May 29th, 2009
So the month of May is nearly done and with it, ends the month-long celebration of the bike and human-powered travel. As a hiker, I often worry about my environmental impact during a drive to a favorite trailhead.
How can I minimize fuel consumption and make better? I reason that if I bike as my primary form of transportation, I will only need to drive during my trips to the woods. This works great if I have a network of safe and continuous bike lanes and trails in the city. Enter Bike Lexington.
I’m proud to say that I contributed a small share to bike community here. I took the artwork designed by Cricket Press (shown by the poster design left) and made the Bike Lexington interactive calendar (shown here), which hopefully encourages people to bike more. Building the site definitely exposed me to vibrant groups and events that helped me stay committed to biking in Lexington.
After this month is over though, biking doesn’t stop. Check out the website for new events throughout the year or join the newsletter subscription to stay updated.
Posted in News | No Comments »
May 9th, 2009
The Pixel Team hiked up to Hensley Settlement after the Southeastern Foot Trails Conference and it was a fantastic, sublime experience. Sherman Hensley hiked up this mountain in 1903 with his pregnant wife and all of the tools and livestock they could drive. They saw a large, flat expanse on the mountain summit and carved out a pioneer homestead. Two backcountry camps are within 0.5 miles of this historic community.
Cumberland Gap Map
Distance: 16 Miles round-trip from the Civic Park trailhead at Ewing
Difficulty: +++
Scenic Views: ++++
Elevation Relief: 2,000ft ^^
Ownership: Cumberland Gap, NPS
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Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Hiking Maps
Posted in All Hikes, Cumberland Gap, NHP | No Comments »
May 8th, 2009
Spring is typically a wet month. However over the past week, Eastern Kentucky has experienced unusual rainfall amounts. The record for the month is 10.78 inches in 2004; and no other year has been above 10 inches for May. The only year that saw over 9 inches of rainfall for May was in 1995. May during 1983 and 1984 were the only times over 7 inches of rainfall.
From the National Weather Service in Jackson, Kentucky:
"2 TO 5 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN ACROSS EASTERN KENTUCKY DURING THE
MONTH OF MAY. THIS IS OF INTEREST...SINCE WE ARE ONLY ABOUT ONE
QUARTER OF THE WAY THROUGH THE MONTH. HEAVY RAINFALL IS VERY
POSSIBLE AS WE HEAD INTO MOTHERS DAY WEEKEND AND COULD PUSH RAINFALL
AMOUNTS UP ANOTHER INCH OR TWO.
THE AVERAGE PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH OF MAY AT THE JACKSON
WEATHER OFFICE IS 4.92 INCHES. WE HAVE ALL READY RECORDED 4.12
INCHES OF RAINFALL AS OF THIS MORNING AT 7AM. IT IS TOO EARLY TO TELL
...BUT WE ARE CERTAINLY ON TRACK TO HAVE ONE OF THE RAINIEST MAYS
EVER. THE RAINIEST MAY OCCURRED IN 2004 WHEN THE JACKSON WEATHER
OFFICE RECORDED 10.78 INCHES FOR THE MONTH. THIS WAS THE ONLY MONTH
OF MAY THAT OVER TEN INCHES OF RAIN FELL. MAY OF 1995 HAD 9.91
INCHES AND WAS THE ONLY MONTH WITH OVER 9 INCHES RECORDED. THE NEXT
HIGHEST TOTALS WERE OVER 7 INCHES AND THAT OCCURRED IN ONLY TWO
YEARS...1983 AND 1984.
HERE ARE RAINFALL TOTALS FROM EASTERN KENTUCKY COOPERATIVE WEATHER
STATIONS AND AUTOMATED SURFACE OBSERVING SYSTEMS AS OF 7 AM
EDT...FOR THE MONTH OF MAY 2009.
