when you can launch a camera on a rocket?! I’m anticipating that the Castle Valley Town Council will prohibit such activities in three…two…one…
Self portrait microseconds after launch.
A view towards the snowy La Sal Mountains, plus Round Mountain and Adobe Mesa, caught at apogee.
UPDATE: Added this wide view taken on descent under parachute. That’s me and my shadow in the driveway, next to the launch pad.
was launched today on a “F” engine, also carrying a strap-on downward-looking video camera to record the flight. Too cool for school.
The unpainted MOAB leaping off the pad on a F15-4 rocket engine.
Rocket’s-eye-view of lift off!
Frame grab from the onboard video camera at near apogee, about 500 feet, with Round Mountain and Porcupine Rim clearly visible in the background.
Majestic soaring on a F15-4 rocket engine to 1,425 feet. This one disappeared in the clouds for a while.
cloak the high desert landscape this afternoon.
The late afternoon emergence of Adobe Mesa.
at the bird bath this evening.
Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus).
The victor.
of several model rockets this afternoon, with a digital flight recorder onboard. The rocket engines have gotten a lot bigger, and the gadgets have gotten a lot cooler, since I was a kid. Fun beyond words.
Red Max launching on a C6-5 engine.
Red Nova lift-off on a D12-5 engine.
Arcas soaring on a E12-6 engine, achieving more than 1,600 feet in altitude at apogee!
Flight data as recorded by a Jolly Logic digital altimeter. Data is the new bacon.
of light and cloud and cliff at sunset. One never tires of these magnificent displays at the end of the day.
but only several inches of snow has fallen in Castle Valley, though the high country has been elevated to 90% of median snow water content for this time of year. It hasn’t stopped me from patrolling the trails and all the tire tracks be mine.
below Castleton Tower. Coexist.
signals the end of the year, the edges of the escarpment illuminated by the lingering alpenglow made more intense on the red rock.
drink down all the water in the birdbath shortly after dusk, leaving none for the late arrivals after midnight.
Disappointed mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus).
of a model rocket, my first in 55 years, went off with a satisfying woooooosh! Just as I remembered it as a fledgling rocketeer in my youth. Priceless.
Second launch of the day, on a C6-5 rocket engine, lofting it to more than 1,000 feet in altitude. Recovery was by parachute, landing 305 feet away from the launch site.
A third launch, on Boxing Day. Woooooooooooooooosh!
from the most beautiful place on Earth.
paint a dramatic sunset after a winter storm dropped a half-inch of rain on Castle Valley today. A lovely Christmas Eve eve.
(Click on image to enlarge.)
UPDATE: This storm elevates the snow water content in the La Sal Mountains to 88% of the historic median.
at dusk this evening.
Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus).
shows dedication to the preservation of the night sky through the implementation and enforcement of outdoor lighting ordinances, engages in dark sky education, and enjoys citizen support of dark skies. Our tiny town of Castle Valley, Utah has finally been so designated by DarkSky International and the formal announcement will be forthcoming after the holidays.
The Milky Way above Adobe Mesa (left) and Castleton Tower, the Rectory and Priest and Nuns (right) as captured from Professor Valley in June 2021. (Click on image to enlarge.)
has been left in the high desert below Castleton Tower yesterday, its purpose a mystery. A well-beaten footpath winds about 100 yards/meters from a nearby jeep road to this triangular wooden arch, tall enough that a person could walk through its opening. A small fire ring and several log rounds lay further down the path.
I’ve reported this discovery with images and precise location to the local BLM office in Moab. I’m hoping they will dispatch a crew to inspect/clean/reclaim this disturbance to the landscape.
this autumn have kept the trails in a very rideable and enjoyable condition in Castle Valley National Park. Where is everybody?!
UPDATE: I rode 118 miles last week and hardly saw a soul, except for rabbits, mule deer and birds.
resembling a cinder cone, Round Mountain is most certainly NOT volcanic in origin. It does indeed consist of igneous rock, but in an intrusive body that cooled and crystallized while still under the cover of sedimentary strata, now being exposed by the subsidence of the Castle Valley salt-cored anticline and through erosion.
Hand specimen of the trachyte porphyry found in Round Mountain. Note the large, white crystals of sanidine feldspar, evidence of its igneous origin.
Oh, yeah, it was a very nice afternoon for a ride.
at the birdbath, rated ‘G’ for general audiences.
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus).
in the workshop, the boss hits the trail for a hike on a spectacularly nice day. Busy season is just about to start. Ho ho ho.
