beneath Castle Valley Drive earlier this summer did so quite easily, leaving behind a clear high water mark in the stranded flotsam. Considerable deposition of fine sediment has occurred in the bouldery rip rap, both upstream and downstream of the arch culvert.
Given the level of the high water line within the culvert, I conservatively estimate that the peak discharge through the culvert was at least 300 cubic feet per second (cfs), but cannot estimate how long in duration.
are clearly rejoicing now that the horn of plenty is being replenished on a daily basis upon my return.
Constantly amusing white-tailed antelope squirrel (Ammospermophilus leucurus).
Thieving California Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica).
demands visitation whenever I traverse the northern San Rafael Swell. Perhaps I may have been an Archaic Basketmaker shaman in an earlier life? Nevertheless, I am drawn to this extraordinary painted mural at the base of a huge sandstone wall.
involves an exploration of the northern San Rafael Swell. Cedar Mountain provides a commanding location for landscape photography at both dusk and dawn. But the nearly full Moon once again defeated any attempts at Milky Way photography last night. Nevertheless, this high perch is magnificent!
This site will just have to make do for the evening. There is absolutely nobody around, save for jackrabbits and birds.
View southward from my perch, 1,600 feet (488 m) above the valley floor below. Look closely: Henry Mountains are on the far horizon, about 75 miles (121 km) away.
Dawn light strikes canyon country. Window Blind Peak - the stumpy butte left of center that is nine miles (14 km) distant - caught the first rays. Profoundly quiet. Sublime.
There’s even an outstanding geological cheat sheet provided at a BLM viewpoint. A crossbedded conglomeratic facies in the Dakota Sandstone (Cretaceous (143.1 Ma - 66 Ma)) forms the ledge at the edge of the high escarpment.
sits atop the dashboard in the Bronco, ready to assist on my return to red rock canyon country in the next day or so.
on the Trek Powerfly hardtail during my morning ride, putting me at 84% of my trek around the world. Only 3,876 miles (6,238 km) to go!
serves as scale for various rock specimens that found their way home with me from travels around the world. Geologists tend to have pretty interesting rock gardens as a general rule.
1- Planar-tabular crossbedded Dakota Sandstone (Mid-Cretaceous) from Colorado Front Range north of Fort Collins, Colorado.
2- Peridotite clast from an aa lava flow on Hualālai shield volcano on the island of Hawaii.
3- Dacitic breadcrust bomb from the crater at Mount Saint Helens, Washington.
4 & 5- Silurian greywacke and Old Red Sandstone (Devonian) from Siccar Point, Scotland, the site of Hutton’s Unconformity.
6- Fossil coral (Devonian) from the Bastille karst, northern British Colombia.
7- Rare shatter cone feature from the Beaverhead impact structure (Neoproterozoic) in western Montana.
of an important historical survey monument, these so-called ‘witness marks’ were chiseled into this basalt rock outcrop years ago as an aid to future surveyors in order to locate or ‘recover’ the old monument. Distances and bearings from these markings to the monument were recorded, and where they intersect, voila. These two glyphs were just recently touched up with a Sharpie by Washington State Department of Transportation engineers doing fieldwork along the bike trail, attempting to recover the monument marking the section corner.
is pretty common in the woodlands of eastern Washington this time of year. Perhaps a juvenile male?
Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana).
Meanwhile, this teeny tiny woodpecker slakes its thirst at a nearby water bowl.
Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens).
chick left hanging close to Mama, scratching at the ground feeding station late in the afternoon. Down from four poults earlier in the summer.
Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo).
put to creative use as a wind chime, utilizing various types of pitons suspended on Kevlar thread. Admittedly it takes a good gust to get these iron relics clanging against one another, but the sound is a nicely pleasant ringing in several different tones.
Pitons from the past, manufactured by the Great Pacific Iron Works: Angles, Lost Arrows and Bugaboos dangle from a wooden armature.
and I expect this newly finished (but unpainted) Wildman Punisher Sport high power model rocket to put on a good show at the upcoming Sod Blaster VIII launch event over Labor Day weekend. I’m now running computer simulations using different H and I impulse engines in order to anticipate its performance during flight and to determine the proper ejection charge delay timing. It really is rocket science!
This fiberglass model rocket stands three feet (one meter) tall and weighs 1.9 pounds (0.9 kg).
at the always brimming watering hole, Woodsy Owl knows where to dip its beak, and toes, on a hot day in the ponderosa forest.
Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus).
Well-camouflaged Woodsy has eyes for you!
and I am about to begin the internal epoxy fillets in this fiberglass model rocket build that I intend to fly over the Labor Day weekend. “Unprecedented” safety precautions are being taken at the event this year at the sod farm in order to minimize the fire risk. Good.
Looking into the business end of the Wildman Punisher Sport model rocket with a 29 mm motor mount. Note that the fins go through the body tube and attach directly to the motor mount for maximum structural strength. Both internal and external epoxy fillets have to be applied before the aft centering ring can be cemented into place, fully sealing the bottom annular section of the rocket.
with droplets of pee during their nocturnal activities. It’s the price one pays for hosting hundreds of bats in five bat houses on the property. One is visible in the image below.
with a teeny serving of carp this evening, trying to coax Junior into flight. It worked!
American Osprey (Pandion haliaetus).
Junior is clearly not happy with the tiny portion size. Not putting up with the squawking, Mama takes flight nearly immediately.
After consuming the meager morsel, Junior exercises its wings and immediately takes flight off the platform! Godspeed!
on the back forty, caught on another hot and dry and smoky afternoon.
Mule deer buck in velvet (Odocoileus hemionus).
visits the bird bath after a hot and smoky afternoon. It appears to be a youngster.
Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus).
rising and falling in my rural water well, a HOBO water level data logger is placed in the 300 ft (91 m) deep well as part of a regional project. This intelligent device stores and transmits water level data by Bluetooth, and corrects for atmospheric pressure effects. Hey, it’s the 21st century, you know.
Former colleague Dr. C. Pritchard (EWU Geology) measuring the static water level with a well sounding tape and preparing the data logger for installation.
The water level measuring tape indicates the static water level is 223 ft (68 m) below the lip of the metal collar. The data logger is the shiny metal device and will be suspended by a cable to nearly the bottom of the well, hanging slightly above the pump.