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Winter is coming, even in Arizona

trees sunrise clouds Skull Valley ArizonaWinter is coming to Arizona and that brings beautiful sunrises at a respectable hour

OK, I’ve been “retired” for a month and a half, have a beautiful place to live and park the 5th-wheel, and now winter is coming.  Yes, even in Aridzona there is winter.  And you all know how much I dislike cold weather.  My current location in Skull Valley, Arizona is about 4500 feet so will see some winter, not like buried in feet of snow or sub-zero, but anything below 40° overnight is cold to me.  So it’s getting close to time to head further south with the truckcamper and enjoy the Sonoran Desert for a while.

Like always there are chores to be done because winter is coming, the 5th-wheel roof repairs finished, and calendars mostly mailed.  Now that I have a new physical address and post office box I’ve notified all who need to know.  What used to take 10-30 minutes over the phone talking to a paid employee now takes one to three hours online with some automaton that doesn’t understand my question.  Does anybody except Amazon really care where I live?

hawk & kestrel on poles Skull Valley Arizona

Kestrel bird on pole Skull Valley ArizonaTalk about taking time.  I love living rural.  However, when I went to Wickenburg last week it was an all day trip with an hour drive on each end, lunch, groceries, fuel, thrift store, and the last visit to paid mail service.  Bonus was seeing what I thought was seven hawks along the drives.  I live in hawk country with open fields full of rodent meals.  As I drive I note how many hawks are seen roosting on poles, hawk one, hawk two, hawk three…  Just so you know, these shots were taken on a back road barely driving at all.  Then when I zoomed in, I realized one of these birds is an American Kestrel.  I have seen them before although they are noticeably smaller than most hawks and fast in flight so I’ve never gotten a photo before.  Made the long day worth while.

grass trees boulders reverse sunset clouds moon Skull Valley ArizonaNot quite full on Tuesday

grass bushes full moon setting Skull Valley ArizonaSaturday setting

Was cloudy on Thursday so didn’t see the almost full moon rise.  I also didn’t plan to be up all or part of the dark cold night watching the eclipse, difficult to photograph almost straight overhead.  Did happen to wake up about 3am and took a gander outside to see a hazy white orb.  Being much warmer in my bed, that’s where I went.  If I’d been camped in a warmer place maybe I’d have seen more of the eclipse.  Instead, I caught the moon setting Saturday morning at a much more doable hour.  Maybe next month I can capture the full moon over Saguaro cactus in the desert.

trees mountain clouds Skull Valley ArizonaI’ve watched November temperatures go from high 70s and 40s to mid 60s and high 30s.  That should be my cue to head further south as winter is coming.  Yet it’s so nice to have a home base that it’s not so easy to leave.  As I walk around the ranch, the Cottonwood colors have taken on a tarnish and the carpet of leaves becomes more dense.  Definite signs that winter is coming.  I’m sure the cold will chase me south sooner than later.

trees sunset clouds Skull Valley ArizonaI don’t travel over holidays, or really celebrate them much either.  But I did buy an organic duck to cook, my family’s traditional holiday meal over turkey.  Every day, I am thankful for what is given me and grateful for what I already have.  That’s easy because life is good.  Well, except that winter is coming.  I’d love to live perpetual summer with a little spring and fall thrown in.  What’s your favorite season?

I am thankful for all you readers who keep me motivated to continue writing even when there isn’t a whole lot happening like this last week.  I want to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving!

Arizona, life , , , , 34 Comments

Loosing out on the lunar eclipse

red flowers Ocotillo moon Kofa National Wildlife Refuge ArizonaMurphy at work.  The night before and after the lunar eclipse showed clear skies.  But clouds teased and built all day to mostly obscure the lunar eclipse above the western edge of the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge.

new propane tanks truckcamperI hadn’t taken the camper out since the July visit to the North Rim and Bryce Canyon.  The old propane tanks couldn’t be re-certified, or legally filled any more.  Two new 5-gallon horizontal tanks were installed Friday, $380 of ouch.  They look pretty complete with gauges, though the old tanks worked fine.  But gotta’ have propane for refrigeration, cooking, and heat when boondocking.

trees Antelope Peak sunrise clouds Yarnell ArizonaAwoke to a soft Yarnell sunrise on Saturday and waited for the chill to dissipate before final packing.  Last in the cat.

traffic mountains I10 West Quartzsite ArizonaThat sea of white in the valley is 1000s of RVs

A relaxing two hour desert drive brought me into the overcrowded mess of first day of the Big Tent RV Show in Quartzsite.  If I could have avoided any part of Quartzsite without 100s of miles’ detour I would have.  Yet it only took me 15 minutes to get from I10 about three miles to SR95.

