I woke up ready for a #hike folks! It was nice to be out in the quiet #wilderness once again… Not that I didn’t love #NiagaraFalls but nothing beats the feeling of #solitude in #America’sNationalForests… It was time to see what #CatskillStatePark in #Roscoe,NY had to offer…

Right away I was encouraged with this site above… A Father and his Son were #FlyFishing… They were right along the #stream… I didn’t think there were #fish in there but maybe the Father was just showing the Son how to fly fish… The #casting is quite complex and takes a while to master… Not that I would know about mastering fly fishing… I have done it once before this and I wasn’t any good… Well, I didn’t catch anything anyways…

I couldn’t resist taking a picture of #Milene, my #WalkingStick, with all the other walking sticks… Some nice #hikers left theirs for others to use… The one in the middle was quite impressive because it was so thick and straight… I was tempted to take it but why ruin a good #charitable gesture… besides Milene would get extremely jealous… lol.

This #NationalPark was very organized and well laid out… Here was a #map showing me all of the #trails… You can see two #butterflies trying to figure out their next #destination… There were butterflies everywhere… It’s so nice waking up to such natural beauty… It really puts a smile on your face…

So there were two different #ponds in two different directions… I decided to take #TroutPond over #MudPond for obvious reasons… I just hoped they weren’t the opposite of their names like #Greenland and #Iceland…

I am proud to say I have been on the road non-stop for 33 days now! Not once have I stayed at a fully functioning #campsite… Not once have I hooked #TheMillenniumFalcon up to #grid power or constant #water… I have always #dumped and #refilled… I have done this 5 times since I have been on the #road… That’s an average of #dumping every 6 days… I am proud to say I am officially a #Boondocker and I wear that title with pride #folks…

Unfortunately that trend will end when I visit #Manhattan,NY… I will have to hook up there unless my friend has a place for me to park in #Queens,NY… I have to ask him… If he does, you know I will keep the trend going as long as I can… I would like to go the whole year being off the #grid… We will see…

They made you register before you went on a hike… They really have their shit together at this #StatePark…

It was only a 2 mile hike to #Trout #Pond… I was getting really excited to try out my new #FlyFishingRod…

There’s some more of that #burl I am obsessed with… It looks like a huge hornet’s nest… I hope I find a fallen #tree with some big burl on it… I will immediately run back and get my #saw… I want to get a nice big piece of burl and #carve something out of it!

It was a short yet fulfilling #hike… I could see the #trees opening up ahead as #BlueSky and hanging #clouds exposed themselves to me… I honestly was almost running at this point, I was so excited to #fish…

The pond was breathtaking… Absolutely beautiful! It was about 75 degrees out and there was a nice breeze… On the hike, I wasn’t bothered by any #bugs… It was turning out to be a perfect day for #fishing…

I quickly got my #FishingRod out and put it together… At the same time I kept on scouring the #waters for any signs of fish… Besides some #ripples from the wind, the pond was very silent…

I tied a dainty, trusty #fly and hook to my line and started the ritual… I am so glad no one could see this escapade I tried to pass off as fly fishing… I think after about 20 tries I had to tie another fly to my line because the one I had no longer resembled a fly…. It was just a hook with some remnants of string that once posed as a fly…

I was going to take a timed picture of myself fly fishing but was glad I forgot the whole ordeal… I did get some good practice though but went through the only three #flies I had… I tried my hardest to be gentle and got a lot better as I somewhat progressed… Each fly started out looking beautiful and would #float perfectly on the water when cast… But after like 10 to 20 minutes it would just be a hook… I would take the hint when the, well what resembled #bait at one time, just sank when I tried to gently drop it on top of the water… Hooks don’t float, so that’s a good indication you have destroyed your #fly…

By this time, I was getting hungry, so I pulled out the lunch I packed… I made a tuna fish sandwich with mayonnaise, spinach in a #GlutenFree wrap with some salt and vinegar chips… It was pretty damn good…

After lunch, I took my shirt off, grabbed a nice low rock, laid on my back and rested my head on it… It was time to enjoy this #sun and do some reading… I am almost done with this book #TheRoadLessTraveledAndBeyond… Besides the author”s constant shameless plugging and referencing to all his other books, I really like this book… The author is a #psychiatrist and talks about how we think as a #society and #individuals… I highly recommend it… It explains good and evil in communities and such… It also talks about simplistic thiniking which is rampant in our society and how it leads to prejudices, violence and war… Great book… Check it out!

