I drove to the four corners region and Monument Valley ahead of a predicted snow storm, hoping to capture some rare images of snow in the Valley, and in the nearby red rock country. I camped in Valley of the Gods, which is about 1/2 hour to the north, and nearly 2000 feet lower, meaning, warmer! I have tried to make this trip before, once leaving too late and getting stuck in snow in Cuba, NM.
But, this time I made it. the first day was fairly uneventful...a few clouds rolling in, a few interesting tourists to surreptitiously photograph.
That night brought snow to the entire region. I woke up to find 3 inches of snow blanketing my camper and all of Valley of the Gods. Driving unplowed roads south to Monument Valley, I saw that the snow was deepening. Visibility was less than 1/4 mile.
Monument Valley had even more snow; the drive down into the valley was, to say the least, exhilarating.
The storm began to clear by late morning, and the sun quickly began to melt the snow, creating patterns with the contours of the red earth and the ripples of snow.
Back on the rim of the valley, I drove over to the primitive campground. There was parked a lone station wagon. Another photographer had actually camped there overnight. Brr!
He was disappointed; the storm had cleared too late, and the light wasn't right for him. He had apparently driven from Southern California to follow the storm, and had been through 2 feet of snow near Flagstaff. He would hurry back towards Grand Canyon, hoping to find better images there.
I shot this last image about 100 feet away from where he had been camped.
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