It has been a beautiful autumn with great weather and fall color. However, the one things lacking have been great lenticulars, the presence of which typically increases this time of year. This past weekend a beautiful formation manifested just before sunset. The sky had been overcast all day and it seemed unlikely that there would be a colorful sunset to compliment the excellent cloud. Fortunately, things aligned just right and we got the most spectacular sunset Mount Shasta has had in a while.
Though the kind of clouds that sit on the summit are not my favorite, this one was just high enough to allow most of Mount Shasta to be visible. It also had numerous layers, both focused on the summit and some spreading out over the entire area above the treeline. When the setting sun was below the western horizon, the angle was just right for the light to pass beneath the cloud layer and it lit both Mount Shasta and the lenticular up with a blazing orange light. It was an epic sight.
Even as the sunlight faded on Mount Shasta, the sky itself turned pink and purple. This caused the light to bounce around a bit, illuminating the entire landscape in a warm red glow. The oak trees, already yellow, smoldered in a deep red, marking the entire image as indelibly autumn-ish. It was fantastic and I was glad to have witnessed it from this particular vantage point (one I have been spending a lot of time at, but for reasons that may be revealed soon).
Though there were no lenticulars above Black Butte, the sky was gorgeous and worth pausing to appreciate as well.
On the way home, things still glowed purple and as I rounded Deadman’s Curve, I could see Mount Eddy looming above Kaiser Meadow. I wasn’t quick enough to capture the warm glow but, though that light faded quickly, I did manage to document the beautiful sky above the highest peak in the Klamath Mountains.
Now, as I write this, what maybe the first major storm of the winter is rolling through the area. It is expected to deposit several inches of snow on Mount Shasta, all the way down to 5,000 feet. We need a few more of these to really get winter going, but this is a great start!
I saw that a big storm was supposed to hit the Northwest. Here’s to lots of snow.