Tag Archives: Catskills Autumn

On Hunting

© J.N. Urbanski

© J.N. Urbanski

Today is the first day of hunting season for shotgun users and I’ve been hearing gunfire echo over the mountains for the last month in preparation. The past few weeks of hunting season have been strictly for bow users only. Over the next month or so, there’ll be a plethora of camouflaged, gun-toting neighbors creeping around in the woods that abut my property, and sitting in makeshift deer stands. My husband saw a crossbow wielding neighbor stealthily striding out of the woods last week and felt like I had dodged an arrow.

As a new country lass, the first experience I had with a hunter was when I was hiking. Rounding a corner, our group chanced upon a man; perfectly still, holding what looked like an AK-47, looking like a stocky, camo-version of Bruce Willis in Die Hard. The gun made him look at least eight feet tall. He stared. We stopped. He silently crept towards us and then passed us without so much as an excuse me. We kept calm and carried on.

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Daily Catskills: 11/17/15

40F by 8.30am, a layer of frost, clear and sunny with a dash of haze on the horizon. 46F by 2pm with frost lingering in the shaded areas.

© J.N. Urbanski 8.20am

© J.N. Urbanski 8.20am

Daily Catskills: 11/15/15

45F at 10am with brilliant sunshine and wispy layers of cloud, rising to 48F and warm in the sunshine.

© J.N. Urbanski 3pm

© J.N. Urbanski 3pm

© J.N. Urbanski 2.20pm

© J.N. Urbanski 2.20pm

 

Daily Catskills: 11/14/15

An inch or two of overnight snow, cloudy misty and 32F at noon. Fall seems to be officially over in these parts. Nevertheless, it’s technically still Autumn until December.

© J.N. Urbanski 1pm

© J.N. Urbanski 1pm

© J.N. Urbanski 1.15pm

© J.N. Urbanski 1.15pm

 

Daily Catskills: 11/13/15

45F at noon, overcast and gloomy. Mid-afternoon rain with bone-chilling winds.

© J.N. Urbanski 3.30pm

© J.N. Urbanski 3.30pm

© J.N. Urbanski 2.50pm

© J.N. Urbanski 2.50pm

Daily Catskills: 11/09/15

50F by 11am, clear and sunny. 53F by noon, with long strips of passing cloud cover and warm in the sun.

© J.N. Urbanski 2pm

© J.N. Urbanski 2pm

Daily Catskills: 11/08/15

44F by 1pm, cloudy and overcast. Some scattered showers that rolled in with new cloud cover and sunny periods when the cloud cover parted. Mostly sunny by the end of the afternoon.

© J.N. Urbanski 1.40pm

© J.N. Urbanski 1.40pm

Daily Catskills: 11/07/15

48F by noon, drab and overcast with thick, rolling monochromatic cloud casting gloom over the landscape.

© J.N. Urbanski 1pm

© J.N. Urbanski 1pm

Daily Catskills: 11/05/15

59F at 8.30am, still and enigmatically overcast. 69F by 2pm, cloudy and still but for the occasional breeze wafting leaves to the ground.

© J.N. Urbanski 3pm

© J.N. Urbanski 3pm

Daily Catskills: 11/04/15

63F at 8.30am, clear skies with a hazy horizon. The Catskills are experiencing a welcome warm spell. 70F and clear by 2pm.

© J.N. Urbanski 8.45am

© J.N. Urbanski 8.45am

Daily Catskills: 11/03/15

58F at 9am with hazy sunshine through thin cloud like gauze and a light breeze. A glorious 71F and mostly clear skies by 1pm.

© J.N. Urbanski 3.15pm

© J.N. Urbanski 3.15pm

Daily Catskills: 11/02/15

42F at 8am, mostly clear with fine wisps of cloud, rising to 58F by 1pm. Bright, and warm in the sun.

© J.N. Urbanski 10.30am

© J.N. Urbanski 10.30am

Daily Catskills: 10/31/15

45F at 11am with hazy sunshine. 46F at 3pm with a murky veil of hazy cloud casting an ethereal glow on the landscape.

© J.N. Urbanski 3.20pm

© J.N. Urbanski 3.20pm

Daily Catskills: 10/30/15

Overnight rain had stopped by morning. 42F by 11am and overcast and blustery, rising to 45F and virtually clear skies by the afternoon.

© J.N. Urbanski 2pm

© J.N. Urbanski 2pm

 

Daily Catskills: 10/29/15

63F at 9am, humid and cloudy after continuous overnight rain that had started at 3pm yesterday. Gulleys running like waterfalls. More rain mid-morning, cloudy, windy and 58F by 1pm. Showers in the afternoon.

© J.N. Urbanski 9.15am

© J.N. Urbanski 9.15am

 

Daily Catskills: 10/28/15

43F at 8.30am with overnight rain continuing into morning and sodden trees waving in the gusty winds. 50F by 3pm, with misty cloud and strong winds blowing throughout the afternoon.

© J.N. Urbanski 3.15pm

© J.N. Urbanski 3.15pm

Daily Catskills: 10/26/15

35F at 9.30am, with a thin layer of frost and a chilly stillness. 53F by 2pm with hazy sunshine.

