A properly potty-trained fish hawk...

projectile pooping in the preferred direction from the nest platform. But mother Osprey (not seen here) could be a better housekeeper.

Juvenile Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) assuming the position in the platform nest.

It’s amazing what you can capture at 120 yards (110 m) with a 500 mm prime lens, shooting at 1/1,000th of a second.

Closing in on 17,000 miles...

(27,000 km) ridden on my collection of electric mountain bikes since September 2020! My riding style is becoming increasingly aggressive with growing experience and time on the trail, so I’m leveling up with a new enduro-style eMTB. But the acid test of this very capable bike awaits on the considerably more challenging trails around Moab, Utah this fall.

It still has the new bike smell: Trek Rail+ 8 Gen 5 eMTB at Fish Lake on its first ride. The sidewalls of the tubeless tires matches the terrain in Utah!

Three well-preserved Miocene-age tree molds...

occur in the Wanapum Basalt Formation (Columbia River Basalt Group) along the Fish Lake Trail, exposed in a railroad cut through the volcanic formation within 100 yards (meters) of one another. One can easily imagine a landscape with a stand of large trees being invaded and enveloped by an advancing lava flow around 15 million years ago. I’m certain that 99% of the trail users aren’t aware of these interesting features and the story they tell.

Note the silicified wood that is preserved near the base of this large tree mold.

This tree mold is about 20 inches (0.5 meters) in diameter.

The underlying paleosol (ancient soil horizon) in which the tree were rooted is clearly seen here beneath the overlying basalt formation. This tree mold is about 15 inches (0.4 meters) in diameter and penetrates the interior of the volcanic unit.

An incredibly green and groomed launch site...

serves as the venue for the well-named Sod Blaster VI, an annual event held during Labor Day weekend at a sod farm near Pasco, Washington. More than 100 rocketry nerds gathered to launch low- to high-power model rockets during the four day-long event. It’s fair to say that everybody here has a blast!

An array of launch pads is commanded by the launch control officer (on left) at the well organized event. A high power rocket is heading skyward from a distant pad on the range.

My Nike Smoke Pro ready to go on a mid-power launch rail. It successfully soared to a 617 foot (188 meter) apogee on a “F” rocket engine.

Preparing to attach the electrical igniter to the high power HV Arcas model rocket for my Level 1 certification attempt on a “H” engine.

The HV Arcas zipping off the pad to a 1,719 foot (524 meter) apogee. Unfortunately the rocket separated too energetically when the ejection charge fired but all components were recovered. I'll have to try again for the L1 certification given this failure during flight.

The Arreaux shooting off the pad on a “G” engine to an apogee of 1,826 feet (557 meters).