There Must Be A Name For It

Under Sail
44 24.58 N 073 16.44 W


There must be a name for it. A name for the view of a mountain ridge seen from the downwind side. Water vapor (cloud) spills over the top of the ridge and begins to descend the downwind slope. However, as it drops, it warms and evaporates the vapor. The visual effect is like seeing a waterfall that ends in mid-air. Behind the ridge, one imagines a valley completely filled with a lake of fog. Could one call it a fogfall?

My first sight of a fogfall was way back in 1967. On my first trip ever to San Francisco, I stepped out of the front door of the SF Airport, looked west at the ridge of mountains that separates the coast from SF bay, and there it was. The fogfall was unbelievable. The winds must have been blowing down that ridge at 30-40 miles per hour making the motion even more apparent. I stood and stared in awe at that sight for perhaps 30 minutes. On Champlain, we are regularly treated to fogfall views from two vantage points. One is Willsboro Bay, and the other is Porter Bay where we stayed last night.

I just reviewed my pictures from this summer and I have none of fogfalls. I'll try harder to capture one this month.

Today we return to Burlington. We'll reprovision, and try to return the kayaks to Jenny. Tomorrow we head for Chazy Landing to visit Libby's cousin Jane.