflict in Vietnam 🇻🇳 one of the most decisive and arguably tragic wars underway.
Tomorrow will rain likely, mainly after 4pm. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a high of 49 degrees at 1pm. Six degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 25th. Breezy, with a south wind 10 to 15 mph increasing to 17 to 22 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 34 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. A year ago, we had cloudy skies. The high last year was 43 degrees. The record high of 81 was set in 2016. 6.9 inches of snow fell back in 1961.❄
Looking ahead to Sunday, rain likely before 4pm, then a chance of rain and snow showers. Mostly cloudy, 🌧️ with a high near 47. South wind 5 to 10 mph becoming west 13 to 18 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. Typical average high for the weekend is 43 degrees.
Friendly strangers in black sedans want you to know, next Friday is the Ides of March ✝ when the sun will be setting at 7:03 pm with dusk at 7:30 pm (Daylight Savings Time). On that day in 2023, we had mostly sunny and temperatures between 37 and 29 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 45 degrees. We hit a record high of 72 back in 2019.
I think it’s reasonable to say this morning feels more like spring time then winter, even if the mercury is a bit below freezing. With the sun it and calm wind it doesn’t feel that cold. Plus no snow to make things feel cold from the evaporation of the snow. Should be a great ride in and will be super nice and mild by mid-day into afternoon.
Good morning! Happy Thursday. Mostly sunny 🌞 and 23 degrees in Delmar, NY. Calm wind. Things will start to thaw out at around 9 am. 🌡️
Didn’t get earliest start ever ☕ but I was up by 5:30 or 5:45 AM and got johnnycakes with lots of onions, garlic and spinach cooking up on the griddle 🥞 and lots of coffee. Continuing to play with the derailleurs on my bike — ⚙ sometimes I swear I’m just making things work with my belief that everything should be completely silent and every gear shift should be perfect. 👨🔧Truth is I should make an appointment with my bicycle mechanic to keep is running well. I also should rotate the front and rear tires, especially before I plan to do any mountain biking in the mud and ice.
Today will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 46 degrees at 3pm. 12 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 18th. Light and variable wind. Super, I’m looking forward to March and especially April. A few nice weeks before the black flies arrive, lol. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. The high last year was 46 degrees. The record high of 52 was set in 1925. 14.0 inches of snow fell back in 1895.❄
Bike’s working good enough to ride in to work, 🚲 despite or may in spite of the fact that I keep tinkering with the gears. Front derailleur is a bit off, because when I adjusted the “B” screw on the rear derailleur it threw off the front derailleur which I re-aligned but maybe not perfectly. Yesterday at lunch time I rode over to the Albany Rural Cemetery ⚰ in Menands. I want to explore the cemetery more at lunch time. Maybe today or maybe tomorrow.
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:10 pm with sun having an altitude of 32.3° from the due south horizon (-38.6° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 9.5 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 4:37 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (243°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (250°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:18 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 5 seconds with dusk around 5:46 pm, which is one minute and 18 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:21 pm. At sunset, look for partly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 43 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Today will have 10 hours and 18 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 31 seconds over yesterday.
Four weeks into it, I am getting used to my new job in the suburbs. 🏣 It’s actually a lot of fun to tidy data, and play with SQL for clever tricks. I can often tease a lot of interesting insights out of data using R Studio and the alike. Plus when I ride my bike in there is a lot of fun parks I can go to at lunch time, including the Corning Preserve and Albany Rural Cemetery. Plus there is a fair number of businesses and shops in Menands.
Tonight will be mostly cloudy 😴, with a low of 33 degrees at 5am. 17 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around April 5th. Calm wind becoming south 5 to 8 mph in the evening. In 2023, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became light rain by the early hours of the morning. A very mild night, I should go out for a walk. It got down to 25 degrees. The record low of -20 occurred back in 1934.
Continued mild but more showers come the weekend. 🌧 Saturday, showers likely, mainly after 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 52. Light south wind becoming southeast 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. Sunday, partly sunny, with a high near 44. Typical average high for the weekend is 35 degrees. I don’t have any big plans for the weekend, but that’s good, I’ve been so busy these days. The following weekend in President’s Day.
Looking ahead, there are 6 weeks until First Day of Spring 💮 when the sun will be setting at 7:10 pm with dusk at 7:37 pm (Daylight Savings Time). I guess that means winter is more then halfway over, though the second half of winter can be kinder but snowier. At least not as cold as for as long, or so I tell myself. On that day in 2023, we had partly sunny and temperatures between 59 and 24 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 47 degrees. We hit a record high of 78 back in 1921.
