Badlands
March 31: Up at 5am. Sunrise failed to materialize. Still overcast and flat. 45 degrees today. Snow disappearing.
     ...Right after dinner the sun broke out of the clouds, and lit up the Wall to the east. Backed by a thin veil of dark clouds, the Wall glowed yellow, and revealed a wonderful soft texture. As the golden light moved slowly down the pinnacles, a pinkish glow moved up the veil above the Wall, first in the east, then gradually moving west towards the far horizon. I followed the color around the sky as it silhouetted pinnacle after pinnacle, the silence broken by a huge rock fall somewhere west of the pass. The pinnacles receded into the fading blue light until darkness consumed them......     Walking back from the library in the dark, I looked up to see a waning crescent moon slowly setting through a thin sheen of high cirrus in the west. Above me, the stars shone brilliantly, looking close enough to touch. I could just see the outline of the Wall. The breeze is cool, but the sting of winter is gone...

April 1
Up at 5am. Headed down Rt 44 towards Scenic as the sun came up behind me. A frosty morning turning into a beautiful day. Saw groups of mule deer alongside the road, and several owls lifting off from their fence post perches as I cruised by. Turned west on Rt 2, thinking I might try to get up on Stronghold Table, but still a lot of snow in this area - can't drive the muddy jeep roads. Turned up Rt 41 to Red Shirt Table Overlook. One of the teachers I met said it was the best view around. Took several shots. On the way back, drove the Loop Road for perhaps the last time (tomorrow I give a slide show to the park staff, and Friday is another road trip with Greg and Casey).
    ...A beautiful sunny afternoon, 55 degrees, not a cloud in the great expanse of sky. But frustrated by the inability to walk in the mud, I feel stuck in mud myself. I could get back in the car, but I'm burned out on that. I've put over 1000 miles on my car, and the main Loop Road is only about 22 miles out to the Pinnacles entrance. Back and forth, back and forth. There are endless buttes and pinnacles to shoot. The challenge becomes, how do you make a photo that is different from the 1000 shots you have already taken?