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An Afternoon at The Monument

Sunday, January 7, 2018

If you saw this post over on my mircoBLOG, you’ll know that my weekend didn’t go quite as planned. Since I came home early on Saturday night I decided to sleep in late on Sunday morning and had no plans to do anything for the rest of the day. However, in the early afternoon I noticed that a winter storm was going to be breaking up over the Grand Valley, so I headed over to the Colorado National Monument to see if I could take some photos. I was hoping there would be some cool atmospherics like during this visit to The Monument (I can’t believe that was almost five years ago!), but that would not happen this time.

As I first drove up into the Colorado National Monument from the West Entrance on Rim Rock Drive, much of the upper portion of the road was still in the clouds.

Into The Clouds

There was also a fresh coat of snow on the landscape.

Canyon Clouds

As I neared the Ute Canyon Overlook I finally started seeing some light shining through small breaks in the clouds.

Thinning Clouds

I turned around at the Red Canyon Overlook and returned to the west side of the park. I made a quick stop at the High Point of Rim Rock Drive when I saw a little bit of blue sky.

Rim Rock Drive High Point

Still no view of upper Ute Canyon from the Fallen Rock Overlook.

Fallen Rock Viewpoint

I stopped at Artist’s Point for a view over the Coke Ovens.

Framed Coke Ovens

When I reached the Coke Ovens Overlook the sun was finally starting to come out and I could see the Grand Mesa in the distance.

Monument Canyon Light

The light was looking nice and the clouds were disappearing quickly when I reached the Monument Canyon Overlook.

Monument Canyon Monoliths

Monument Canyon Panorama

I made a quick stop at Grand View Point, but didn’t stick around too ling since I’ve taken plenty of nice photos from this overlook.

A Grand View

The classic view of Independence Monument was looking good when I arrived.

Independence Monument

Independence Monument View

Backlit clouds in upper Wedding Canyon.

Foggy Canyon

Before leaving the park and heading back home I made one last stop at Pothole Point to watch the last of the clouds disappear.

Clearing Clouds at Pothole Point

I’ll leave you with on last panoramic image from the Independence Monument Overlook.

Independence Monument Panorama

>> An Afternoon at The Monument Photo Gallery

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