The clock is ticking

It is getting close to the time of year where my options are starting to become limited. Starting now but by October 7 my outdoor hobbies will be much more limited. Basically for those of us that work 5-6 days a week we have about a month left ( or really 4 weekends) to do summer and early fall hobbies. Since I have been bitching at work I want more hours, I might be doing six days a week, which means I may only have four more daytrips in me for that time period.

Already the water temperature is dropping in the ponds and ocean. I'm sure it is still swimable, but I could tell the water temperature has dropped quite a bit in the last few days. I went carp fishing tonight at the same place I went a few nights before. I can tell just by touching the water, it was much cooler today. So one of my favorite things I did this summer is coming to an end: snorkeling. I suppose if I went in the next few days or even couple weeks I could get one more swim in, but with albies around, I'm probably done.

All to soon Franconia Ridge will look like this

I choose to say the first week of October for one reason...New Hampshire. The foliage peaks in the mountains the first week. After the leaves fall, there really is no reason for me to go to NH other than a snowshoe trip. Also, September and early October can have highly variable weather. One year I went to the mountains Oct 2 and there was an inch of nasty wet snow on the ground. The following year, Laurie and I went up and the weather was in the 70's with very comfortable tent sleeping at night. Past that time, camping really isn't practical.

Assuming I don't get to snorkel any more this year, I'm trying to figure out everything I want to do in the next month. If I get two days off in a row, I'll probably go to New Hampshire. Other trips I also want to do include fishing for albies and going up to Parker River National Wildlife Refuge to go birding. I'd put hawk watching at Wachusett Mountain on the list, but truthfully, I probably wouldn't give up the albies or Parker to go there.

The wildcard in trying to come up with a game plan are the albies. If none were around, decision making would be easier. However, even if they are around, there is no guarantee of catching them. Worse, from day to day, there is no guarantee they will show up in a particular spot.

After the first week of October, I can enjoy foliage hikes close to home. I will have the striper migration. Both things I can do after work. I'll probably be striper fishing and going on foliage hikes on my days off also. So I'll have plenty of time to concentrate on those two past times. It just feels like time is running short on my favorite warm weather hobbies as the season changes.
Obviously I am writing this to organize my thoughts and plan my next month. If you had any summer daytrips planned that you never got to, now is the time to squeeze them in. The weather is still nice as is the water temperature, but not for much longer. The clock is ticking.