Historic inscription near Big Bend...

on the Colorado River upstream from Moab commemorates a gold placer operation that occurred 130 years ago. High marks to the person that chiseled this historic graffiti into a varnished sandstone boulder above the river. It’s very well done and endures to this day.

Located on the north side of Utah 128 just west of the bouldering area at Big Bend (about 0.6 mi (1 km)).

R.H. is the likely inscriber, but notice the initials JA are faintly pecked in the upper left.

The boulder in 2021 when vandalized with climber’s chalk. Fortunately, several year’s time and rain has washed the chalk away. Image credit: Moab Times-Independent, Sena Hauer.

Sediment aggradation will almost certainly occur...

in the ephemeral stream channel upstream of the newly installed concrete ford in Placer Creek, rather than being continuously transported across the structure when the stream is flowing. Engineers should have matched the elevation of the stream bed rather than maintain the road grade at the crossing. While this structure isn’t going anywhere in future floods, it will require maintenance after each event in clearing accumulated sediment, in perpetuity. It could have been self-maintaining, so let’s see how it performs over the next decade.

The brand-spanking-new $188,889 mega-concrete stream crossing structure on Placer Creek at the entrance of Round Mountain State Park.

The first mid-power launches...

of the year occurred this perfect afternoon with two large model rockets soaring skyward on “F” engines.

Moab Man hitching a ride on the MOAB as it rockets off the rail.

The recently finished (but not painted) Cherokee Pro at the moment of ignition of the Aerotech F20-7W engine with its characteristic brilliant white flame.

Expansive views with endless vistas...

can be found at the apex of the Maverick singletrack at the Moab Brands mountain bike trail system. It’s nice to get out of the canyons occasionally and enjoy a seemingly infinite horizon.

View to south: Arches National Park on the east (left), La Sal Mountains to the south (center) and Gold Bar Rim and the Moab Fault to the west (right).

View into unnamed tributary canyon to Courthouse Wash in Arches National Park as seen from the Rockin’ A singletrack. Note the horizontal contact across the center of the image that is weeping groundwater, separating the Moab Member of the Curtis Formation from the underlying Slick Rock Member of the Entrada Sandstone (Middle Jurassic (174.1-163.5 Ma)).

Several Christmas morning launches...

punctuated the mid-morning calm below Parriott Mesa, delighting friends and neighbors of all ages. No flying reindeer were harmed in this exercise and all safety guidelines of the National Association of Rocketry were stringently followed.

Patriot heading to a 444 foot apogee (~135 meters) on a “C” engine.

Nike Smoke whooshing to a 423 foot apogee (~129 meters) on a “C” engine.

I launched my first model rocket as a gray-haired adult on Christmas day last year, and these launches bring the year’s total to 103 liftoffs with only two failures (a CATO and a lawn dart). Bigger rockets. Neater gadgets. Huge fun.

If the Grinch was a bird...

it might be this grumpy-faced yet colorful member of the blackbird family. Perhaps not getting its fair share at the feeding stations on this Christmas Eve day?

Frowny-faced Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta).

Here’s a list of birds seen at the feeding stations around the house in Castle Valley this Christmas season:

House Sparrow

House Finch

White Crowned Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Spotted Towhee

Common Raven

Inca Dove

Collared Dove

American Goldfinch

Pine Siskin

Western Meadowlark

Magpie

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Scrub Jay

Western Bluebird

Northern Flicker

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.