Yes, the sky looked this blue for real. No, I don’t know why (Pooh? Elevation?).
Just when I was getting ready to believe that there might be a no-fly zone over the Wilderness area, I discovered I was wrong. Today we hiked up the west flank of the National Forest that borders the west edge of the Wilderness, and saw this at one point, over the valley to the west of us. The sound reached us well behind the plane as it zoomed by, not surprisingly….
We figure we ascended over 2500′ in 3.7 miles, whew!, then turned around and tried to not skid on round rocks and the like when descending. The trail: Little Whitewater. It wasn’t our original choice, but when the ranger at the Glenwood Ranger Station said he thought it the most strenuous in the area, well, we just had to give it a go. I’m almost still panting from the effort….
5 November 2006 at 1:30 pm
Pooh says:
IMHO, I don’t really know.
Here are some possible explanations for blue, blue skies. Pick the one you like best. Maybe Val the meteorologist can weigh in also.
1. Less humidity in the air than in the Midwest or Hotlanta.
2. Less particulate matter or pollution in the air.
3. Altitude — atmosphere is less dense at higher altitude, so sky is bluer. Remember that the sunrise/sunset colors we see are due to refraction through the thicker part of the atmosphere edge on to the sun.
4. All of the above.
(Test makers love to throw that one in — so do people who don’t really know.)
6 November 2006 at 9:29 am
Sammy says:
Thanks, Pooh; I knew you’d be the go-to person on this….