LOCATION / COUNTY / PRECIPITATION
BARBOURVILLE KNOX 4.38 INCHES
BAXTER HARLAN 3.85 INCHES
BEATTYVILLE 4N LEE 3.68 INCHES
BIG SHELBY PIKE 3.01 INCHES
BOONEVILLE 1SE OWSLEY 4.49 INCHES
BUCKHORN LAKE PERRY 2.80 INCHES
CARR CREEK LAKE KNOTT 2.73 INCHES
CAVE RUN LAKE ROWAN 2.28 INCHES
CLAY CITY 1WNW POWELL 2.77 INCHES
CLOSPLINT 4ESE HARLAN 4.55 INCHES
COLO PULASKI 3.98 INCHES
CRESSY ESTILL 2.59 INCHES
DRAFFIN PIKE 3.54 INCHES
EZEL MORGAN 3.31 INCHES
GIMLET ELLIOTT 2.60 INCHES
HARLAN 1S HARLAN 3.80 INCHES
HARLAN STATE POLICE HARLAN 2.95 INCHES
HAZARD WATER PERRY 3.71 INCHES
HAZARD PERRY 3.70 INCHES
HAZARD STATE POLICE PERRY 2.95 INCHES
HEIDELBERG 2N LEE 4.05 INCHES
BAXTER HARLAN 3.85 INCHES
INEZ 2E MARTIN 3.78 INCHES
ISLAND CITY OWSLEY 5.16 INCHES
IVEL FLOYD 2.27 INCHES
NWS JACKSON BREATHITT 4.12 INCHES
JEREMIAH 1S LETCHER 3.11 INCHES
KINGDOM COME ST PARK HARLAN 3.12 INCHES
LONDON CORBIN APT LAUREL 4.46 INCHES
MONTICELLO 3NE WAYNE 4.00 INCHES
MOUNT STERLING 5N MONTGOMERY 2.41 INCHES
MOUNT VERNON ROCKCASTLE 2.77 INCHES
ONEIDA CLAY 4.54 INCHES
PAINTSVILLE 1E JOHNSON 3.55 INCHES
PIKEVILLE ST POLICE PIKE 2.05 INCHES
PRESTONSBURG 3NW FLOYD 4.09 INCHES
QUICKSAND BREATHITT 3.52 INCHES
RELIEF MORGAN 3.18 INCHES
ROGERS WOLFE 2.82 INCHES
SALYERSVILLE MAGOFFIN 4.28 INCHES
SANDY HOOK ELLIOTT 2.67 INCHES
SKYLINE LETCHER 3.20 INCHES
SLADE 5NE POWELL 2.86 INCHES
SOMERSET 2N PULASKI 3.74 INCHES
STANTON 2W POWELL 2.88 INCHES
STEARNS 2S MCCREARY 5.09 INCHES
VICTORY 5NW LAUREL 4.13 INCHES
WEST LIBERTY 3NW MORGAN 2.67 INCHES
WEST LIBERTY 11NW MORGAN 2.57 INCHES
WHITESBURG LETCHER 2.50 INCHES
WHITESBURG 2SE LETCHER 3.21 INCHES
WILLIAMSBURG 1NW WHITLEY 5.14 INCHES
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AT JACKSON WOULD LIKE TO THANK ALL THE
DEDICATED COOPERATIVE WEATHER OBSERVERS FOR THEIR TIMELY REPORTS."
Posted in Big South Fork, NRRA, Cave Run Lake, DBNF, Cumberland Gap, NHP, News, Red River Gorge, NGA, Sheltowee Trace, Weather | No Comments »
April 20th, 2009
The past day’s weather has included periods intense light and shadow from very low, broken stratus & cumulus clouds. Rays of love from god shine from heaven through parted clouds; and there was plenty of love in the mountains. Even in these low quality webcam images, you can see golden rays of light and clearly defined ridges. Now what if you were there with a serious camera.
Though the weather overall has been chilly and uncomfortable, it does give some memorable vistas. The more diffuse stratus clouds in the western mountains were lower in altitude and created softer light.
View from Purchase Knob
Posted in Great Smoky Mountains, News, Weather | No Comments »
April 16th, 2009
As we gear up for the Sheltowee Trace topographic map, I thought it would be interesting to see if a complete 3d map of the ST could be printed. Unfortunately, it would have to be a huge sheet of paper to get the detail necessary for a good map. But as an online viewer, I see potential. This sample is a raw render output and you can see well the basic physiography. Now we just need to add trails, transportation, labels, etc….nothing too much, just about 6,000 sq. mi. for the Daniel Boone NF.
Explore this map through a zoomable flash map
Posted in Big South Fork, NRRA, Cave Run Lake, DBNF, News, Red River Gorge, NGA, Sheltowee Trace | No Comments »
