Triumph and vindication...

 

Oh, well, let's not go overboard. I did get up at 2:30 Tuesday morning and stepped out of my motel room. The sky was full of stars!  Game on! I loaded the car and took the hour drive down to Maroon Bells (you have to be there by 5:20 or 5:30 or the close parking lot is full).

By 6:00 or so, the first faint blushes of sunlight touched Maroon Peak. I admit that Maroon Bells is a one-trick pony, but it is a helluva trick! Best of all, the two stormy days had put new snow on the peak!



Beautiful, subtle colors! Unfortunately for me, I hardly noticed because after an hour  in this deep freeze I was freezing to death. Heavy gloves, wool short, muffler and heavy jacket simply didn't work as the three and a half hours ticked by. B-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-...

Ah, but the colors got better by the minute as the Sun slowly rose.

About now I was shaking, and couldn't use  my hands. The next time somebody says 'global warming' to me I'm going to pop them. Hmm. Maybe I'll just suggest they go to Maroon Bells at Dawn in September...

Then the sunlight got to my spot, and within a few minutes I had to peel off all the cold-weather gear. It was really balmy, especially when the wind stopped. After a half hour I even regained the use of my hands!

I have the complete sunrise sequence, which will eventually go up on YouTube and my web site. I could only stay there until 10:00 A.M, because I had a nine-hour drive back to Vegas.

Meanwhile, this gives you an idea of why this is the most photographed site in Colorado.

Desperately seeking Sun, not finding any...

I came here at precisely the same time last year, and wore polo shirts and shorts.

I therefore have definitive evidence for the IPCC that the world is cooling!

Since there were no pictures worth taking, I went exploring after I saw about 70 private jets on the local airport. Sure enough, all along the side roads were secluded private lakes and looooooong driveways, some with huge but rather hidden  mansions.

Unfortunately, the conditions on the roads were the kind you find on a polar expedition. So much for photos at Dawn or any other time...

I intended to go up over Independence Pass  http://www.divexprt.com/HDRphotography/2012Colorado/2IndependencePass/IndependencePass.html   , but turned back as I thought about what road conditions would be at 10,000 feet. The wisdom of age...

Wait! Isn't it still September?

One more try for Maroon Bells at dawn. Then it is ten hours from there to Vegas.  Hmmm. wonder if I could hitch a ride on one of those jets...

Isn't it great being a photographer?...

When I woke up this morning, the skies were clear in Vegas. Since I had 600 miles to go today, the Colorado weather forecast (Sunny, 0% chance of rain) was welcome.

Everything went well for about 350 miles. Then I went under the biggest, blackest cloud I've seen in twenty years (I do remember a famous one that almost sank us out in the Coral Sea). Twenty miles later, I took a picture back at it:

That cloud was the first of two in Utah and a third in Colorado. All had giant lightning bolts flying around, machine-gun-like hailstones, and sound that made your ears ache.

From sunshine to this in a couple of minutes:

Gee, I wonder if it will be nice and clear, with 0% chance of rain again at Dawn tomorrow?