The Little Grand Canyon...

of the San Rafael River as seen from the Wedge Overlook. Here are several various views under different lighting conditions.

Long shadows begin to creep into the deep canyon late in the day. (Click image to enlarge.)

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The rim consists of the Middle Jurassic Carmel Formation while the bottom of the canyon exposes the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation.

The rim consists of the Middle Jurassic Carmel Formation while the bottom of the canyon exposes the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation.

The Rochester petroglyph panel...

near Emory, Utah has the most fascinating zodiac-like arch as the focal point of the darkly varnished sandstone wall. This site is also included in my top five Colorado Plateau rock art localities.

The trailhead to this site is on the plateau, a half-mile in the distance. This panel stands out as a “billboard” immediately above a stream confluence.

The trailhead to this site is on the plateau, a half-mile in the distance. This panel stands out as a “billboard” immediately above a stream confluence.

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Digging septarian nodules...

near Clawson, Utah, at a claim known as “Septarianville.” This gray and dreary landscape is dominated by the presence of the Mancos Shale (Cretaceous), and the nodules are found in the lowermost member.

Large nodules exposed along the bedding plane. One needs to work slowly with chisels and crack hammers in order to extract one of these monsters.

Large nodules exposed along the bedding plane. One needs to work slowly with chisels and crack hammers in order to extract one of these monsters.

Small, whole nodule on left, with a cracked specimen showing interior filled with calcite and aragonite.

Small, whole nodule on left, with a cracked specimen showing interior filled with calcite and aragonite.

This large nodule broke into three beautiful parts.

This large nodule broke into three beautiful parts.

Close-up of nodule interior filled with amber or white/clear calcite surrounded by dark, blackish to red bands of aragonite and also filled with sharp rhombohedral calcite crystals.

Close-up of nodule interior filled with amber or white/clear calcite surrounded by dark, blackish to red bands of aragonite and also filled with sharp rhombohedral calcite crystals.

Small flash flood event...

occurred in Castle Valley this morning where about one-half inch of rain fell, accompanied by high winds and countless lightning strikes.

The ditch running in front of my property - an uncommon occurrence.

The ditch running in front of my property - an uncommon occurrence.

Unnamed arroyo at Peach Beach, where it enters the Colorado River.

Unnamed arroyo at Peach Beach, where it enters the Colorado River.

The Colorado River running about 15,000 cfs. Now do you understand where it gets its name?

The Colorado River running about 15,000 cfs. Now do you understand where it gets its name?

Flowing pour-off across from Sandy Beach on the Colorado River, between Moab and Castle Valley.

Flowing pour-off across from Sandy Beach on the Colorado River, between Moab and Castle Valley.

The ISS transits Castle Valley...

a little after 10 pm MDT this evening, 254 miles above my red rock hacienda, zooming by at 16,000+ mph. I offer this image as a salute to the SpaceX team that docked the first crewed Dragon capsule with the station earlier in the day, ending a nine year long hiatus of the ability of the US to launch astronauts since the abandonment of the space shuttle program a decade earlier. Kudos, SpaceX!!

Tripod-mounted Canon 6D with 14 mm Rokinon lens at f/2.8, ISO 100, 180 second exposure. The foreground was illuminated by the ambient light of the waxing Moon.

Tripod-mounted Canon 6D with 14 mm Rokinon lens at f/2.8, ISO 100, 180 second exposure. The foreground was illuminated by the ambient light of the waxing Moon.

Heading into the San Rafael Swell...

on a mini-expedition to dig septarian nodules, explore the endless canyons and old copper and uranium mine sites, examine and photograph interesting petroglyph and pictograph panels, and generally knock around and have a good time. Several friends from Colorado will join in the big fun, taking about a week, and the weather forecast looks fabulous.

Sunset captured from the Wedge Overlook of the Little Grand Canyon of the San Rafael River, elevation around 6,300 feet. View is directly east, and the river is about 1,200 feet below the rim. I shot this several years ago during spring, immediately…

Sunset captured from the Wedge Overlook of the Little Grand Canyon of the San Rafael River, elevation around 6,300 feet. View is directly east, and the river is about 1,200 feet below the rim. I shot this several years ago during spring, immediately after an intense thunderstorm. I also recall that great numbers of spadefoot toads emerged and made quite a racket with their croaking.

An active weather day...

in Castle Valley presented this lovely rainbow spanning Adobe Mesa this early evening.

(Click image to enlarge.)

This rainbow ranks among the brightest and most intense of those I’ve observed, and lasted for about five minutes. I adjusted the contrast in the image a bit to darken the sky, but did not adjust the color saturation.

The exploration of Polar Mesa...

this past weekend with friends from Colorado was big fun, examining the geology, mining history and high elevation landscape southeast of Castle Valley.

Broad panorama showing, from left to right, the high La Sal Mountains, Fisher Mesa, the Onion Creek collapsed salt-cored anticline, and the Fisher Towers area. (Click image to enlarge.)

Still accessible uranium mine adit in the Salt Wash Member of the Morrison Formation on west side of Polar Mesa. This area was still producing uranium ore in the 1950s.

Still accessible uranium mine adit in the Salt Wash Member of the Morrison Formation on west side of Polar Mesa. This area was still producing uranium ore in the 1950s.

Descending through the stratigraphy of the Upper Jurassic-age Morrison Formation, one of the uranium-bearing strata on the Colorado Plateau. Elevation around 7,600 ft.

Descending through the stratigraphy of the Upper Jurassic-age Morrison Formation, one of the uranium-bearing strata on the Colorado Plateau. Elevation around 7,600 ft.

Still-standing headframe above an old uranium mine shaft. Based on picking around the mine dumps, the primary ore mineral appears to be carnotite.

Still-standing headframe above an old uranium mine shaft. Based on picking around the mine dumps, the primary ore mineral appears to be carnotite.