One of my very favorite parts about our time in Arizona was watching the sunrise. On Sunday morning, we woke up just before 5am and headed out to Pinnacle Peak to watch the sun rise over the desert.
When we arrived, it was pitch dark, and we discovered that the park was still closed for a while.
The stars were bright, and we watched the dawn start to break in the east.
I loved the way the saguaro cacti were silhouetted and the bright stars (planets?) hung bright in the brightening sky.
From a deep blue to a rosier hue…
Turning around (and increasing my camera’s exposure settings, you can see Pinnacle Peak warmed by the dawn light.
For a half hour or so, we hiked up the peak.
Here’s a group photo taken by a passing photographer. By 6:15am, the trail was teaming with runners and photographers and hikers.
It seemed to me that darkness was peeled off the landscape like you slip the skin off a baked beet.
The rosy light brought out the deeply saturated colors of the cacti flowers.
Can you spot Waldo? (a.k.a. Grace and Jennifer).
I love this photo of a sprawling saguaro.
Lara is super-active-athletic woman. She wouldn’t be sitting down on the trail if I hadn’t asked her to:)
Jennifer teases the cacti.
We’re all continuously amazed by the spikes.
Cactus and sunrise. If I did HDR photography, this would have been a great candidate as the sunrise was orange and this cactus is so cool-looking!
The soft morning light is so different from the blinding, harsh mid-day light. Gotta look fast before it’s gone:)
Looking back at Pinnacle Peak as we left. That orangy-red sunrise really makes it glow.
As we walked out of the park, my friends engaged in some yoga moves:)
Love this one with the sun rising over Grace’s triangle pose.
Beautiful flowers.
And here are a few final shots of the desert sunrise. All taken by Lara.
Bye bye, desert! Here’s a photo of our vacation home just before leaving…
After packing up, we drove in to Phoenix for breakfast at Matt’s Big Breakfast. It’s the kind diner that ends up with a line around the block every weekend morning. Fortunately, we got there early enough that we only had a 40 minute wait:) I enjoyed a mushroom, sausage, and cheese omelet with home made lemonade. And I didn’t eat again until dinner:)
We headed back to the airport, and I caught a couple on-time flights from Phoenix through Dallas and then on to Washington DC, where I spent Part II of my vacation. Stay tuned…
we looked pretty good for 6am!