In a normal year we would not hike up this canyon in the summer because of the threat of thunderstorms and flooding. But this year has been anything but normal when it comes to rain and the monsoon season. So during one of the many long stretches of dry weather we returned to West Fork Oak Creek canyon and hiked up about 5 miles (or about 2 miles beyond the “end of trail” sign) upstream.
Because of the lack of rain some of the canyon vegetation was stressed. Ferns were already withering. Leaves were turning brown and even falling from the trees. The outlook for a vibrant and colorful fall leaf season isn’t looking good.
But the hike was fine and the water was clear and visitor traffic was low–especially beyond the end of trail.
Blackberries can be found at the very beginning of the trail.A primrose peaks out from a field of ferns. This was one of the better looking patch of ferns showing mostly green.Numerous large reflecting pools can be found in West Fork Oak Creek canyon.This is the “subway tunnel” at the end of the maintained trail. Hikers can continue upstream for many miles but there isn’t much of a trail.This is the upstream end of the subway tunnel in West Fork Oak Creek canyon.High walls tower above the stream in West Fork Oak Creek canyon.Upstream there is another set of narrows. This used to be a narrow stream but sand and gravel has dammed the downstream end and now the water is several inches deep.Looking downstream at the pool and the sinuous curves of the canyon.Butterflies and wildflowers in West Fork Oak Creek canyon.A natural amphitheater and wildflowers in West Fork Oak Creek canyon.Monkshood wildflowers.Larkspur wildflowers in West Fork Oak Creek canyon.Lush greenery found in West Fork Oak Creek canyon.A young deer hides in the tall greenery in West Fork Oak Creek canyon.
Our next hike up the canyon will probably be in mid winter when ice covers the stream allowing passage through the various narrows.
Earlier this summer a few of us ventured on a hike into the upper sections of West Clear Creek canyon in the Coconino National Forest. This was a repeat visit for us having done it twice in the summer of 2014. That was long enough ago that all we remembered were the fun parts—and forgetting the hard and unpleasant parts. The latter included the long descent and ascent from the rim of the canyon to the creek and the long hike to the trailhead from where we parked.
But the good parts are good. Very good.
Here are some pictures from both this year and from the earlier trip.
Trail sign at the start of the descent into West Clear Creek Canyon.Monkeyflowers were in abundance along the stream.Springs cascading into the creek (2014).The same springs this year with reduced flow (2025).At the base of a steep wall in a side canyon.Entry point from the main canyon into the side canyon (2014).Entering the side canyon (2014)This is a giant pour off in the side canyon.Vertical walls and deep pools are abundant in West Clear Creek Canyon.Vertical walls in late afternoon in West Clear Creek Canyon.Tufts of grass along the side of the creek in West Clear Creek canyon.Swimming is always a part of the fun in a canyon.Swimming in a deep pool (2014).
The creek and canyon floor looked very different compared to our earlier visit. We assume that flash floods have done a lot of work in moving rocks and gravel around as well as sweeping out some of the vegetation. And the water was not quite as clear in 2025 as it was in 2014.
Also, the road driving in from Forest Highway 3 was in worse shape than a decade ago but we were still able to drive as far as we did then—just a lot slower.
The nearly-full Moonrise in August presented another chance to capture the rising Moon behind Cathedral Rock in Sedona, Arizona. The June and July events were thwarted by clouds in the east. This time, though, the clouds cleared in both the east (to see the Moon) and the west (to get sunlight on Cathedral Rock).
The nearly-full Moon rises behind Cathedral Rock in Sedona, Arizona.The Moon lies between the spires and buttress of Cathedral Rock.The sequence of photographs at 3-second intervals was combined to produce this track of the rising Moon.
As always, I used The Photographers Ephemeris to find the location in which to shoot the rising Moon. For this event, it required that I do a small bit of hiking along Pyramid Trail to line the Moon up with the gaps in Cathedral Rock.
Time-lapse of the Moonrise behind Cathedral Rock.
I shot photographs at 3-second intervals. A couple of times I stopped the shooting to change the exposure as the Sun set and the Cathedral Rock got darker. However, I had to also be mindful not to overexpose the Moon.
Many years ago I shot an image of the Milky Way rising behind Wukoki Pueblo in Wupatki National Monument in northern Arizona. Afterwards, I promised myself that I would do that shot again using newer lenses and cameras along with, hopefully, better technique.
Composite image of the Milky Way with Wukoki Pueblo, Wupatki National Monument, Arizona.
I finally committed to getting the photograph earlier this week. The date/time required that the Milky Way be low in the eastern sky so it was not too far above the pueblo. It also required the waxing crescent Moon be high enough in the western sky to illuminate the foreground—but also low enough to set before the Milky Way got too high in the eastern sky.
I took a shot of the foreground and pueblo with an exposure time of 300 seconds using long exposure noise reduction; LENR doubled the total time required for image acquisition to 600 seconds. I wasn’t in a hurry…
And then I waited about 30 minutes for the Moon to set. Fortunately, I had brought a camp chair to sit on.
After the Moon had set I took several 300-second shots of the Milky Way in a very dark sky—again with LENR on.
Once back home, I took the Milky Way shots and did image stacking to remove both image noise and, more importantly, aircraft/satellite tracks. The stack became the background photo to combine with the foreground photo.
The result was pretty good but I wanted to try something more. I imported the Milky Way image stack into Siril, an astrophotograhy software package, and ran the “reduce stars” script. This has the effect of removing and/or dimming most stars while leaving the glow of the Milky Way alone.
The result is shown above.
I think I will try this again with some changes. Looking forward to this.
A few weeks ago the crescent Moon shared the evening twilight sky with the planet Mercury. I wanted to get reflections of the two objects in the waters of Lake Mary but a dry winter has resulted in very low water levels. All that remains in this end of the lake are a few narrow channels of water. And, yet, that was enough to get some reflections of the evening colors and the celestial objects.
Crescent Moon and Mercury in the evening sky.Crescent Moon and Mercury in the evening sky.Telephoto view of Mercury and the Moon.
