"Tree Hail"

Overnight fog had frozen on the top layer of the trees on the final approach ridge to Emory Peak's summit. As the morning sun hit the trees, it melted the ice, which fell in fragments about 1 cm long and a little skinnier than a pencil. Of course I've seen snow fall off trees, but never these little ice bullets. You can see the frozen frost on the tree here, and a pile of the things underneath the tree on the trail. That's about as wet as it gets in the Chihuahuan Desert. January 2010.