Travelogues
2015 New Mexico & Utah Trip

Sunday, October 25

Back to the Puddles

The weather forecast was for cloudy skies, but we decided to get up for sunrise anyway. When we got up, Sirius was shining brightly in the southeast, and there were no clouds in sight. Of course, it was nearly pitch black, so it would have been difficult to see any clouds anyway. It was 44 degrees, exactly the same as yesterday. But today we dressed in lighter-weight clothes because we knew how quickly it would warm up after sunrise.

We parked in "our spot," and started watching for any signs of the pre-sunrise light show we saw yesterday. Today, we made sure we were out in the wash before the clouds over the La Sal Mountains lit up. The great light only lasted about 10 minutes, but it was dramatic.

Courthouse Wash Sunrise

The sunrise teased us much like it did yesterday. Sunrise looked promising, but clouds over the La Sals prevented the sun from lighting up the Courthouse Towers area. From time-to-time, the sun found a thinner layer of clouds and lit the area, but we never had any golden light on the scene. We still enjoyed the search for new compositions, but we still didn't get the lighting we wanted.

Courthouse Towers Courthouse Wash Courthouse Towers Courthouse Wash Area

Just as we were leaving, I looked around to see the sky filled with puff-ball clouds and the silhouette of the sandstone formation near the La Sal Mountain Overlook. The reflections of the clouds in one of the potholes was very dramatic.

Courthouse Wash

After a quick stop at the Visitor Center where the Ranger provided us with more information on closed roads, we returned to camp. After starting the image downloads, we went back to bed. We're not used to getting up for sunrise two days in-a-row.

By the time we got up again, clouds covered the sky; just as predicted. There would be no more photography today.