Sky Circles

While driving down the road the other day I, not surprisingly, looked up in the sky

And saw some circles.

Like the circle in the Yet Another Lunar Halo post, these circles are the result of water in the atmosphere, in this case contrails. Contrails of planes likely circling the Philadelphia airport.

This second image shows a pale Sundog, the bright spot in the upper center, to the right of the overexposed Sun. And the bright spot on the contrail circle, below the Sundog, is a fragment of the 22° Halo, the type of halo shown around the Moon.

Yet Another Lunar Halo

I can't get enough of these things.

And despite the folklore, there were no storms the next day.

The Sky Was Angry This Morning ...

But it didn't last.

And the impending ice storm passed us by.

It was pretty cool looking though.

Sunset

The lack of clear views of the horizon is one of the few drawbacks of our place. It limits star gazing opportunities. As well as sunrise and sunset viewing.

But when the trees are bare we do get the occasional sky show.

This was the view from my desk as I shut my laptop for the day this past Thursday, facing west.

I finished up for the day, went out on the deck, and walked around to take in the view to the east.

I used my iPhone as these moments are fleeting. No time to get a different, perhaps more appropriate, camera lens combination.

In a matter of minutes the show was over.

Another reason I enjoy this season.

Not Nice Ms Nature!

The other day I had finished work and instead of sitting in traffic I was sitting on my deck, enjoying an adult beverage when the wind picked up and the sky behind me became very dark and threatening.

A gathered up my stuff and covered up the chair as the rain (and leaves) came down.

Stopping only to snap a few pics.

It sure does look like Ma Nature is giving me the finger ...

Crepuscular Ray

My astronomy club recently had its first observing session at our exclusive 'dark' sky observing site (scare quotes as this is New Jersey and there are no true dark sky sites in NJ), a mere 15 mile form our place.

And while we were waiting for darkness to fall I noticed this rather large Crepuscular Ray.

Just another reason to keep looking up.

Good Bugs

The Pinelands Preservation Alliance had the land that surrounded their headquarters donated to them. There was just one catch, it was a preserved farm, and thus it had to be farmed.

And thus was the Rancocas Creek Farm, and the associated CSA born.

We signed up for a share, which we split with our friends Karen and Bull.

This is the farm. I was out picking string beans. (Yep, you pay for the privilege of working in the fields.)

I got done before the rains came.

This week's haul. Sadly, they ran out of carrots (Patty makes an awesome carrot cake).

And just inside the deer fence was this sign. Alas, visiting the website via the QR code did not give any insight to exactly what bugs were at work.

But it was nice to know I wasn't the only one working in the fields.

Frist World Problems

In the Almost Back post I discussed my travails with electronic versus lightning.

One problem I had was that for reasons that are still not clear, Apple thought my computer wasn't my computer, and that it was actually owned by a company, in that there was MDM (Mobile Device Management) software installed on it. 

Now why there would be Mobile Device Management software on a desktop computer never seemed to cross the mind of the 'genius' at the Apple store, they told me I needed to provide proof, such as a receipt, that the computer was mine.

There were several problems with this.

First, the receipt was on the hard drive of the computer that I did not have. Second, Apple keeps eighteen months of purchase history online and available to customers; I bought this computer nineteen months prior to the incident. Third, I had no connectivity at my place to contact Apple support (recall my modem and router were also fried) and thus to contact them I needed to venture out to where a signal could be had.

So I did. And while I was on the phone with an Apple support rep, one who tried very hard to be helpful, for over an hour (!!!) I was getting more and more frustrated at this whole Catch-22 situation, this appeared in the sky out my car windshield.

And while on hold for the n-teenth time I snapped this image. And calmed down a bit.

Eventually the rep told me that she was unable to get a receipt, but that she had ordered one on my behalf from somewhere else inside Apple, and cautions that it might take several days to arrive (It arrived that evening). 

And it turned out I didn't need it anyway. Some other 'genius' at the Apple store (a super genius perhaps?) figured out that the MDM issue was all a mistake. 

All that stress and frustration for nothing. 

I really needed that vacation ...

Another Climb

Our New England adventure began in the Franconia Notch State Park campsite in New Hampshire. Which was just across Interstate 93 from the Franconia Ridge Loop Trailhead.

We started up the Falling Waters Trail, the recommended route, a 2.8 mile hike that gains 3550 or so feet of elevation.

And the trail lived up to its name.

