Weather Image: Flat Rainbow

Flat Rainbow, Carson Iceberg Wilderness. High Sierra Nevada mountains. Sometime in the '90s. I'll look it up... 

I dug this image of a flat rainbow out to make a banner for the Trail Culture page depicting a sample of the 2010 PCT hikers as they headed North through the Carson Iceberg Wilderness, where this image was taken. I will dig out the original images that are normally sized. I have a series of film images that I digitized somewhere...

The Trip

I was doing a trip through Rodriquez Flat from the Eastern Sierra to Sonora Pass on the East Fork of the Carson River via the Silver King Creek and Posion Flat.

I made a nice campsite during the late afternoon near the Silver King and was kicking back. It was late Spring or early Summer. The temps were still cool, but heating up as the season progressed. I was sitting in a little fold in the mountains a short ways up the tributairy near the Silver King Creek horse ford.

The Flat Rainbow

I looked up and saw this flat rainbow standing in clear skies. I marvelled. Not a cloud in the skies. I also felt a heavy obligation. I was very tired, not used to the altitude, and ready to eat and drink. Now I had to get up, get my camera gear together, and climb up out of the little fold in the mountains to the top of the Western ridge arm separating the tributairy I was camping on from the Silver King Creek, to get the best view of this remarkable feature. So I did.

At the crest of the ridge I could see that there were no clouds or visible moisture in the air. It became apparent that this standing flat rainbow was produced by moisture in the wind crystalizing as the winds oscalated up and then down over the Sierra crest.

This flat rainbow was sitting directly above the Sierra Crest itself, and appeared to be caused by ice crystals freezing out as the air mass accelerated while rising over the crestline. And the ice crystals only existed for the time the air was crossing that exact position.

The conditions were exactly perfect: The air contained exactly the correct amount of moisture to form a standing bar of ice crystals at exactly the speed of the wind, the air temp, and altitude of the crestline at a position the sun could reveal.

Ah, here's those images in my 2002 files, which leads me to my 2002 trail notes...

Trip Notes

Started June 1, 2002. Rodriquez Flat to Sonora Pass, then up to the High Emigrant Basin. Morning temps in the low '30s, rising to mid-70s during the day.

I noted that the "Spring Opening" of the trails was happening two to three weeks earlier than "normal," ten years ago...

I also noted talking to Bob in my notes, who owned The Country Bear in Walker on Hwy 395. RIP to good 'ole Bob, who was a hell of a guy who's premature and untimely death had a real negative effect on Walker and the whole Antelope Valley.

More flat rainbow images:

The images above and below show some degree of moisture in the air that was not visible to the naked eye. As all of you photographers know, the camera and film captures light that the eye cannot see. These images were not modified or pumped up in photoshop, except for removing the scratches the damn camera body burrs put onto the negatives. These are film images digitized, thus the richness that digital lacks...

Trail Information 

I don't have guide pages for this side-trip from the Eastern Escarpment of the Sierra up to the main PCT route in the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness heading down South across Sonora Pass into Emigrant Basin via Big Sam yet, though I will, but I do have some maps and a basic description of the route online that you can check out.

This topo map of the Carson Iceberg Wilderness shows where the trail from Rodriquez Flat crosses Poison Flat to enter the Valley of the East Carson River at Dumonts Meadow below Mineral Mountain. Look to the upper-right corner to see this trail across Poison Flat.

If you want to see the topo map of the Eastern entrance to the East Fork of the Carson River, check out the USGS store for free downloads of the whole USGS map series.  

From Sonora Pass this Topo Map of the Emigrant Wilderness shows the trail across Leavitt and Big Sam into the High Emigrant Basin. This route is neither the PCT or the TYT. It splits the two...

I've written up the basic outline of the basic route between standing at the base of the Eastern Sierra Escarpment and then hiking in and South to Sonora Pass. See: Walker to Sonora Pass: A great three-season trip.

Have you any weather images from the High Sierra Nevada Mountains? Post them up for our enjoyment. I'll be posting up images as I comb through years of backpacking for the website and forum...