Autumn in the High Country of Northern Arizona

It’s that special time of year in northern Arizona. The thunderstorms and cloudy days of the summer rainy season are history and have been replaced with day after day of perfect weather. Warm days. Cool nights. Cloudless skies. Light winds.

Fall colors near Aspen Corner on Snowbowl Road.
Fall colors near Aspen Corner on Snowbowl Road.

And, of course, the leaves are changing colors.

The view along the road is spectacular.
The view along the road is spectacular.

It’s mid-October and the colors have hit their peak at the higher elevations of the Kachina Peaks. Lower down, the colors are quickly approaching their peak. But it won’t last long. All it takes is one windy day or another hard freeze and it will be over for this year.

Everyone has an aspen image that looks like this!.You should have one, too!
Everyone has an aspen image that looks like this!.You should have one, too!

I took some time early this morning wandering around the aspen along Snowbowl Road and found some groves in full color. Interestingly, a few groves were still green and a few others were already done. But most were hitting that perfect peak.

Sometimes you go to the storm; sometimes the storm comes to you.

I enjoy capturing images of lightning. Most of the time I have to travel to where the storms are and then hope to get some good images. Once in a while, the storms come to me. Today was that kind of day. I set up the tripod and camera looking out the back porch of my house in Flagstaff and began to shoot.

Lightning near Flagstaff, Arizona. Settings: 1/4 second, f/8.0, ISO200, 28 mm lens.
Lightning near Flagstaff, Arizona. Settings: 1/4 second, f/8.0, ISO200, 28 mm lens.
Lightning near Flagstaff, Arizona. Settings: 1/8 second, f/11, ISO200, 28 mm lens.
Lightning near Flagstaff, Arizona. Settings: 1/8 second, f/11, ISO200, 28 mm lens.

These lightning strokes had many filaments and channels and were exquisitely detailed. Absolutely amazing! I think it is fair to say that these may be the best images I have captured in over 30 years of trying — first on film and now digitally.

A bright flash in the sky

There are hundreds of operational satellites and thousands of unused satellites and satellite fragments orbiting the Earth. A few of these are quite bright and easy to see as they traverse the sky. Most are dim and generally not easily visible. And others are usually dim but briefly flare much brighter.

Satellite flare is caused by the reflective surfaces on satellites reflecting sunlight directly onto the Earth below and appearing as a brief, bright “flare.” The Iridium satellite series is especially conducive to reflecting light back to the earth and these flares can be exceptionally bright.

Satellite flare from Iridium 91 as it traverses the northern Arizona sky.
Satellite flare from Iridium 91 as it traverses the northern Arizona sky.

Here is an example of the Iridium 91 satellite as it traversed the northern Arizona sky and quickly brightened to a magnitude of -7.0 . Only the Moon (-13) and the Sun (-27) have brighter magnitudes.

Detail of a satellite flair from Iridium 91 as it traverses the northern Arizona sky.
Detail of a satellite flair from Iridium 91 as it traverses the northern Arizona sky.

Knowing when and where to look for Iridium flares is easy as there are many web sites that provide this information. My favorites are Heavens-Above.com and CalSky.com. Happy satellite viewing!

Lightning and Mammatus: The beauty of thunderstorms

The North American Monsoon is bringing thunderstorms to the southwest United States including northern Arizona. You would think that with almost daily thunderstorms it would be easy to shoot great images of lightning and thunderstorms. Well, not always…

One of the characteristics of the rainy season in the higher elevations of northern Arizona is that as the storms develop in the late morning or early afternoon it quickly becomes overcast so that it is difficult to see the individual storms. It is equally difficult to photograph lightning because it is often raining over large areas obscuring the view of the lightning.

Lightning in Sunset Crater National Monument.
Lightning in Sunset Crater National Monument.

So I was particularly pleased when we had two days in a row in which I was able to photograph lightning and actually see the thunderstorms. The lightning was photographed in Sunset Crater National Monument overlooking the Bonito Lava Flow; the mountain that it is striking is O’Leary Peak. There is a fire lookout station at the summit of the peak and I’m certain they get their fair share of close bolts.

Sunset colors on an Arizona thunderstorm.
Sunset colors on an Arizona thunderstorm.

The following day proved equally photogenic. This thunderstorm was photographed in late afternoon and is quite dramatic with mammatus clouds visible from the anvil region of the storm.

If only everyday was as photogenic as these two.

Biking the Rainbow Rim Trail along the edge of the Grand Canyon

In late June we packed our bikes and camping gear and headed to the Kaibab Plateau so we could mountain bike on the Rainbow Rim Trail. We’ve done this trail before but it’s such a great ride with amazing views that it’s always worth the long drive.

It takes about four hours to get to the trail head from Flagstaff. The last hour of driving is on Forest Service gravel roads through the aspen, pine, spruce, and fir forests of the high plateau of the Kaibab. We went to the south end of the trail at Timp Point and set up camp on the edge of the rim overlooking the Grand Canyon. After a quick lunch we were on the trail heading north.

The Rainbow Rim Trail (RRT) is about 18 miles from end to end with five points along the trail. From south to north they are Timp Point, North Timp Point, Locust Point, Fence Point, and Parissawampitts Point.

Riding along the edge of the Grand Canyon on the Rainbow Rim Trail.
Riding along the edge of the Grand Canyon on the Rainbow Rim Trail.

Each point delivers you a stunning view of the Grand Canyon. Between the points the trail heads in a generally eastward direction as it contours around side canyons. And it is these side canyons that are the most interesting. Because they are oriented east-west there is substantial shade in the canyons resulting in a cooler micro-climate. The south and shady sides of these canyons are filled with aspen groves as well as spruce and fir trees while the sunnier north sides have ponderosa pine and even juniper and pinyon trees. We even found some wild strawberry plants.

Lush forest found in the side canyons traversed by the Rainbow Rim Trail.
Lush forest found in the side canyons traversed by the Rainbow Rim Trail.

There are no large cities near the Kaibab Plateau hence there are no city lights. The nights are exceptionally dark and the stars are brilliant. Take some time to just lie back and stare up at the sky. It’s good for your soul.

The night sky as seen from the Kaibab Plateau.
The night sky as seen from the Kaibab Plateau.

The Arizona Trail (AZT) also traverses the Kaibab Plateau. Whereas the RRT is along the west edge of the Plateau the AZT is closer to the east edge but only overlooks the edge of the canyon in one location. In that regard, the RRT trumps the AZT.

The Jacob Lake District of the Kaibab National Forest has an informational page about this trail including access points, maps, and mileage.