The two day-long launch event...

this weekend at the state line was unfortunately cut short by high winds on the second day, but not before getting several high flyers off the pads early Saturday morning to a maximum apogee of 41,000 feet above ground level!

The high power launch pads and rails were set up shortly before sundown on Friday night. The FAA has granted the club a special waiver to fly to 50,000 feet this weekend where we are normally limited to flights no higher than 12,000 feet.

Ignition of the Aerotech L1000 rocket engine during an early morning launch.

The heavy metal pad collapses under the powerful thrust at liftoff! The Aerotech L1000 rocket motor produces 2,714 N-sec (610 lb-sec) of total impulse.

The new arch culvert...

being constructed on Castle Valley Drive is six weeks into the project, with formwork for the upstream and downstream wingwalls taking place today. The old culvert has been demolished and Castle Creek is in its new bed beneath the new corrugated steel structure, but considerable work still needs to be completed before the road reopens.

An interesting discovery along Castle Creek...

by an archeological survey crew, excitedly shared with me yesterday, only a short distance off a singletrack that I frequently ride. Cool beans.

Boulder mortar or bedrock metate on a sandstone slab.

Note the fine detail on inner surface showing linear striations consistent with wear marks created by a back-and-forth grinding motion.

Winter finally arrives...

in Castle Valley with nearly five inches (~12 cm) of snow falling overnight. What a difference a day, and night, makes.

Given the shock and hardship this is presenting the local birds, the daily grain allotment has been doubled at the feeding stations.

Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta).

AFTERNOON UPDATE: The sun comes out after an additional several inches of snowfall. It’s very nice to have a helpful neighbor with the proper tools. I’m certain he’s having fun.

Slow progress is being made...

in replacing the culvert beneath Castle Valley Drive, now three weeks into the two month-long project. Castle Creek still flows through the existing corrugated steel culvert, now fully exposed, while footings are prepared alongside for the new arch culvert.

Phone and fiber optic utility lines dangle across the excavated work site.

The Wildman Cherokee Mini model rocket...

is my latest build and it soared to 1,035 feet (316 m) on its first flight under overcast skies today.

The somewhat translucent unpainted fiberglass Cherokee Mini model rocket revealing the Kevlar shock cord and parachute inside the airframe, racked on the launch rail and ready for its first flight.

Off it goes on an Aerotech F20 rocket motor on a flight lasting 81 seconds from liftoff to touchdown.

The slide out tailgate on the Bronco serves as a convenient workbench on which to prep rockets for flight.