After five days of snow the skies finally cleared showing several feet of new snow on the peaks of northern Arizona. Late afternoon shadows race across the meadows of Brannigan Park while sunlight continues to illuminate the high peaks.
An early season storm brought plenty of rain at the lower elevations along with several inches of snow across the higher elevations of the San Francisco Peaks. A few days spent in Lockett Meadow, Inner Basin, and Waterline Road resulted in some colorful images.
The aspen are showing great colors already and it will get better over the next few days. The snow across the high peaks really sets off the color—but that snow has already begun to fade away…
*Edit: added another image.
Here are a few recent images of the nearly-full moon rising above the San Francisco Peaks in northern Arizona. The day before the full moon is often the most photogenic time as the landscape is still bathed in sunset light while the moon has already climbed well above the horizon.
But if only it was that easy! Earlier in the day I had used The Photographers Ephemeris (TPE) to find a location. I decided that a position on SR64 north of Williams, Arizona, would work and at that distance the moon would appear quite large juxtaposed against the mountains. Unfortunately, when I arrived at my predetermined spot I was not able to see the mountains. Numerous cinder cones and small hills completely blocked my view. I wish TPE was more intelligent than this photographer and would let me know of obstructions.
With less than 15 minutes until moonrise and one-half hour until the moon would be above the peaks, I had to find a new location quickly. I backtracked south on SR64 and then east along Route 66 but hills and trees continued to block my view. When I did finally get a clear view I was too far south and the moon would rise south (right) of the peaks. I stayed around for a few minutes to get a few consolation images of the moonrise then headed east again. Arriving in Parks, Arizona, I turned north and kept looking for a location with the moon above the peaks and a clear view. Finally, I found this location.
Although these were not the images I thought I was going to get I’m still happy with the result.
Note: No speed limits were broken while trying to reposition!
Fall is arguably the best season in Flagstaff — although it is often too brief. Winds tend to be light, daytime temperatures are warm, it rarely rains or snows, and the sky is almost always a deep, rich blue. Add to that the changing colors of the leaves of the aspen trees and a mountain bike trip and it becomes a great day.
A few days ago, we biked our favorite section of the Arizona Trail between Forest Road 418 and Snowbowl Road. This is a gradual uphill climb between 8000 and 9000 feet and moves through ponderosa pine, aspen forests, and open meadows. There are even a few bristlecone pines to be found here. Many aspen leaves had already fallen leaving a carpet of color on the forest floor and the trail.
A week earlier we found ourselves biking the Inner Basin Trail that leads up from Lockett Meadows on the east side of the San Francisco Peaks. The aspen along the Waterline Road were already in full color at this elevation. This section of Waterline Road was spared in the Schultz Fire that burned much of the eastern slopes of the San Francisco Peaks in June 2010. Once in the Inner Basin, we stashed the bikes and hiked up the old roads through many aspen groves.
The summer rainy season — known as the North American Monsoon — has begun across Arizona. Over the past week thunderstorm activity has increased substantially. Some locations have already received their average July rainfall in only a few days while other locations have had only a trace of rain. Flagstaff has been one of the wet places and has had a tremendous amount of rain, large hail, and lightning and there have been some good opportunities to catch lightning with a camera.
The second image is a composite of two separate photographs taken a few minutes apart with slightly different lighting and cloud structure.