Continuing with the theme from my previous blog post, the second day of traveling found me into Colorado on my way to Moab, Utah. After driving for about 12 hours into the early morning, I spent a cold night in the Rockies sleeping in my car. I would have kept driving, but was tired and the weather was taking a turn for the worse, as snow began to fall creating slippery conditions on the interstate. After a few short hours of cold sleep, the bright sunshine illuminated a new day. That morning in Colorado did not disappoint, with a beautiful sunrise and a little fresh powder coating the landscape.

The scenery in the mountains was amazing, as usual, so I had to make a few stops along the way to snap some shots.

It was a cold morning, especially considering that I had come from temperatures at home in the 70s. The fingers definitely got a little chilled working the camera, but it was nice to stretch the legs and soak up some of the sunshine.

Finally arrived in Moab in the early afternoon on Saturday, got checked in to the hotel that would serve as home base for a few days, and relaxed a little. The word on the news was that our government was facing a possible shutdown that would close all the national parks. Therefore, I decided that I better use my time wisely and went out to Arches National Park for the late afternoon and sunset.

My plan was to go for the iconic sunset shot of Delicate Arch. This requires about a 2.5-mile hike from the parking lot. There were apparently a few other people with the same idea, since the parking lot was full and there were a steady stream of people heading up the trail when I arrived.

The photo above was taken shortly after I arrived at the arch viewpoint. As you can see, there was quite a crowd already, and we still had at least an hour before sunset. This photo gives you some idea of the grand scale of this place, as you can barely see a couple of people just to the left of the arch in the distance. After a quick walk around the area, I decided to grab a spot to set up the tripod before it became even more crowded. At the peak, there were surely well over 100 people perched on the rocks waiting for sunset. The sky didn't provide the greatest backdrop for the photo of the arch, but it was still a beautiful view and a wonderful experience.

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Colorado to Moab - Photography Workshop, Day 2