A mild autumn season...

comes to a close in three days on the winter solstice and the extended forecast is for continued dry conditions with moderate temperatures. The Old Farmer’s Almanac is predicting that “precipitation and snowfall will be average or above average throughout the Intermountain Region. The snowiest periods will fall in mid-November, early and late January, and mid-March.” We shall see.

Another vibrant sunrise this morning above the La Sal Mountains. It’s good to be a morning person.

The snow water equivalent in the snowpack has flatlined since late-November, now just 121% of median.

A window into the Honaker Trail Formation...

can be found below Deadman’s Curve on the old highway grade west of Arches National Park. This Upper Pennsylvanian-age (~300 Ma) carbonate unit crops out as a cliff former in very few places in the Moab area, seen in the image below as the grayer strata beneath the paved bike trail across the canyon, captured from a high vantage point on the Rusty Spur mountain bike trail.

My personal best was achieved today...

where the Arreaux model rocket soared to an apogee of 2,402 feet (732 meters) on a “G” engine at a remote launch site on the state line. I’m aiming higher.

Also, these launches push me over the century mark, now having sent more than 100 model rockets skyward this year. Huge fun.

The Book Cliffs serve as a backdrop as the Arreaux zooms off the pad.

The Nike Smoke Pro under chute after achieving an apogee of 695 feet (212 meters).

Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) wondering what all the commotion was about out on the range this morning.

Fifty-two years ago today...

man last walked on the Moon in Taurus-Littrow valley. Here’s tonight’s waxing gibbous Moon, three days from full, with the Apollo 17 landing site indicated by the orange x where astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt (a geologist) performed three days of exploration in 1972.

Taurus–Littrow valley is located on the southeastern edge of Mare Serenitatis, the landing site of Apollo 17, indicated by the tiny orange x.

The Culebra Cut of Castle Valley...

is being excavated at the Placer Creek dry stream crossing. Methinks this is a grossly overengineered and expensive solution to an erosion problem that no longer exists, but that’s just 40+ years of experience as a fluvial geomorphologist talking.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the community, the drainage ditches that are choked with sediment from summer flooding go largely unattended. Pure negligence.

Having enormous patience...

for the right opportunity and fast off the mark, this tiny hawk is quite tolerant of my presence nearby while it hunts around the house for unsuspecting prey. One of these days I’ll capture the actual strike on its target.

Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus).

Click on image to embiggen.

Standing at the vanguard...

of our bucolic high desert community, Smokey the Bear wishes everyone a happy Thanksgiving and a safe holiday season. We are all very grateful and sleep better at night knowing that Smokey is tirelessly on the job.

Plucked as clean...

as an upcoming Thanksgiving turkey, this cow carcass has been laying out on the range for only about two weeks. There are some well-fed wildlife at Round Mountain this holiday season.

Look who's lurking in the rabbitbrush...

with its head on a swivel, scanning for a free meal this afternoon. This is the second pass today at the fly through buffet.

Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus).

Note the different sized pupils, or anisocoria, due to the difference in lighting.