Moab Area Rock Art XV
Lunar Eclipse, Sand Flats & Mill Creek
Saturday, December 10, 2011
I left my house early on Saturday morning so I could photograph the lunar eclipse just before the sunrise. I didn’t plan on going to any specific location, so I figured that I would stop somewhere between Grand Junction and Moab, since I was headed back to Moab again to search for rock art with Marty. As I drove west on I-70 I was able to watch the eclipse as the earths shadow grew larger on the full moon. When I reached the Yellow Cat exit I decided to get off the highway and take a side road to find a place to take some photos. It was pretty cold out this morning and my hands were freezing. I tried to keep my gloves on as much as possible, but kept having to remove them to change the settings on my camera.
From the Yellow Cat area I was able to get this shot of the almost fully eclipsed moon over the Book Cliffs. I tried to get a photo when it was closer to the Book Cliffs, but the haze in the atmosphere made the moon pretty much completely disappear shortly after I took this photo.
Eclipse Over the Book Cliffs by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
After packing up my tripod and warming my hands up in the Jeep I turned around to head back to the interstate and continue my drive to Moab. Just before the sun was up I took this photo of the two-track I was on as the sky turned pink.
Morning Two-Track by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
Driving back to I-70 on the Yellow Cat Road with the La Sal Mountains in the background.
Yellowcat by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr