Today was a painful day in a couple of areas. First of all, I was exhausted and very sore from yesterday's hike. I had been very intent on finding all the formations we didn't find last year in the northern section of Bisti. That meant hiking up and down canyons looking for the formations. I did a lot more climbing around the hills in the side canyons than I should have on a trip's first hike. It always takes a couple of days to get acclimated and get back in shape. Today, I paid for yesterday's hike.
Today was also the best day to shoot moonrise at sunset. It's always one of the most carefully-planned days of our trips. We try to be in a great place to shoot moonrise at sunset and then moonset at sunrise four days later. I didn't have the energy today for another six-mile hike; even to shoot moonrise at sunset. Instead, we settled for an afternoon trip to Dairy Queen and then the grocery store.
While I was out grilling the salmon for dinner, a gorgeous moon in a bluish pink sky reminded me of the lost photo opportunity today. Although the full moon is technically tomorrow at 3:05 p.m., the harvest supermoon looked huge as it arced across the sky in Farmington. Seeing moonrise over buildings and light poles isn't nearly the same as over the Bisti Badlands. We'll have to try to do better in October.
Tonight, the calls of the Canadian geese flying overhead announced the official arrival of fall. We heard several groups fly over during the evening. Growing up in the Midwest, watching the "V" shaped formations of geese flying south was a sure sign that the first hard frost was coming soon and that farmers would soon be out picking corn.
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