© J.N. Urbanski 9am

© J.N. Urbanski 9am

Daily Catskills: 10/26/15

36F at 8am with the rising sun bathing the landscape in an amber glow. Warm in the sun, rising to 50F by 2pm with cloudless skies.

© J.N. Urbanski 2.50pm

© J.N. Urbanski 2.50pm

Daily Catskills: 10/25/15

Yesterday’s late afternoon rain continued throughout the night and into the morning leaving the landscape sodden. 50F at 11.30am, cloudy and blustery.

© J.N. Urbanski 1.30pm

© J.N. Urbanski 1.30pm

© J.N. Urbanski 1pm

© J.N. Urbanski 1pm

Halloween in the Catskills

© J.N. Urbanski 10/31/14 9am

© J.N. Urbanski 10/31/14 9am

Halloween is a treasured time at the end of summer, a time where we all get together after having been out of touch for so long, after a hectic high season in the tourist industry that sustains the Catskills. Take a ride up Route 28 and join us for these events during the forthcoming week. The Upstate Dispatch Halloween weekend will include the following:

UPDATE: An earlier version of this post included Friday night drinks at the Phoenicia Diner Lounge, but the Lounge has closed for the season. This will make the long wait for Spring even more arduous. It’s a good thing that Mike Cioffi, owner of the Phoenica Diner is working on a new bar after buying property in Woodstock. Meanwhile, we are working on a list of great bars in the vicinity of the Lounge in a new post. Watch this space for a link to the list of places to drink on Friday night. Of course, there is also our beloved Peekamoose as detailed below. Friday night drinks at Peekamoose Tap Room are everyone’s favorite way to decompress after a hard week. The bar and restaurant is further up past Phoenicia by about ten minutes on Route 28 in the town of Big Indian.

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Daily Catskills: 10/24/15

Still only 34F at 9am with serene, satine clouds over a burnished, golden landscape and blustery winds. 42F by 1pm, but pleasantly humid. Time to crank up the woodstove for the second time this month.

© J.N. Urbanski 1.30pm

© J.N. Urbanski 1.30pm

 

Daily Catskills: 10/23/15

A frosty 37F at 8.30am but mostly clear and warm in the rising sun.  Update: 48F by 2pm and breezy, clear and sunny.

© J.N. Urbanski 1.40pm

© J.N. Urbanski 1.40pm

© J.N. Urbanski 9am

© J.N. Urbanski 9am

 

Daily Catskills: 10/22/15

56F at 8.30am, warm and cloudy with another enigmatic Catskill’s sunrise. Update: a balmy 67F by 2pm with a sprinkle of rain.

© J.N. Urbanski 9.15am

© J.N. Urbanski 9.15am

Daily Catskills: 10/21/15

52F at 8am, with breathtaking skies ribboned with marbled cloud. 65F at 1pm and humid. A sombre dulling of the northern Catskills’ peaks.

© J.N. Urbanski 12.40pm

© J.N. Urbanski 12.40pm

Daily Catskills: 10/19/15

20F at 7.30am with the landscape caked in frosty snow and chilly, rising to 43F by 1pm and sunny with clear skies. Warm in the sun.

© J.N. Urbanski 8am

© J.N. Urbanski 8am

© J.N. Urbanski 2.20pm

© J.N. Urbanski 2.20pm

 

Daily Catskills: 10/18/15

35F at noon with morning snow and blustery with fast-moving clouds and periods of sunshine. A bitterly chilly day. Update: 38F and snowing by 3pm.

© J.N. Urbanski 12.50pm

© J.N. Urbanski 12.50pm

 

Daily Catskills: 10/16/15

50F by 10am, cloudy and overcast interspersed with both rain and sun showers. An enigmatic day. Update: the glorious sundown through the red carpeted forest had to be captured.

© J.N. Urbanski 5pm

© J.N. Urbanski 5pm

Daily Catskills: 10/13/15

68F at 9am with a thin streaks of cloud stretched taught across the sky, rising to 72F by noon. Cloud moved in mid-afternoon with some rain.

© J.N. Urbanski 10am

© J.N. Urbanski 10am

Daily Catskills: 09/27/15

64F by noon, but hot in the sun, sunny and bright, not yet jacket weather. Wispy ribbons of cloud streak across the sky.

© J.N. Urbanski Noon

© J.N. Urbanski Noon

 

Daily Catskills: 09/23/15 Autumnal Equinox

A warm and sunny 56F at 8.30am with clear skies rising to 72F by 1.30pm. At this point in the year, the sun crosses the celestial equator from north to south. At 4.21am this morning, the sun’s rays were perpendicular to the earth’s axis, making the sun shine directly at the equator. On other days of the year, the northern or southern hemisphere tilts away or toward the sun. On the Equinox day and night are nearly exactly the same length and in the northern hemisphere this day is the official start of the Autumn. Splodges of red dot the landscape.

© J.N. Urbanski 1.30pm

© J.N. Urbanski 1.30pm