Sunsets!

Sunsets have always attracted me. Some people are totally oblivious to the beauty that’s presented in Technicolor on the biggest screen in the world, but it gives me such a rush; partly because there’s such a limited time to photograph it, and partly because I’m gasping with rapture because of the beauty before me. Not very many sunrises though (because I’m basically lazy in my warm bed and don’t want to get out). Thank God for the opportunity.

I was exploring the Volcanic Tablelands and had traveled over many miles of washboard dirt roads and ended up behind Lake Crowley – part of the Long Valley Caldera. The sun was beginning to set when I noticed a little dirt road going right down to the lake. I drove down as far as I dared (there were BIG spin marks where someone nearly got stuck). As with many of the lakes in the area, silica, travertine and clay prevent anyone without boots or wings getting close to the water, as you sink in to your ankles and above. I waited to see if there was going to be a show. I was rewarded.

This is Red Mountain to the south. Doesn’t it look like a volcanic cloud coming out of the top?

These photos are almost all Lenticular Clouds (Click on the blue words for an explanation of Lenticular Clouds.)

Mammoth Mountain and the Minerets (the spiky peaks to the right of Mammoth) and wee little ducks in the foreground.

Coming through the pass in the Inyo/White range.

This one-lane pass is so steep I lose my Sirius satellite radio transmission!