Wind and Rainbows in the Eastern Sierra

Rainbow in the Wind, originally uploaded by Jeff Sullivan.

The wind was literally ripping water off the wavetops in Mono Lake on Sunday. Gusts up to 80MPH were reported in the Eastern Sierra valleys, with up to 145MPH forecasted on the ridges.

Fall colors will linger on primarily in wind-protected areas.

Yellowstone National Park: Beehive Geyser Rainbow

Beehive Geyser Rainbow, originally uploaded by Jeff Sullivan (off to OR, WA...).

Evening is a great time to walk the geyser basins. If you catch an eruption and place the sun at your back, you can catch a rainbow in the spray!

This is Beehive Geyser, one of the more intermittent geysers in the Old Faithful Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.



Sorry I've been offline so much this week... Yellowstone was established as a national park on March 1, 1872, but it seems no more likely to get Internet service now than was did then!

Hopefully a new vendor will replace Xanterra's vice-grip on 1900s-era concessions and services in the park will end some day, or perhaps the new head of the Department of Interior, Ken Salazar, will bring the parks into the 21st century? If so, better late than never!

Night Rainbows by the Light of the Moon

Upper Yosemite Falls Moonbow

You may not have ever thought about it, but the sunlight reflecting off of the full moon is actually bright enough to create rainbows at night! This phenomenon is easiest to see in the mist of waterfalls, when the angle between the moon's light and your position is just right.

Fortunately if you'd like to know when they're most likely to be visible in Yosemite Valley, Don Olson of the Department of Physics at Texas State University has made it easy for you, publishing predictions for Upper Yosemite Fall and Lower Yosemite Fall.







Lower Yosemite Fall from Cook's Meadow.










Moonbow reflected in a vernal pool in Cook's Meadow.















From the short hiking path to the base of Lower Yosemite Fall.