Every year in February, Kahtoola sponsors the Kahtoola Uphill Race. The proceeds from this fun event go to Friends of Camp Colton. The race has several distances (1 mile, 600′ vertical; 3 miles, 1550′ vertical; 3.5 miles, 2200′ vertical) and categories (foot traction, skis, and splitboard). And, of course, costumes are encouraged.
Here are a few images taken of both the start of the race and as finishers return to the start.
There was another twilight rocket launch from Vandenberg Space Flight Base that provided a spectacular event visible in Arizona on Saturday evening. The sky was still fairly bright so it was difficult to capture the expanding rocket exhaust in the early moments of the flight. But as the sky eventually darkened I was fascinated by the twisting shapes of the rocket contrail and rocket-induced noctilucent clouds. It was dark enough at this point to shoot longer exposures and create a time-lapse video of the clouds. The colors were magnificent–and very similar to what might be observed from naturally occuring noctilucent clouds at higher latitudes.
Here are a set of images showing the amazing and colorful noctilucent clouds.
Finally, a time-lapse video of the launch and wind-twisted noctilucent clouds.
Time-lapse video of the rocket launch and the wind-twisted noctilucent clouds.
The next launch on the schedule is NASA’s SPHEREx and PUNCH missions.
It’s been a quiet winter with very few storms so when we finally got a storm I wanted to try and get some morning sunrise fog shots. I awoke early to check radar and satellite data. I was both surprised and disappointed that my favorite locations appeared to be cloud and fog free. On the other hand, satellite data showed an extensive area of fog and low clouds near Sedona and into the Verde Valley. I quickly headed down Oak Creek Canyon to a location in Sedona that has a great view for these types of events.
At first the fog was fairly distant to the south and visibility was very good in all directions. I was able to see Cathedral Rock poking through the fog. But over the next few minutes the fog surged northward and soon I was in the thick of it with low visibility.
I headed to another viewpoint hoping there would be some sun shining through the fog. For a few minutes it did. And then the fog thickened again.
Overall I was pretty happy with the fog and photo session–especially since I haven’t had many chances this winter. And the weather forecast looks warm and dry. Boring.
A week of cold overnight temperatures has allowed ice to form on West Fork of Oak Creek–so this was a good time to hike the canyon. Winter visitation is fairly light so getting a parking spot is easy and we encountered only a handful of hikers on the trail. So it is definitly more enjoyable in the winter.
There was ice on the creek but there was also open areas of running water. It required some care making the numerous stream crossings to step on logs or rocks and not to put too much weight on the ice. A big difference from previous winter hikes was the lack of snow. Although we carried foot traction devices (i.e., Kahtoola microspikes) we did not need them.
At the “Subway”, a narrow, high-walled section of the canyon with wall-to-wall water, the ice was probably not thick enough to ensure safe passage through this section. Some of it was firm but there was still open water in the middle of the channel. Opting for safety, we let this be our turn-around spot.
There are several cliffs in the canyon with significant water seeps. Water drips from the large icicles and refreezes at the ground creating free-standing ice stalactives as well as encasing grasses and small stems in strange and bizarre shapes.
There are several cliffs in the canyon with significant water seeps. Water drips from the large icicles and then refreezes at the ground creating free-standing ice stalactites as well as encasing grasses and small stems in strange and bizarre shapes.
I looked back at the many times we have done this in the winter and the conclusion that I can draw is that it requires multiple nights of sub-zero temperatures (generally -5 to -10°F or colder) to produce safe ice. The recent cold temperatures were single-digit readings but above zero. Not cold enough.
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Here are some older entries about hiking West Fork in the winter:
Fall (or autumn, if you prefer) is over in northern Arizona. Peak fall colors started high on the peaks back in September and have been working their way down to lower elevations. The peak moved through Oak Creek Canyon in mid November.
A few years ago and saw this little guy sitting at the base of the tree on the North Wilson Trail. He was still there on this year’s hike but was starting to lean over a bit so we set him upright. Never know what you’ll find on a hike.
Edit 12/15/2024: Fixed some typos.