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Backcountry Rainbow and Hail Fog

Backcountry Rainbow and Hail Fog
Backcountry Rainbow and Hail Fog

Backcountry Rainbow and Hail Fog

It had just hailed about an inch of marble sized ice stones from the sky. Heavy rain accompanied the hail shafts. This is a remote meadow near the Montana / Wyoming border. A series of large storms moved through the area. It’s the heaviest rain I’ve personally been in all year. I’m sure it dumped 2 inches of water plus the hail. ALL the local stream were running which is a rare event. I don’t think this particular drenching under this Mesocyclone was particularly unusual but for the drenching. I’ve seen 4 inches and hour before and this one only gave us a couple of inches in the 1/2 hour it lasted.

So all this hail ice is laying covering the surface of the ground up the hill. The sun hits it, evaporation and sublimation (google the latter) occurs and a cloud of cold saturated air off the ice flows down hill like so much water. It ran in rivers from every hill to every adjacent low area in this valley. This is the fog lake resultant in a wide low pasture being fed by dozens of smaller fog rivulets. The low angle lighting adding to the frames unusual nature. Oh yeah, there’s a rainbow up there too lol.

Location: Bliss Dinosaur Ranch, Wyoming / Montana borderlands

Title: Backcountry Rainbow and Hail Fog

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Backcountry Rainbow and Hail Fog

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Wagon’s West to the Big Horn Mountains

Wagon's West to the Big Horn Mountains
Wagon's West to the Big Horn Mountains

I took a trip to Sheridan Wyoming and it was Wagons West to the Bighorns. It’s about 40 miles of mostly maintained gravel roads and another 70 of two lane backcountry Wyoming Highways to get there from here. It’s an extra hour to go to Gillette and over by Interstate to there.

The Autumn Colors are in full bloom now though I’m too low and dry here for the Aspens to be quaking about. They are mostly up the “hill” a bit.

This whole landscape taken yesterday (a week ago as this posts)) is today totally covered with snow.

I’m not going that way anytime soon now lol.

Location about 20 miles from Sheridan on Rt 14/16 heading west