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.

See more of my photography on my website at: www.NaturalMoment.com

© Copyright 2018 Stephen J. Krieg

Moonrise, Moonset, and Sleeping Ute Mountain

Totten Reservoir, Mesa Verde, and Sleeping Ute Mountain.

It was Full Moon time, that time of the month to once again try for great landscape photos featuring the moonrise.

In June, sunset occurs late, just after 8:30 PM, which is also about the time that the Full Moon rises in the east. So I had some time to kill.

I drove to Totten Reservoir just east of Cortez, in part because the late afternoon haze was making Sleeping Ute Mountain stand out on the southwestern skyline. Mostly clear blue skies, a nice breeze, the warming light of the lowering sun.

Sleeping Ute Mountain from Totten Reservoir.

Sleeping Ute Mountain is a small but prominent mountain range in southwest Colorado. It lies wholly within the Ute Mountain Indian Reservation, meaning it's off limits to non-tribal members except by certain advance tours with a guide.

Why is it called Sleeping Ute? To the right is the warrior's head, with his headdress flowing out. (He seems to have no nose, who knows?). His arms are folded across his chest, forming Ute Peak on the map. To the far left his knees are visible, and even the tips of his toes. It is said that Sleeping Ute will awaken when his tribe needs him, so take heed!

But to the east is the North Rim of Mesa Verde, the dazzling cliffs that form the backdrop to the town of Cortez. It was there that the moonrise would appear over. Earlier in the afternoon I had alerted some visitors going into the park to watch for it. City dwellers are unaware of such things, and they delight in being given such tips to enjoy with their families.

Moonrise over the North Rim of Mesa Verde, from Cortez.

The sun went down and the shadows of Mesa Verde as seen from my vantage point near the southern edge of Cortez deepened. It was getting too dark for my favored kind of moonrise landscape photos.

Full Moon after it got too dark for good landscape shots.

But about 9 PM the Full Moon (actually a bit past 100% illumination, but who's counting) started to peek over the rim of the Mesa. Shots made a few minutes later were too wildly contrasty to satisfy me. Who needs yet another shot of the gorgeous moon in a black sky? Mesmerizing as it is.

In the morning, though, the rest of the Full Moon event is moonset at dawn. So I was back out at the lake for more. I had slept in, and had to scramble out there to see what was available. I was not disappointed.

Moonset at dawn, Totten Lake.

Photo Location: Totten Reservoir State Wildlife Area, Montezuma County, southwest Colorado.

See more of my photography at www.NaturalMoment.com.

© Copyright 2017 Stephen J. Krieg

Moonset Over the Abajos

Moonset at sunrise, near Monticello, Utah.

I had been intending to take off in the other direction, until I exited my front door and saw the just past full moon setting over the Abajo Mountains. Hmm. Did I have time to do something about it? I did.

So I drove out to Loyds Lake on the edge of town. A favored vantage point. I quickly parked, grabbed my camera bag and tripod, and all but trotted down the gravel path. Because I could see there was no time to waste.

Loyds Lake at sunrise, with the moon setting over the Abajos.

 Whenever the moon is rising above the horizon, or setting in the other direction, it's amazing to see how quickly our Earth rotates compared to how we think of it (if at all) while we are caught up in the day. The frame of reference that the horizon brings is telling.

The moon was creeping down toward the still snowy Abajo Mountains west of town. The sun was rising as well, giving the landscape a warming glow while the moon was cool and blue. After all, it was still way out there in space.

Photo location: Monticello, southeast Utah.

© Copyright 2017 Stephen J. Krieg

Moon Leaving, Sun Arriving, Natural Bridges

Moonset and Earth's Shadow at Dawn.

I got skunked this month as far as my monthly moonrise shots of the Full Moon. That's why I try to be ready each month, because you only get twelve a year, and some of them will be snuffed out by unfavorable weather. Or you need to be doing something else. That sort of thing.

The evening of the December Full Moon had too many clouds on the eastern horizon where I was in southeast Utah's high desert canyon country. By the time the moon appeared through the thin clouds it was hazy, wan. Blah.

My backup plan for moon landscapes is the morning after Full Moon: moonset. Most photographers overlook that time, when being out at dawn allows you to position the setting moon in a landscape facing west instead of east. 

I was at Natural Bridges National Monument. Being December, I had the Bridge View loop drive to myself that early in the day. Winding along the rim of White Canyon, I stopped for a look down at Sipapu Bridge. The stone bridge itself was too dark for a good photo that early, but I noticed the small potholes in the sandstone bedrock that had water still in them from the last rain. I made a composition with one reflecting the moon. 

Moon reflection in sandstone pothole at dawn.

Then further along the loop drive, I liked how the dawn colors were shaping up in advance of sunrise. The Earth's shadow and the blue to pink gradations of the Venus Belt made for another moonset shot. 

Finally I was at Owachomo Bridge, the oldest of the three stream carved bridges in the park. I was hoping to find some angle to get the bridge and the moon together in a shot. Owachomo is the best candidate for that, because it's much more out in the open than the other two bridges, Sipapu and Kachina. 

Moon setting over Red House Cliffs.

 But I couldn't find the angle necessary. So I enjoyed being down underneath the bridge once again ("Owachomo" is Navajo for "under the horse's belly"). If it was a horse's belly, it was one long, skinny horse. Majestic in its own way. A slender bridge compared to the other two, this one is the oldest, the most eroded and so the thinnest. It will fall the soonest. Whenever that might be.

But not this morning. I continued down slope from the bridge, to the stone lip along the creek still slowly carving Armstrong Canyon. 

From down there I could not yet see the sunrise itself. But it was lighting up the south side of Owachomo's sandstone span. With clear blue sky behind. Nice, very nice. 

Owachomo Bridge at Sunrise, December.

Photo location: Natural Bridges National Monument, San Juan County, southeast Utah. Click on any photo to enjoy a much larger version.

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© 2014 Stephen J. Kriewg