this evening is this handsome mule deer buck.
Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus).
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 Priest is howling...
at the rising Full Wolf Moon tonight, but one has to listen closely in the wind.
Double the fun on the doubletrack...
this afternoon with excellent trail conditions for early winter riding. Cold, though.
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)).
The calendar year begins...
with a normal snowpack in the La Sal Mountains. But it’s been dry in the surrounding canyon country.
Shopping the breakfast menu...
early this morning at the feeding stations, but Sharpie flew off unfulfilled on this visit.
A puffed up, winter-jacketed Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus).
A window opens in the passing storm...
but very little precipitation fell in the valley nor in the high country, a bit of a disappointment. The snow water equivalent at the Lasal Mountain SNOTEL is indicated at 113% of the median.
An end-of-year sighting...
of Bugs Buddy this morning confirms this long-lived wild rabbit is still in residence and is always a welcome visitor at the feeding stations.
Desert cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii).
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
With welcome precipitation in the forecast...
and another spectacular winter day on tap, I took advantage of the continued mild weather and headed out to Moab Brands for a terrific afternoon bike ride. Few others are out and the trails are in perfect condition. Here’s a self portrait.
The first full day of winter...
in Castle Valley National Park was absolutely spectacular and quite a few people in the community were out walking the trails.
Click on image to embiggenate.
Sunset on the solstice...
is the colorful highlight at the end of the shortest day of the year, though sunrise won’t occur earlier in the morning until 2 January 2025. Still 12 days away.
The new off ramp to Interstate 70...
is coming along nicely in Castle Valley at Placer Creek. What folly.
Any one of these lower cost and more environmentally friendly low-water crossing designs would have worked just fine at this small and usually dry stream crossing: Chapter 5 - Low-Water Crossing Types.
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.
Jupiter precedes the rising Full Cold Moon...
that strongly silhouettes the Priest and the Nuns on the eastern skyline tonight.
Jupiter is the bright object above and to the right of Castleton Tower. Other bright stars in constellations Auriga and Taurus are also seen in this twilight image.
My personal best was achieved today...
where the Arreaux model rocket soared to an apogee of 2,402 feet (732 meters) on a “G” engine at a remote launch site on the state line. I’m aiming higher.
Also, these launches push me over the century mark, now having sent more than 100 model rockets skyward this year. Huge fun.
The Book Cliffs serve as a backdrop as the Arreaux zooms off the pad.
The Nike Smoke Pro under chute after achieving an apogee of 695 feet (212 meters).
Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) wondering what all the commotion was about out on the range this morning.