3/30/18: White Rim Lap, w/full moon

This trip was planned for Spring Break in order to give a few friends the opportunity to ride the White Rim supported, since I was there anyway shooting for a week. I started at Shafer Campground (nearest Moab), and worked my way across, scouting locations and capturing a few daylight landscapes. Met up with the initial portion of the group at Airport, and then Reade and his future off-campus roommate joined us at Hardscrabble. We continued on to Taylor Canyon, spending one ‘breezy’ evening together (term used lightly, we were all huddled low in the sunshade trying not to freeze). Once they left, Tate and Jesse joined me for a night. As scattered mid-level clouds started to roll in once the moon rose, we were treated to a show quite unlike anything I’ve ever seen; the altocumulus clouds rapidly streamed across the sky toward Moses & Zeus, intermittently varying in altitude, giving the appearance of the sky ‘breathing’, as Jupiter rose in the east.

Sunset over Monument Basin, White Rim
Sunset over Monument Basin, White Rim, Canyonlands N.P., UT

 

Shafer Canyon dawn
Shafer Canyon dawn, Canyonlands N.P., UT. [TerraLapse composite image]
Shafer Canyon rocks
Shafer Canyon rocks at sunrise

 

Candlestick Tower from Soda Springs Basin
Candlestick Tower from Soda Springs Basin, Canyonlands N.P., UT

 

Mtn bikers on Hardscrabble
Reade and Andrew ride their mountain bikes up the north side of Hardscrabble Hill, Canyonlands N.P., UT

 

TerraLapse, Taylor Canyon
Mid-day TerraLapse test capture, Taylor Canyon, Canyonlands N.P., UT. Typically noon to 2PM is the worst light to shoot in, so I wanted to see just how ‘good’ of an image I could get considering the harsh, hard-light conditions. 

 

Reade trackstanding in Taylor Canyon
Reade trackstanding in Taylor Canyon, Zeus watching.

 

Buck Canyon Overlook of White Rim, UT
Buck Canyon Overlook, Canyonlands N.P., UT, White Rim Trail highlighted in green

 

Moonlit clouds over Moses & Zeus
Moonlit clouds over Moses & Zeus, Taylor Canyon, Canyonlands National Park, UT [note lights of poacher backpackers beneath Moses & Zeus]
Moonlit hike below Moses & Zeus
Jesse, Tate and Liam hike below Moses & Zeus, Taylor Canyon, Canyonlands N.P., UT

 

Moon over Moses & Zeu
Moon over Moses & Zeus, Taylor Canyon, Canyonlands N.P., UT

 

The sky is alive
Time-lapse of sky ‘breathing’ over Taylor Canyon, Canyonlands N.P., UT

 

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