Tag: San Francisco Peaks

Mountain biking at 38 degrees

Thirty-eight degrees. Temperature — not latitude.

Fall has arrived in northern Arizona and the leave are turning colors and, in some cases, have already fallen. We went on a mountain bike ride on one of our favorite section of the Arizona Trail the other day so that we could view the aspen trees in their autumn glory. A cold front had passed through a day earlier and it was quite cold that morning with temperatures only in the upper 30s. So we bundled up with a few extra layers, caps and gloves, and off we went.

Riding the Arizona Trail at 8000 feet elevation and 38 degrees Fahrenheit. All you have to do is bundle up!
Riding the Arizona Trail at 8000 feet elevation and 38 degrees Fahrenheit. All you have to do is bundle up!
Riding an easy stretch of the Arizona Trail. The aspen leaves have fallen and left a carpet of color on the trail.
Riding an easy stretch of the Arizona Trail. The aspen leaves have fallen and left a carpet of color on the trail.

The only problem was that the rain from a few days earlier had left the trails pretty muddy and with the cool weather they had not dried yet. Suddenly we found our tires and bikes caked with mud. Eventually it became too difficult to ride as the mud accumulated on the tires, in the brakes, derailleurs, and anywhere else mud can collect. And that’s a lot of places!

A grove of aspen trees in full autumn color on the San Francisco Peaks.
A grove of aspen trees in full autumn color on the San Francisco Peaks.

New snow on the higher elevations of the San Francisco Peaks stands in contrast to a grove of aspen in full autumn color.
New snow on the higher elevations of the San Francisco Peaks stands in contrast to a grove of aspen in full autumn color.

So we abandoned the ride to return another day. Still, it was a pleasant enough day with plenty of color to view in the aspen trees in Flagstaff at 8000 feet and 38 degrees–especially with the new snow on the San Francisco Peaks.

Perseid meteor shower

Did you get a chance to view the Perseid meteor shower this year? It peaked on the evening of August 12-13 but meteors were visible for many days preceding the peak. With the moon just a few days past new and setting early the skies were very dark for optimal viewing. A maximum rate of more than 100 meteors per hour has been reported with this years event. This compares with a more typical maximum rate of about 50-80 per hour. So this was a better than average event with higher numbers as well as very dark skies.

Triple planetary conjunction of Venus, Mars, and Saturn along with the crescent moon.
Triple planetary conjunction of Venus, Mars, and Saturn along with the crescent moon.

But to make things even better there was a three-way planetary conjunction taking place at the same time. In the western sky after sunset an observer could see the planets Venus, Mars, and Saturn close together along with the crescent moon.

For the meteors, I used a 28mm wide angle lens, ISO 3200, f/4.0, and 30s exposures. I set the camera to continuous shooting mode and let it run until the card filled a few hours later. I then reclined on a lounge chair with a sleeping bag draped over me.

Two Perseid meteors streak across the early morning sky a few days before the peak.
Two Perseid meteors streak across the early morning sky a few days before the peak.
Perseid meteor passes by the constellation Pleiades.
Perseid meteor passes by the constellation Pleiades.
Perseid meteor streaks across the Milky Way with the San Francisco Peaks on the horizon.
Perseid meteor streaks across the Milky Way with the San Francisco Peaks on the horizon.

Even though I saw a large number of meteors with my eyes — and some of them were spectacular long-path events with residual debris trails — the camera captured far fewer because the field of view of even a wide angle is not wide enough to view the entire sky

Mountain biking in Flagstaff. Part 2: 6500 feet

A previous post talked about mountain biking in Flagstaff along the high elevation sections of the Arizona Trail. Not too far away is another section of the Arizona Trail — this time at an elevation of about 6500 feet. The vegetation is different — and quite green because of all the rain lately — and the trail is more open.

This particular section of the Arizona Trail starts along Old Walnut Canyon Road on the north boundary of Walnut Canyon National Monument. It travels through Ponderosa Pine then moves into Pinyon-Juniper with wide open vistas. There are old homesteads along the trail with collapsed buildings and old toys in what was once someones yard.

View of the San Francisco peaks near Flagstaff from the Arizona Trail.
View of the San Francisco peaks near Flagstaff from the Arizona Trail.
Riding singletrack near Flagstaff on the Arizona Trail.
Riding singletrack near Flagstaff on the Arizona Trail.
The front wheel is all that remains from a young child's tricycle.
The front wheel is all that remains from a young child's tricycle.