With many waterfalls.

And several stream crossings.

We had met a couple of hikers the day prior, while doing a short warmup hike, who told us that we were lucky as this is the dry season, and often the stream is just a trickle.

It was very pretty.

And very rocky. Nothing like the flat sandy trails in our neck of the woods.

And it was hot and humid. When we woke it was cool at our campsite. But that did not last.

We decided to go north to escape the heat and humidity of the New Jersey summer. Alas, it followed us. My clothes were soaked with sweat by the time we reached Little Haystack, at the end of the Falling Waters Trail.

Pretty yet visibly humid.

We took our time and stopped whenever something caught our eye ...

... like this slug ...

... these berries (very christmasy) ...

... and the many mushrooms along the way.

We continued upward, reaching the Alpine Zone. Where it seems you can fly drones, you just can't land them. Curious.

Eventually we reached the top where we were treated to fantastic views of ...

... fog (or was it clouds?).

There were a surprising number of people on the trail, although Patty selected the campsite so we didn't need to worry about parking, which fills up quickly. So I guess I shouldn't have been surprised.

It was windy at the top, our sweat soaked clothes making it a bit chilly, so on went the rain jackets. And we headed on down (up?) the trail.

The Franconia Ridge Trail, the second leg of the loop. We'd summit two peaks, Lafayette and Lincoln, and be cheated of the sometimes fantastic views on each.

I never noticed what a giant Patty is.

The jackets came off shortly after this shot, as we heated up as we got moving.

A slight break in the clouds. That white 'line' center left in the image is the exit of the interstate for our campground. Yep. that's where we started.

This Dark-eyed Junco accompanied us for a short bit (where the rock meets the foliage in the center of the image). 

That ridge in the clouds it the third leg of the trial, the Old Bridle Path. We've some distance to go yet.

We made it to the Old Bridle Path, where sat a spell and chatted with a couple of hikers coming up the trail, who were covid refugees from Arizona currently staying with one of their parents in Point Pleasant, NJ. 

Sure, now that we're heading down it starts to clear.

Again we took it slow, stopping to smell the fungi as the saying goes.

Really, this couldn't have happened when we were at the top?

After a stop at the AMC's Greenleaf Hut to refill our water bladders and enjoy a cup of coffee, we continued on, and after 8.7 miles we made it back to that sign. Note may change of shirts. This one was soaked as well.

Fortunately the campsite had dryers (and washers). And showers.

This hike was worth it, albeit a bit of a slog at times. And I did not eat enough along the trail, and was out of energy for the last couple of miles. If I'm gonna keep doing this I've got to get in better shape. 

And training hikes around our place in flatland don't quite cut it. I think I need to build a mountain out by the back pond ...

Adventuring in New England

As our Madagascar trip was again postponed (maybe next summer?) we looked for something else to do this instead. 

And as Patty needed to visit New Hampshire to scratch it off on her map, that's where we went. For the first week of our adventure.

Our accommodations for our first three nights.

And the associated dining area. We are minimalist campers. Just a cooler of preprepared food. No stove or dealing with messy cookware for us.

Our first night was a drippy one. And we were caught by the rain before we had stowed everything in the car. But the tent held and we had a dry if noisy (rain and thunder) night. It would rain the second afternoon and evening as well.

That's Franconia Ridge up in the clouds ...

... seen a bit better in this image at the entrance to the camp ground, is the reason we are at this camp ground, and our destination on our third day, which was supposed to be rain free (spoiler alert, it was).

Eclipse

There was an Annular Solar Eclipse today, although I was not on the path of annularity. So for me, it would be a partial eclipse. If I got to see it at all.

The eclipse would be in progress at sunrise. And this was the view around dawn in the direction the sun would be rising. Not a promising sight.

But the clouds were kinda cool looking in the morning light.

And in addition to the clouds ...

... we had fog to deal with.

It was a pretty morning. But I didn't get up at 4:00 am for a pretty morning.

Luckily for us, the sun was rising in a notch in the clouds. We could only hope it would rise faster than the clouds were moving.

The 'beam of light' above the rising sun is a solar pillar, a side effect of the clouds.

It did.

And we were happy.

Eventually it rose about the clouds, although the eclipse was also nearing its end.

It would have been nice to see the sun as it rose, the 'horns' facing up. But I as I didn't think we'd see it at all I'm quite happy with what we did see.

Including this sundog. Another side effect of the clouds.