Zebra Slot Canyon // Utah

 Another cold night spent at a trailhead, this time for Zebra Slot Canyon located near Escalante, Utah. I emerged out of my sleeping bag shortly after sunrise and started trekking across easy terrain toward Zebra. After a few miles, I entered a wash, and then entered the narrow chasm. I encountered knee deep water that I cautiously waded through, checking every next step so as to avoid plunging into a deep pot hole. After the water, I had to stem over several canyon sections that were too narrow for me to fit through. I then reached the most interesting part of the canyon filled with smooth streamlined rock walls and wavy formations, all of which could indeed be interpreted as zebra-like...thus the name of the canyon was appropriate. I then exited upwards and ran into a deep pot hole with smooth side walls that I was not at all confident I could climb out of. Not wanting to turn an epically awesome canyon experience into a tragedy, I turned around and retraced my steps back to the original entrance. Zebra slot canyon is pretty awesome, though short, and it offered a brief introduction into slot canyon stemming technique.

 Google map of Zebra Slot Canyon can be found here. 

Spooky and Peekaboo Slot Canyons // Utah

 I arrived in the dead of a windy winter Utah night near the trailhead for Peekaboo and Spooky slot canyons during early March 2025. The rising sun woke me up a few hours later, and I was on the trail within minutes. It was a raw morning, but things warmed up once I descended out of the wind. I then entered Peekaboo Slot Canyon, which was nice, but didn't offer the photogenic slotty experience I was looking for. I reached the exit of Peekaboo, turned right, and hiked over to the top of Spooky Slot Canyon. Things quickly became interesting inside Spooky as the walls grew narrow, water sculpted rock became abundant, and pinks, purples, reds, and orange colors abound. In other words, I got the slot canyon experience I craved and the pictures were fantastic. I reached the end of Spooky and found a 10-20 foot drop had to be down-climbed in order to return to civilization. I wasn't certain if smooth rock would yield a route all the way down, so I turned around and found a point to scramble up and out of the canyon. I then linked back up with the main route to the trailhead and called it a day.

Google map of these slot canyons can be found here.

 

The Subway // Zion National Park

 The Subway in Zion National Park ranks near the top of my list of most amazing natural wonders. Nature spared no expense when it came to constructing this tube-shaped slot canyon. To top it all off, clear cold water runs swiftly down the middle, cascading into pools that are the color of gems. A beautiful 10-15 foot waterfall is also located immediately upstream. I hiked to The Subway during late February, descending a steep canyon near the Left Fork Trailhead. I then followed the Left Fork North Creek for around 5 miles, crossing the water a multitude of times, and climbing over occasional boulders. This would be a brutally hot hike during the summer, but in winter it was fairly pleasant. In fact, given the pleasant late winter weather, I decided to leave behind everything but my keys and iPhone, as I figured if I got desperate for water I had a creek to quench my thirst. I reached The Subway after a couple of hours hiking, explored the area in complete amazement, and then made good time back to the trailhead. The only difficult part of the hike was ascending the steep canyon (maybe a 1000 feet of vertical), which again, was bearable during the winter but unimaginable during the dead of summer.

The Subway can be viewed in google maps here.

 

Double Arch Alcove // Taylor Creek // Kolob Canyon // Zion National Park

 I hiked the ~5 mile round trip Taylor Creek Trail during late February. The highlight of the trek was the Double Arch Alcove, which is truly grand and well worth the effort...although the hike was really rather effortless, with only mild vert gained. There are multiple stream crossings as well, which given it was February, were increasingly ice covered as I made my way up-canyon. As previously mentioned, the arch was magnificent, and provided multiple angles for epic picture taking, with some of the best shots being panoramas that included the arch in the foreground and the warm canyon rock walls in the background.

 A map of the trailhead can be found here. 

December 28, 2024 TX/LA/MS Tornado Episode

 An outbreak of tornadoes occurred from southeast TX into MS on 28 December 2024. One corridor of long-track/long-duration tornado activity occurred near the LA border in far SERN TX during mid to late afternoon, and a second corridor was observed over SRN and CNTRL MS. The southeast TX long-track tornado appeared to occur in an atypical environment for long-pathlength tornadoes due to small hodographs. However, the tornadic storm may have been augmented by coastal convergence and enhancement to low-level shear. A surface meso low was also present immediately west of the tornadic storm, which is a feature that could enhance storm intensity due to increased low-level convergence/mesoscale ascent. Otherwise, moisture and instability were more than sufficient for strong sustained updraft development across the region, including MS, where shear profiles were more classically supportive of longer-track tornadoes. One EF3 tornado tracked for 46 km during a 44 min period south-southwest of Jackson, MS. A NAMNEST forecast sounding was archived near the path of that tornado, and yielded a predicted tornado pathlength of 44.5 km and duration of 51.9 min, which was in error by only ~2 km and ~8 min, respectively. 

Archived weather data for this outbreak is posted below.

Storm survey map for 28 December 2024. Two corridors of long-track tornado activity occurred in far southeast TX as well as southern/central MS.

NAMNEST forecast hodograph with tornado pathlength and duration guidance valid 01UTC 29 December 2024 south of Jackson, MS.

NAMNEST forecast sounding valid 01UTC 29 December 2024 south of Jackson, MS.

Surface analysis valid the afternoon of 28 December 2024. Several low pressure waves advanced northeast from southeast TX into MS. In addition, rich moisture was present across the warm sector and was supportive of long-lived/long-track tornadic supercells.

250 mb objective analysis valid 00UTC 29 December 2024. The most significant tornado activity occurred within the entrance region of a southerly 250 mb jetlet/speed max.

The all-important 850 mb level, which yielded southerly wind speeds in excess of 50 kt south-southeast of a low-pressure disturbance. Those speeds aided in longer duration/longer-track tornadoes.

KDGX base reflectivity depicting one of several longer-lived tornadic storms.

KDGX base SRV depicting one of several longer-lived tornadic storms.

McCormick’s Creek State Park - Indiana

 McCormick's Creek State Park is one of many excellent state parks in Indiana. That may be a surprise to some, but yes, Indiana has some really great parks. I explored McCormick's on a gloomy New Years day. There is a gorge to hike through, sink holes to dodge, and even a cave to crawl through. I made my way into the middle of the cave, shut off my light source, and then became engulfed in total blackness and silence. Awesome and freaky all at once. In addition, I hiked across a scar in the forest, the site of an EF3 tornado that flattened every single tree during March 2023. More like a scene out of a battlefield and again kind of eerie. Click [here] for a google map of McCormick's Creek State Park.

Looking back toward the entrance of a wild Indiana cave in McCormick's Creek State Park.

Another view of the cave entrance.

Yet another view of a cave entrance.

Remnant of what I assume is a collapsed cave.

EF3 tornado damage.

An ancient 200-400 million year old sea creature/sea shell.