While this year was a rainy one, and it rained during many of my trips, I was able to get out for 53 nights in the wilderness — mostly fairly close to home but I also did a trip down to West Virginia in late October with several trips to the Adirondacks, Central New York and summer vacation in the Finger Lakes.
To start out my camping adventures in 2023, I drove out to Charles Baker State Forest and Brookfield Horse Camp. There wasn’t a lot of snow — just a dusting but it was a fun weekend, topped off by a beautiful sun-full glittery hike up Tassell Hill after a hoar frost. Explored Lost Pond and several of the trails in the middle of state forest.
For my fortieth birthday, I took off the Friday leading up to my 40th birthday to cross country ski and winter camp at Rensselaerville State Forest. It was a beautiful weekend with lots of blue skies, sufficient snow for skiing but not so much that was a ton of snowmobiles out on the trails.
I decided for Presidents Day Weekend to do another trip out to Charles Baker State Forest and Brookfield Horse Camp. Slightly more snow then last time but again largely a snow-less winter, with some nice days for hikes through the various truck and horse trails. I hiked around much of state forest, especially the more southern part of the forest.
On Good Friday through Easter I camped at at Rensselaerville State Forest. The snow was gone and it was fairly mild though at times it was a bit cool. Spent a fair amount of time walking around and exploring the new OSI Parcel that has been recently added to state forest and is still largely open fields with sweeping views of the Catskill Mountains.
The first Friday in May I took a half day from work and headed out to Schoharie County to camp at Duck Pond at Burnt-Rossman Hills State Forest. Originally the plan was to camp two nights at Duck Pond, hiking along the Long Path and exploring the state forest and then on Sunday hiking the Catskill Scenic Trail. That part of the trip changed when driving along Duck Pond Road the low tire pressure light came on I found a pallet nail in my truck tire. I was able to top off the truck tire and then change the tire when I got home and got the nail pulled and plugged. But it wasn’t the best way ever to end a trip early.
After visiting the folks on Mother’s Day Weekend, I decided to do a quick overnight hammock camp on Cole Hill State Forest in Berne. Nothing fancy or formal, it was as much a way to test out sleeping in my hammock with the bug screen. Kind of a chilly night, I took camp down fairly and headed home early in the morning.
This year I decided to eschew the Adirondacks and Greene Mountains for Memorial Day Weekend due to the black flies, my desire to look at bicycles, and work I had to do on the Saturday morning leading up to the holiday weekend. I decided to hammock camp again Cole Hill State Forest in Berne. This was a three-day two night trip, so it it gave me a chance to bring more gear up the mountain, set up a more formal camp. Cooked on the fire, hiked around the forest. It was a warm weekend, but I enjoy the solitude, along with having good cell service for listening to podcasts and watching videos.
To kick off summer, I did my usual Juneteenth weekend camping trip, tacking on some days on the Juneteenth Holiday Weekend. It was a bit of a cool and rainy weekend to kick off summer, one that would actually be followed by many cool and rainy weekends where I would stay home. Camped at House Pond for the first three nights, spending time down floating in the tube on East Branch while the final night I camped up at Powley Bridge site and kayaked along the East Branch. Really, like often is the case, the best weather was the day I took down camp.
After several months of researching and visiting various bike shops, I finally got a mountain bike. I decided it would be fun to do as much of the Catskill Scenic Trail as I could before my summer vacation got underway. Actually did quite a bit of riding and hiking that weekend — started out hiking Pratts Rock’s then riding from Grand George to Hobart. Sunday, I rode from Fultonham to Middleburgh on NY 30, doing a quick climb up Vromans Nose, then stopping at the farm market then going to Mine Kill State Park to swim. Monday I rode from Hobart down to Bloomville, getting caught in a major thunderstorm and downpour a few miles north of Bloomville with no shelter in sight. The trail became super boggy, then I went to Mine Kill State Park for one more swim, and then out to folks house for Sunday dinner a day later then usual.
Every year for nearly a decade and a half I’ve been doing summer vacation out in the Finger Lakes — camping in the National Forest and exploring as much as possible during my days there. The past few years I’ve been driving there on a Friday, to get a better campsite before they’re taken by the weekend campers. This year was no exception. With Blackie, my mountain bike, I did nearly all of the bike trails in the near vicinity, from the Black Diamond Trail to the Cayuta Valley Trail to Dresden – Penn Yan Canal Trail. Kayaked on both Cayuga and Scenic Lakes, swam many days at Watkins Glen State Park and Taughannock State Park, explored the Cornell Campus and Botanical Gardens on my bike. Got some good ice cream at the Spotted Duck, explored the Geneva Waterfront along with the Cayuga-Seneca Canalway. Some rain but compared to the wet summer that was, this was a pretty good week.
