Painted Desert

 

Post-storm drama, Echo Cliffs, Arizona

Oh my gosh, I hadn’t picked up the camera (the phone doesn’t count) in weeks.

 

My husband booked a fishing trip at Lee’s Ferry, and a girlfriend and I went along.  One day we traipsed around on the North Rim (where temperatures were so much cooler!).  The other day we had ourselves hauled 15 miles upriver from Lee’s Ferry with a couple of rented Kayaks and spent the day paddling down, looking at petroglyphs, and gawking at bighorn sheep.  We had a great time, until the rainstorm up-canyon wind was strong enough to make whitecaps and blow us backward.

 

Clearing storm over Echo Cliffs, Arizona

Back at Cliff Dweller’s Lodge after a beer, some ibuprofen, and a lot of laughs at dinner, I ran out to photograph this.  One photographic truism is that magic happens after storms.

 

Gray Mountain Public Art, Arizona

I’ve wanted to stop and gawk at this motel – turned – mural at Gray Mountain since it first appeared almost a year ago.  It’s on the Navajo Reservation on the way home.  The property has been abandoned since 2005 and the mural, part of Chip Thomas’ Painted Desert Project, was completed in November 2020.

 

Harvest moon-set, Yarnell Arizona

Hanging at Vermillion Cliffs in the light of the harvest moon inspired me to climb the hill east of Yarnell the first morning home.  I caught the full moon setting behind the town.  As or friends said, we see an awful lot of natural beauty when we travel, but where we live is pretty awesome, too.