I didn’t notice less or more RVs parked on the always crowded BLM (Bureau of Land Management) long-term or short-term camping south of town.  Made a stop where friends who’ve worked at Grand Canyon meet every winter.  Over an hour of visiting later I continued on to Kofa.

saguaro truckcamper Kofa Mountains Sonoran Desert Palm Canyon Road Kofa National Wildlife Refuge ArizonaArrived under typical Arizona blue skies and found the ‘perfect’ camp along Palm Canyon Road.  I wanted to see desert landscape and the mountains for moon rise photos.  It’s not crowded although there were RVs which I’d like not to be in my landscape shots, or view for that matter, to be picky.

desert mountains AR moon Kofa National Wildlife Refuge Arizona photopillsPlayed around with where I and PhotoPills thought the moon would come up in relation to some foreground and the horizon line of the Kofa Mountains.

Sierra cat Kofa National Wildlife Refuge Arizona

cactus ocotillo Sonoran Desert Palm Canyon Road Kofa National Wildlife Refuge ArizonaI do love the Sonoran Desert, though this area is still pretty tame compared to further south.

saguaro Sonoran Desert Kofa Mountains moon rise Palm Canyon Road Kofa National Wildlife Refuge ArizonaWith camera set on tripod pointing in basically the right direction I waited, and the moon rise caught me a little off guard.  Not quite full, the moon rose in a pale blue sky before sunset.  Notice the rise was further east than PhotoPills thought.

saguaros Sonoran Desert sunset Palm Canyon Road Kofa National Wildlife Refuge ArizonaWithout clouds to the west the sunset wasn’t overly exciting.

saguaro Sonoran Desert Kofa Mountains moon rise Palm Canyon Road Kofa National Wildlife Refuge ArizonaHoping for no clouds for the next night’s lunar eclipse I wanted to photograph desert foreground with a line of moon shots above the mountains in the same composition.  But the eclipse would start hours later than moon rise so even if clear would be out of even a vertical frame set at 50mm.  Plus that would be a tiny looking moon.  (200mm above and 24mm below)  Hmmmm….

Palo Verde tree Sonoran Desert Kofa Mountains moon rise Palm Canyon Road Kofa National Wildlife Refuge ArizonaCan you see the moon?

I liked the camera location and view enough so marked it with some rocks and wood for the next night’s setup.

After reviewing the photos I decided horizontal and panorama might work shooting every 10 minutes with shutter adjustments.  With barely enough signal to get online let alone post a photo from the laptop I called it an early night.

Kofa Mountains sunrise clouds Kofa National Wildlife Refuge ArizonaDirty window view

Clouds offered a touch of color for Sunday’s sunrise.

Sonoran Desert Kofa Mountains clouds Kofa National Wildlife Refuge ArizonaAnd increased throughout the day.

camera settings for shooting lunar eclipseDidn’t use this at all

I set up the camera and shot the moon peeking between the clouds every 10-15 minutes for the first half of the lunar eclipse.  Sadly, my camera settings were way off and totally out of focus.  The second half was solid clouds.  I went to bed late and missed the morning moon set.

Sonoran Desert Kofa Mountains clouds Kofa National Wildlife Refuge ArizonaWind blew all of Monday and I stayed inside reading.

glow before moon rise Kofa Mountains clouds Kofa National Wildlife Refuge Arizona

moon rise Kofa Mountains clouds Kofa National Wildlife Refuge Arizona

moon rise Kofa Mountains clouds Kofa National Wildlife Refuge Arizona

moon Kofa Mountains clouds Kofa National Wildlife Refuge ArizonaCome evening it was clear enough to see the moon so snapped a few shots.

tree mountains sunrise Kofa National Wildlife Refuge ArizonaTuesday I woke up chilled and achy.  With the night predicted to drop near freezing and wind still rocking the camper I said no thanks.  So I battened down and rolled out about 11:30am and was home by 2pm.

scorpion in kitchen sink Yarnell ArizonaWelcome home in the kitchen sink

As I unpacked the camper, Sierra followed me back and forth seemingly not sure where she lived until her food and litter box were in the house.

Sonoran Desert Kofa Mountains lunar eclipse Kofa National Wildlife Refuge Arizona collageSpent Wednesday catching up with life and trying to put together a composite/collage of what I kinda’ saw of the lunar eclipse.  I don’t do Photoshop so this is the best I could do.

Orion Kofa National Wildlife Refuge ArizonaOrion

What I learned
Good idea to arrive at destination at least a day before event.  Pay closer attention to the histogram because when it falls off the left–too dark–or the right–too bright–the settings are wrong.  Don’t trust the LED screen for that.  However, do use the LED viewer to check focus, repeatedly.  I need way more practice in night photography.  Photoshop should be on my list of things to learn.  Wash the camper windows.  Continue to practice with Sierra on her leash.  And keep on having fun.

