Rainbow Mittens

Tom Phillips as flute-player

I headed down to Monument Valley hoping to catch the alignment of the Mitten shadow again. The forecast was for rain, so I thought I might be able to catch some good clouds at sunset. All of the canyons in Utah had flash-flooded on the day I started out, and it's fairly difficult to find things to do in this part of Utah when all the dirt/clay roads have been saturated and become slick. On the up side, it makes the colors vibrant, reminiscent of the psilocybin paintings of the SW.

Creeping Mitten Shadow The clouds to the west kept hiding the sun. First just the West Mitten would be illuminated, then just the East one or Merrick Butte. Just watching the play of light on the land was really fun. Heavy clouds to the west had a small gap close to the horizon, so I had hopes for being able to catch the shadow of the West Mitten on the East Mitten. This was the only time the sun was able to come through the gap, but I kind of like the shadow just starting to creep up the slope to the East Mitten.

Rainbow over Monument Valley After the sun had gone below the horizon, we were treated to this huge rainbow. I rushed down to the firs switchback & grabbed my pocket camera to catch it, knowing that by the time I got my "big" camera out & set up, it would probably be gone.

Mitten Shadow

Twice a year, the shadow from the West Mitten perfectly aligns with the East Mitten.