Moonrise from Hopi Point

My February/March trip to the Grand Canyon had already yielded one image I liked, a sunrise panorama from Horseshoe Mesa. Now, after completing that three-day backpacking trip, I had one night on the south rim before heading to my next destination, the Wave in Coyote Buttes. After checking into the Maswik Lodge, I hiked west along the rim trail, checking out the many scenic overlooks along the way, and ended up again at Hopi Point. The fenced overlook was already crowded with photographers and sightseers eager to watch the impending sunset. I dislike shooting in crowds, and I hate being hemmed in by fences that prevent me from getting the composition that I want. I set up 100 yards away, at the edge of a 200-foot cliff, at a place with no guardrail, fully mindful that a careless step would be fatal. My years of experience as a rock-climber, ice-climber, and mountaineer has numbed my instinctive fear of heights—too much so, according to Cora, my wife.

The late afternoon light was glorious, with the sun dancing in and out of the clouds, spotlighting the magnificent buttes and side canyons filling the abyss below. Wispy mare’s tail cirrus clouds floated across the sky in entrancing and ever-changing patterns. Sunset arrived, and a few clouds lit up pinkish-gray, then went dark. The light show seemed to be over, and I began wondering how late the shuttle bus was running, since I was about 2 ½ miles from my hotel and didn’t want to arrive there after the cafeteria had stopped serving for the night. Then I noticed a tiny cloud, way out of my frame to the right, that was radiating red like a cosmic stop light. There had to be a hole in the clouds somewhere out of sight to the west, and the sun had to be sinking into that hole. Could more clouds light up, perhaps even the clouds over the canyon? Despite the lure of a hamburger, fries, and a cold beer, I knew I had to stay and see what happened.

The color of a cloud within my frame began to shift from gray to pink. Another cloud lit up, then another. The colors rapidly intensified. Soon the whole sky seemed to be filled with magenta clouds. The rising full moon floated in the sky high over Wotans Throne and Vishnu Temple. The vibrant clouds bounced warm light down into the now-shadowed canyon and painted every cliff, ridge, and tower with soft pink highlights. All too soon the clouds faded. I dashed for the shuttle bus, astounded at my good luck. My rule of thumb has always been that it takes 10 days in the field to yield one image worthy of offering for sale as a print. This trip, just five days old, had granted me two, and I hadn’t even reached the halfway point.