…so why not head off to my favorite local sunrise photo op spot: Sugarloaf Mountain (8,917′). [NOTE: Use the SEARCH box on my site to find the myriad other Sugarloaf blog entries and images from every season of the year.]
It would certainly be a refreshing way to escape the constant toxic rain of post-election nuclear fallout still streaming down on to our aching craniums from the airwaves above.
The full super-Moon had risen dramatically over the plains last night, so it prompted me to ponder how it might set this morning behind the Continental Divide. I was skeptical though, as The Photographer’s Ephemeris indicated that Ms. Luna would be setting at 6:35a.m., ten minutes before sunrise. This would mean the landscape would still be quite dark while the Moon was still very bright–and very low in the sky, maybe even behind the clouds or mountains.
Sure enough, this was my view of the Divide as I gained Sugarloaf Mountain’s summit at around 6:00a.m. That bright glow at the top right, behind the thick clouds, was the only evidence of Sister Moon:
Moonlight Over Indian Peaks, #1. From Sugarloaf Mountain, Colorado, 2016
For one brief instant, though, a silver-white sliver of the Moon lit up a very small space between the low clouds and the mountains. There just happened to also be a small cumulus cloud just above that slit that makes it look even more odd. The moment only lasted thirty seconds or so. On the far left are the South/North Arapaho Peaks and the Arapaho Glacier:
Moonset Over the Indian Peaks Wilderness. From Sugarloaf Mountain, Colorado, 2016
It is hard to ignore this wonderful old stumpish log when building a landscape composition atop Sugarloaf Mountain. Across the far horizon, moving left to right, you have the Starr Peak-Thorodin Mountain-Tremont Mountain group (10,511′), then the Mt. Evans massif in the center (14,264′), and James Peak (13,294′) just catching the sun on the right:
Dawn Over Sugarloaf, Late Fall, #2. Sugarloaf Mountain, Colorado, 2016
A closer view of James Peak. To the right, it looks like they are starting to pile up some artificial snow on the slopes of the Eldora Ski Area. The dry, warm autumn is certainly not giving them any quarter:
James Peak at Sunrise. From Sugarloaf Mountain, Colorado, 2016
Oh, how I love it when there are interesting clouds in the sky at sunrise! In this case a very low, hovering, glowing, glowering, lenticular:
Mt. Evans at Sunrise. From Sugarloaf Mountain, Colorado, 2016
Yes, Sugarloaf Mountain is one yuuuge pile o’ scree. Camp Counselor Carl used to have his camp kids run 100-yard dash races across that stuff! But, it was the proud pine tree that pulled on my eyeball:
Proud Pine at Sunrise. Sugarloaf Mountain Trail, Colorado, 2016
And, here is a nice monochrome view for the B&W fans out there. From left to right: Old Baldy (13,038′), South Arapaho Peak (13,397′), North Arapaho Peak (13,501′), Deshawa (12,820′), Arikaree Peak(13,150′), Kiowa Peak (13,276′), and a bit of Apache Peak (13,441′) on the far right:
Heart of the Indian Peaks Wilderness. From Sugarloaf Mountain, Colorado, 2016
Finally, here is the title video for the day:
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