Click on the Vermilion Cliffs Stormy Sunrise image to enlarge

Vermilion Cliffs Stormy Sunrise

Vermilion Cliffs are located near Glen Canyon National Recreation area in Northern Arizona.

The towering cliffs with layers of colorful rock provide an excellent composition for a morning of sunrise photography when camped nearby at the Lees Ferry campground.  The colorful sandstone of the Vermilion Cliffs lights up into a colorful pattern when the sun hits it with the warm light of the sun rising from the east.

The cliffs sat astride an important route from Utah to Arizona used by settlers during the 19th Century. The area was thoroughly explored by the Mormon pioneer and missionary Jacob Hamblin who started a ranch at the base of the cliffs in House Rock Valley. Modern U.S. Highway 89A basically follows the old wagon route past the cliffs through House Rock Valley and up the Kaibab Plateau to Jacob Lake.

Much of the area is an isolated plateau, flat and sandy, with just a few scattered ranches.

The isolation of the area has allowed for the introduction of the California Condor into the area to provide for an attempt to bring the species back from near extinction.  Most times of the year the Condors can be spotted in the area soaring in the winds around the walls of the cliffs.

On this particular morning the desert was in the midst of a Spring storm.  I awoke early in hoping to have the rising sun hit the cliffs and bathe them with light of the early sun.  I used HDR photography to capture the wide variations of the scene.  The storm provided a backdrop of clouds as the sun rose and bathed the cliffs for just a few seconds with the warm light of alpenglow.  It didn’t last long but just long enough to provide a Vermilion Cliffs Stormy Sunrise.