New Mexico’s skies have been unusually dramatic recently. Our summer monsoon season didn’t quite get off the ground this year, but lately it seems as if Mother Nature has all of a sudden realized, “Oh my goodness — I’d better get on it before summer comes to an end.”
A friend and I went up to Valles Caldera a couple of weeks ago.1 We wandered along the East Fork for a while, and headed back to the car when dark clouds began to appear. We drove over to the north side of Valle Grande where I put my camera on a tripod and captured some video … all while we ate lunch and watched the show. The lightning strike above is a single frame from the resulting video.
A few days later, I glanced out my patio door late in the afternoon. The light was so spectacular that I immediately grabbed a camera and ran outside, just in time to see a gorgeous double rainbow.2 It was raining and the colors really were this vivid — I didn’t enhance them in any way.
Last week I convinced another friend to hike with me, high in the Sandias, in the late afternoon. The forecast said there was a 0% chance of rain so it seemed to be a good bet. Our hike led us to the upper tram terminal where we watched a thunderstorm move in, before deciding to hustle back to the car.
That was the least of the high-mountain drama though; before the storm, we saw a young bear bumble down the hillside right onto the trail in front of us. It looked straight at us (so cute!), then headed back up the hill. I fumbled with my camera but missed the shot entirely (it was on the trail for only about five seconds). We never even considered turning around,3 just walked very slowly past where we’d seen it, eyes wide open for the bear or its mama. My friend and I later agreed that it had been a truly top-notch hike.
Back to Valles Caldera … it was raining so hard while I took the shot of the storm in Valle Grande above that I had to keep my camera, including the lens, inside the car. I generally have an exceptionally judgmental attitude about photographers who won’t get out of the car for their shots, but sometimes it’s the only possibility.4
Valles Caldera is composed of several wide, grassy valles; the photo above shows a small part of Valle San Antonio as another storm moved in. I loved the contrast between the calm, sunny day on one side of the scene and the glowering, threatening storm on the other.
The Wikipedia article is far more informative than the NPS website. I lived through and was aware of most of VC’s recent history so I can vouch for Wikipedia’s accuracy. Well, except for the fact that the “town” movie set shown at the bottom of that page is no longer standing.
I would have preferred a nice wide shot over the foothills but as it was, I had to shoot high to avoid buildings, trees, cars, and all the other folks who came out to gawk at that amazing rainbow.
I didn’t even realize that we hadn’t considered going back until several days later. I’m not sure what that says about our judgment … or lack thereof.
My lens was covered with raindrops after just a couple of shots despite my best efforts to protect it.
Wow!!!
Ron & I heading up to Jemez on weds for a couple nites, your photos are timely & fantastic, as always!