The next few weeks for rainy and by the time I got away for one more long weekend, it promised to be fairly nice weekend but turned out to be fairly cool and cloudy with some rain. Back at the House Pond Campsite, did some swimming in East Branch, but with the mercury in the 60s most of the weekend, I didn’t spend a lot of time in the water. Hardly what I had dreamed when the I planned the weekend. Rode Blackie up to Goldmine Stream Falls and relaxed down by the falls for a bit, also sat down by the swimming hole off of the Old Edick Road Snowmobile Trail, watching the rain fall, bemoaning the wet and cold weather. Still it was good to get away for a bit, and I did do a fair amount of reading in hammock, under the protection of the bug net, as the bugs were bad after such a wet summer.
I took the Friday off before Labor Day to get a jump on the holiday season travel, and set up camp at the site I really enjoy up at Perkins Clearing overlooking the mountains. Did a fair amount of riding along the various dirt roads of Perkins Clearing, including over to Mason Lake and on Sunday rode most of the way to the Spruce Lake Trailhead, though didn’t make it there in time as I got a bit of a late start as I spent the balance of the day reading and swimming in the Jessup River Bridge swimming hole. Labor Day, I rode around the Spectulator Tree Farm, doing a large loop, through the tree farm, past the north end of Elm Lake, then down to Austin Falls and Old Route 8B. I had hoped to get ice cream, but by the time I got to the ice cream shop they were out of soft-ice cream, and there was a long line. Summer was dragging to a close.
With time being fairly tight and the weather only so-so I decided to do a two night trip close to home out in Rennselearville to ride some of the gravel trails, explore the OSI Parcel further and just enjoy an early autumn weekend camping.
Columbus Day Weekend was cold and rainy for the first half of the weekend, but the Sunday heading into Columbus Day was nice, so I decided to head out to Rensselaerville for a quick overnight at the campsite on CCC Road. Leaves were late this year, so not a lot of color, but it still was nice to get away for a night and ride some of the trails around.
The banner trip of the year was my trip down to West Virigina. While it started and ended in rain, it was a very enjoyable trip with lots of new adventures this year. Camped the balance of the week — 6 nights in Canaan Heights — doing day trips from that area. Overnighted one night driving down at County Bridge Campground in Pennsylvania, and a on the way back camped overnight at Long Pond State Forest in New York. Adventures in West Virginia included hiking at Dolly Sods, mountain biking at night in the sods of Canaan Heights, riding up and hiking to Table Rock, exploring Blackwater Falls State Park on the mountain bike, MonPower Mountain Bike Park, Thomas Rail Grade and the Olson Firetower. Rode part of the Great Allegheny Trail through the Cumberland Passage, and the two sections of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canalway, including the Paw Paw Tunnel.
A little over a week back from West Virginia, I headed out to Madison County to ride the Tassel Hill Mountain Bike Trails at Alfred Woodford, the Chenango Canal Trail in Hamilton and Erie Canalway from Chittenango to Green Lakes State Park and then to Canastota and Wampsville. The first night was cold at Stoney Pond but the subsequent nights were quite pleasant and mild.
![Old Canal Warehouse in Chittenango [Expires November 19 2023]](https://andyarthur.org//data/photo_005914_large.jpg)
Strangely enough, I had never been up Prospect Mountain. So I decided the day after Thanksgiving (Black Friday) to hike up Prospect Mountain, and then spend the next two nights camping on East Branch of the Sacandaga River. The Saturday and Sunday was fairly cold, so I ended up spending the bulk of day hanging around camp, doing a bit of hiking around Fox Lair. Sunday, evening around 8 PM it started to sleet, then snow, then rain, Monday morning, it turned into a white globby snow, and I ended up taking down camp fairly early after discovering I was out of propane and then spent much of the day exploring the Hudson River Special Management Area – Buttermilk Falls.
On the days leading up to Christmas I decided to take a second trip to Madison County. I was originally planning to camp two nights at Stoney Pond then two nights at the Charles Baker Horse Camp but my family’s holiday plans were cancelled due to illness in my family, so I ended up staying an extra night at the horse camp, through the day after Christmas. On Friday, I rode the Erie Canalway from Canastota to East Verona, nearly to Rome. On Christmas Day I rode around many of truck trails at Charles Baker with my mountain bike, leaving my face splattered with mud. Many of the days were fairly cold and cloudy, but that’s too be expected in late December. Still it was a special way to spend Christmas.
