SP Crater Volcano, Monsoon Green, Northern Arizona

[Photo: S P Crater Volcano, northern Arizona.
Click on picture for larger version.]

SP Crater is an 800 foot tall, 70,000 year old cinder cone volcano located about 25 miles north of Flagstaff, Arizona. It's located on the Babbitt Ranches land, but public access is granted. There are no signs indicating where to turn off of US Hwy 89. It's a flat dirt road that should be avoided when it's wet! Unless you enjoy being stuck out in the middle of nowhere. A beautiful nowhere, though.

I was out there recently because I enjoy the expansive views there on the very northern edge of the San Francisco Volcanic Field. There are over 600 identified cinder cones in this 50-mile wide swath of old volcanoes, but most of them to the south are much older, more eroded, and often heavily forested, somewhat disguising their origins.

This view from the south side of SP does not show one of its most amazing features: a four mile long, 80 foot tall lava flow that spreads out across the landscape. But this view does show how much older the cone to the left is in comparison to SP, which is partially covering its flank.

Our recent, and bountiful, monsoon season rains had the ranch land verdant with tall grasses and wildflowers. There were plenty of Babbitt cattle slowly wandering around, but the sheer lushness of the grasses seemed as if no amount of cattle could eat but a small amount of it. It looked like a rancher's heaven.

You might also be interested in my Grand Canyon Photography blog.

See more of my photography at www.NaturalMoment.com.

July Moonrise, Northern Arizona

[Photo: Summer moonrise, Antelope Hills,
northern Arizona.]

Today was the day before the official Full Moon. Meaning that the moon would rise a little before sunset, when it's still light enough to include the landscape in the photograph.

So I headed out to the cinder cones near Sunset Crater volcano, north of Flagstaff. The National Forest land there is open enough to afford many nice views.

The moon crested the ridge to the east while it was still very light. I photographed as the sky soon turned blue and pink with the Earth's shadow at sunset. This shot is one of my favorite from this session.

(Click on the image for a larger version)

See more of my photography at www.NaturalMoment.com.

You might also be interested in my Grand Canyon Photography blog.

Thunderhead and Sunbeams, Arizona

The summer monsoon season arrived in northern Arizona almost a week ago. Finally. We'd had a very dry, very windy spring. Very high forest fire danger. A few wildfires did break out but were quickly contained, unlike last year, and unlike this year in eastern Arizona, the ones you've seen on the news.

"Monsoon" is not the correct term for what we get here in Arizona, but it's the one that everybody uses. It's not at all like the monsoon season in southeast Asia, where it rains endlessly. Here, it's when ocean moisture (primarily from the Gulf of California down in Mexico) gets pulled up here. The moisture collides with the hot, sunny Arizona weather to form immense thunderhead clouds that rain down heavily, and often very locally. In a dry desert climate it's very welcome. And very beautiful.

Today was one of those days here in Flagstaff, only it was a "reverse monsoon". It rained early in the morning and was done by noon, instead of the other way around. Then the skies cleared somewhat, and in late afternoon I noticed this dramatic cloud and the streaming sunbeams.

(Click on the image to see a larger version).

You might also be interested in my Grand Canyon Photography blog.

See more of my photography at www.NaturalMoment.com

See my videos (including one of our amazing monsoon rains) on my YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/naturalmoment

Prickly Pear Cactus Blooms, Flagstaff, Arizona

[Photo: Prickly Pear blossoms. Click on picture for larger version.]

Twin blossoms of a prickly pear cactus glow in vibrant yellow and red underneath a Ponderosa pine forest on the Coconino National Forest north of Flagstaff, Arizona. Brown pine needles, shed the previous fall, provide subtle and interesting angles as they lay around and across the cactus pads.

You might also be interested in my Grand Canyon Photography blog..

See more of my photography at www.NaturalMoment.com

See my videos (including one of our amazing monsoon rains) on my YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/naturalmoment

Grand Canyon River Rafters at Pearce Ferry, Colorado River

[Photo: Canyoneers river rafting company boats at the end of another two week run through the length of Grand Canyon.]

For most commercial Grand Canyon river running trips, the end point is the Pearce Ferry Landing on the Colorado River at upper Lake Mead, near Meadview, Arizona. In the background are the Grand Wash Cliffs, considered to be the geological end of Grand Canyon.

In this photo, front and center is one of the smallest wooden boats running Grand Canyon. It's also one of the most historic, being the last one built by legendary Norman Nevills, the first commercial river running in Grand Canyon. It's the Sandra, built in 1947, and named after Nevills' younger daughter Sandy. Today it is a fully restored cataract boat, as Nevills called his design. It is owned by Greg Reiff of Flagstaff, Arizona, who is Nevills' grandson and Sandy Nevills Reiff's son. (Click on the image to see a larger version).

You might also be interested in my Grand Canyon Photography blog.

See more of my photography at www.NaturalMoment.com

See my videos (including one of our amazing monsoon rains) on my YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/naturalmoment

Cliffrose Blossom, Coconino National Forest

A blossom of Cliffrose (Cowania mexicana), a tall, tough woody shrub, basks in the warm June sunlight on the Coconino National Forest a few miles north of Flagstaff, Arizona. (Click on the image to see a larger version).

See more of my photography at www.NaturalMoment.com

See my videos (including one of our amazing monsoon rains) on my YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/naturalmoment.

You might also be interested in my Grand Canyon Photography blog.