Goodbye Cortez: Moonset Over Sleeping Ute

Moonset and Sleeping Ute Mountain from upper McElmo Canyon.

Unbelievably I was moving out of Cortez, Colorado after only a year there. Things change. Not only a new job but a transfer to another portion of the western slope of the state. Another area to explore intimately.

Full Moon moonrise photography had been a washout for April. Clouds. The springtime moisture was appreciated, scant though it was.

The other side of moonrise is of course moonset. When you can watch it going down toward the western horizon while dawn approaches.

Thus I awoke in my home on the last morning there and realized that the previous night's clouds were gone, off to the east. That was the moon shining in my bedroom window, and it was about to get light.

I rolled out of bed and dressed like a clumsy fool. No time to waste. No coffee, breakfast, nothing. Just get in the car and get to a decent viewpoint. And quickly.

Driving south of Cortez toward Sleeping Ute Mountain, I turned down the canyon road. It was the very upper reach of McElmo Canyon, no time to search around much.

I pulled over at an opportune spot and made this photograph.

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© Copyright 2018 Stephen J. Krieg