Tag: Desert Watch Tower

Grand Canyon Clouds, Fog, and a Moonrise

I have traveled up to the South Rim of Grand Canyon several times in the past few weeks to get interesting weather and cloud photographs.

Fog begins to spill over the rim of Grand Canyon.
Fog begins to spill over the rim of Grand Canyon.

Two weeks ago, we spent two nights at the South Rim waiting for a winter storm to arrive and drop some snow on the higher elevations of the canyon. The storm went too far south and Grand Canyon got nothing but some clouds and a bit of fog. Flagstaff, on the other hand, got about 8″ on snow—which we had to clear from our driveway when we returned.

A thin layer of fog on the South Rim of Grand Canyon.
A thin layer of fog on the South Rim of Grand Canyon.
A zoomed-in view of the fog on the canyon rim.
A zoomed-in view of the fog on the canyon rim.
As the sun rose higher it illuminated the canyon below Hopi Point.
As the sun rose higher it illuminated the canyon below Hopi Point.

The other goal on that trip was to catch the rising nearly-full moon as it climbed above Cape Royal on the North Rim. That worked out well as the clouds had dissipated by late afternoon. This image was shot as a 12-frame panorama (6 across, 2 rows) resulting in an image of ~200 megapixels. There is a lot of detail in the full-resolution image!

Moonrise above Cape Royal, Grand Canyon National Park.
Moonrise above Cape Royal, Grand Canyon National Park.

As the sun fell lower in the sky, shadows raced across the canyon bottom while some of the higher towers and buttes remained in the sun—resulting in some interesting lighting and abstract patterns.

Late afternoon sun in Grand Canyon.
Late afternoon sun in Grand Canyon.
Light and shadow create abstract forms on Cape Royal.
Light and shadow create abstract forms on Cape Royal.

Our final morning had some wave clouds forming downwind of the Kaibab Plateau and being lit by the rising sun.

Wave clouds illuminated by the rising sun.
Wave clouds illuminated by the rising sun.

A few days ago we had a widespread rain event—even though rainfall amounts were not particularly large. Most importantly, measurable rain fell in Winslow. This meant that there was a possibility of fog forming in the Little Colorado River (LCR) Valley and drifting into the eastern reaches of Grand Canyon. I arrived at Lipan Point on the South Rim before sunrise and could see some low-lying fog in the LCR well east of the canyon. As the sun rose and the land began to warm, the fog began to lift and move towards the canyon. Eventually, it reached the Palisades north and east of Desert View Overlook. And, then, it began to spill over the sides evaporating only a short distance below the rim.

A shallow fog layer lies to the east of Grand Canyon at sunrise.
A shallow fog layer lies to the east of Grand Canyon at sunrise.
Fog spills over the rim into Grand Canyon.
Fog spills over the rim into Grand Canyon.

The fog soon swept across Desert View Overlook. I headed over to Desert View to shoot photos of Desert View Watchtower in the fog—but the fog was so thick I had to get very close to even see it.

Fog swirls around Desert Watchtower.
Fog swirls around Desert Watchtower.
And---for just a moment---there was great color in the sky behind Desert Watchtower.
And—for just a moment—there was great color in the sky behind Desert Watchtower.

I went back to Grand Canyon again the next morning but there were clouds along with some drizzle and light rain. However, there was a 2–3 minute period in which some clouds had a bit of sunlight color. Yes—that’s a pretty long round-trip drive for 2–3 minutes of good photography. Nobody ever said it was easy…