High Plains Drifter

I was awaken abruptly by an ear-piercing fire alarm at the Days Inn motel here in Moab at freakin’ 4 o’clock this morning.  It was 45 minutes prior to when I set my alarm… needless to say, I wasn’t happy… and I doubt the rest of the guests were either.  At any rate, it was a crystal-clear morning — great for shooting Mesa Arch again.  It was a success, with at least a half dozen other photographers there waiting for the early sunlight to hit the underbelly of Mesa Arch… one of the classic (and extremely popular) photographic scenes.  Two reasons I came back to shoot this scene 1) no obstruction from cirrus clouds like last year when I visited and 2) I have the Nikon D3 with 14mm (true 14mm length) ultra-wide angle this time for more composition flexibility.  After this, I came back to the motel to sleep a little bit more.  Around 12:30, I grabbed lunch and set back out to Canyonlands.  I took in a short 2-mile hike to the Upheaval Dome Overlook to get a good glimpse and photograph what I hiked all the way around yesterday.  This is a very interesting geologic feature with some debate as to whether it is the result of an meteorite impact or a natural development of salt dome over millions of years given the vast deposits of salt in this region below all the layers of sediment/rock.  Afterwards, I drove over to the White Rim Trailhead, where a very easy 1.5 mile round-trip takes you to the edge of one of the arms of "Island in the Sky" — a vast, scenic overlook.  I shot sunset here for the final shoot of the day.  Tomorrow, I plan to do sunrise back at Arches — to photograph North and South Windows in sunrise light as well as Landscape Arch an hour or two after sunrise.  That will be it for Utah, as I plan to begin driving back east around midday.  I will be heading to Alamosa tomorrow afternoon — with plans on spending Saturday in/around Great Sand Dunes N.P.