Linking to Skywatch Friday

Arizona, Kofa NWR, Places I've been, United States , , , , 35 Comments

An invitation to a Lunar eclipse meetup

This is an invitation to watch, and photograph, the January 20th lunar eclipse at the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge.  I was there last year, I’m going back, and hope others will join me.

02 DSC_8568hdrlerw desert mt full moon returning from eclipse sunrise clouds Kings Valley Rd Kofa NWR AZ g-HDR-1One of the challenges I’ve set myself this year is to improve my night photography.  First that means dragging myself, and the tripod, outside after dark.  That in itself might be a huge challenge especially when the temperatures are below my ideal.  I guess wearing more layers will help.

03a DSC_8576hdrep2lelerwfb returning moon set Chocolate Mts Kofa NWR AZ g fb c1-19 g_HDR-1-1-2

03b eclipse timeline phoenixLast year only a partial lunar eclipse was visible in Arizona and that required getting up in the wee hours of the morning.  This time we can see the entire eclipse from 7:35pm to 12:48am, depending on how late you want to stay up.

04 eclipse mapHere in Arizona, and I think most of the USA, no other eclipses, lunar or solar, will be visible this year.

05a World night lights by NOAA

05b USA night lights by NOAA

05c Night lights by NOAALook how bright our world is at night

To take full advantage of seeing the eclipse a dark place is needed with the least amount of surrounding light pollution.  I know Palm Canyon Road on the Kofa fits that bill.  It is situated between Yuma to the south and Quartzsite to the north.  Not only dark but also quiet in the wide open spaces of the Sonoran Desert with mountains around.  This is also a great place for sunrise and sunset.

Kofa Mountains sunrise Kofa National Wildlife Refuge ArizonaCamping is free on the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge.  However, campsites cannot be located within ¼ mile of water sources and vehicles must remain within 100 feet of the road.   Campfires are permitted.  You’ll have to bring your own wood.  Please remember fire light would be an issue for night sky viewing.

07 DSC_8441lecrw lunar eclipse Kofa NWR AZ g-1-3-1Although this is the desert nights get cold so come prepared.  Red lights for after dark so night vision isn’t impaired.  A chair or lounger for comfort and maybe wrapped in a blanket depending on what happens with the weather.  Maybe bring a snack to share for the evening of the eclipse.  Otherwise, this is a BYO everything else event.

Services are limited in Quartzsite.  Yuma has most anything.

The big tent RV show is in Quartzsite from January 19th through the 27th.  Plus lots of other events and ‘stuff’ for sale.  If you have a RV want list it’s a good time to shop.

10 DSC_9020hdrep2lerw CA Palms light Palm Canyon Trl Kofa NWR AZ fb npm azp g_HDR-1-2Then there’s the nearby Palm Canyon trail that I’ve hiked before and plan to hike again.  Plus many other places to explore in the area.

11 DSC_8294hrlerw Kofa Mts moon rise Kofa NWR AZ fb gfb azp g-HDR-1-1We can hope for clear skies.  And maybe try some new ideas with our photography like light-painting a saguaro cactus, or setting up people for a silhouette against the full moon.  Maybe video or how about some vlogging?

12 ephemeris mapI need to study the PhotoPills app videos to learn about the set up for this eclipse.

After a few days around Quartzsite and Kofa I’m hoping to head further south to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and or the BLM just south of Ajo.

14 DSC_8627hdrlecrw almost full moon Kofa NWR AZ fb g-HDR-1-1Of course I’m excited about this.  Haven’t had a vacation since July.  So today I’m getting the camper propane tanks refit and certified.  And soon I’ll be packing.  Hope you can join me.  Let’s howl at the moon!

15 DSC_9026hdrep2lerw La Posa Plain Dome Rock Mts from Palm Canyon trl Kofa NWR AZ g_HDR-1-2How to get there

East side of US Highway 95 approximately 63 miles north of Yuma and 18 miles south of Quartzsite, Arizona near milepost 85.  Sign reads Palm Canyon and the gravel road is usually in pretty good shape, a little rough, but could be nasty after rain.  Seven miles to parking for Palm Canyon Trailhead.  I’ll be somewhere along that road.  Now is when it would be nice to have a GPS unit so I could give exact coordinates for my location.  Yet I’ve always found cell signal out there.  And you know what my truck and camper look like.  Give me a shout.

Although the government shutdown closes some public lands this area shouldn’t be affected.  Plus we can hope the shutdown is over by then.

Arizona, eclipse, Kofa NWR, Places I've been, United States , , , , , 20 Comments

Lijit

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