As I was reading, I really felt one with #nature… The #wind had died down… There were no bugs at all… The sounds of the #birds and random splashes from the #pond were so soothing… I was happy with my first attempt at fly fishing, even though I didn’t even get a nibble…

I kept on thinking how my #casting looked to the so-called trout in this pond… They must have seen a constant hammering, as my bait hit the water and lifted out, as I cast back and forth trying to mimic BradPitt in #ARiverRunsThroughIt… They must have looked at each other and thought “You gotta be kidding me… Is this maniac seriously going to think we are going to mistake that hammering for a bug to eat?”

I remember when that #film came out and there was a huge peak in fly fishing that #summer… All the idiots, like myself, trying to duplicate the romance of it all from that film… It’s not so romantic when you don’t catch shit, let me tell you… I’m glad I decided to continue purchasing meat, as I would be vegetarian by now, for sure!

As the #sun settled in the distance, I started hearing little #splashes from the pond… I stopped reading immediately and walked around the pond investigating… Now, these aren’t the best pictures but if you click on them, they will enlarge… What you will see is little #getco looking #creatures, #swimming and #floating, obviously ready to feed…

I spent literally an hour observing these little creatures… At first, I thought they were after the #WaterBugs floating on the water and there was a lot of them, let me tell you… But then I realized they were #hunting for these really tiny #minnows, swimming in schools… The minnows were the ones eating the bugs and the #getcos were eating them… If you can see in the last picture above, this little guy is suspended, floating, without any movement at all… He would wait patiently, completely motionless, as a school of tiny fish would swim around him… Then out of nowhere, he or she would lunge and gobble one of these fish whole… Considering his size, I’m sure it didn’t take many of these little fish to fill himself up… Quite the life this fellow has… In the summer at least…

Here’s some of those bugs the minnows were eating and here’s a #frog who decided to join in on the frenzy… Obviously #dusk was feeding time in this pond… I looked around for big splashes that would indicate a trout but there were none… I was wondering if this pond actually lived up to its name… Maybe Mud Pond was the better choice…

So, after an amazing #soul healing day, I headed back to #camp… This day was nothing short of perfect… When I was a kid I used to love to just go out and #play with nature… #Explore and observe creatures in their natural #habitat and not think about anything else… Well, I accomplished that today… I would have never taken the time to do such in regular life… I hope to find a balance on this year long trip… I know I can’t escape #civilization all together but hope to find a nice balance that keeps me happy and #fulfilled…

I did not get a good reception while passing this #tree… A #bird obviously had her #nest here because she flew right over my head continuously… Then the father joined in… I was getting an #aerial attack… They would swoop close to me and then try to get me to follow them, obviously trying to lead me away from their #nest… I tried to get a picture but they were way too fast and small… I always seem to stumble on weird crap on my #travels… It definitely isn’t boring being #TheTravelingMac…

I #hiked down to check out where that Father and Son were #fishing… I think they were just practicing their casting because I couldn’t see anything in these waters… It was clear enough that I would see something in there… I’m wondering if trout even exist out here… Yes, I am that arrogant that if I don’t see something then it must not exist… lol.

I was soon back to see my #BucketOfBolts… It was time to start a #campfire and get some #grub #cooking…

I noticed a #privy on site… I took a quick peek inside and trust me, you don’t want a picture of that horror show… I would rather squat in the #woods… much safer…

While I was getting my campfire ready, a lot of #toads and #salamanders were scurrying out of the #FirePit… They must be attracted to the smell of burnt wood or the residual heat it leaves behind… I spent like 20 minutes trying to scare the damn #amphibians into the #woods… I didn’t want to #burn the little things… I know, I have turned into a #TreeHuggingLiberal… Better than being a #WarMongering asshole! lol…

Honestly, it was so #wet, this was as far as I got with the fire… It just wasn’t worth the effort… After about a half hour I gave up and heated up some left over #AmericanChopChili inside… I made enough of this to last me another two days…

After, I took a #NavyShower… One of my friends informed me it’s not a military shower, it’s a Navy shower… So I stand corrected and am sorry for the poor choice of terminology… You will find I do that a lot, so please correct me so I don’t sound like more of an idiot… Thanks friend…

After the #shower, I popped on some #TwilightZone and went to bed… You will all be happy to know that I am still living off of those two #batteries for #power without turning on the #generator… If this gets me through this #night also, the addition has turned out better than I ever thought… We will see tomorrow… What a great Day! Goodnight…