Sig Nordal

This past weekend was spent wandering around a few canyons with my friend Colin. Our first stop was some of the canyons around Tuba City commonly known as coal mine canyon. There are numerous outlets and two tracks that will take you to some remarkable viewpoints. We decided to take one of those tracks out to follow this ridge so we could look back towards the sunset. After wandering around a bit and getting a feel for the landscape, we grabbed our gear and headed back out to shoot the sunset. It was glorious! The sky went from gold to red and pink in a matter of minutes with the colors surrounding us in every direction. I wish there was also a canyon behind me to shoot as the sky was quite remarkable that way. I enjoyed the glowing light while it lasted and we headed back to the vehicles. After a little discussion on what do do about camping, a set of lights off in the distance began creeping towards us. A small sedan approached slowly with it’s high beams on. I had a feeling I knew what was about to happen. Colin approached the vehicle and made it clear we meant no harm. I could hear the soft voice of an elderly native woman telling us that we were on her ranch. Her husband had seen us earlier, but was weary about our actions. Colin expressed his apologies as these types of places are usually gated off with signs. We would have never intentionally trespassed on private land. I am not one for confrontation regardless of the outcome, so Colin did all the talking. He asked if it would be ok to come back in the near future as the spot was quite beautiful and had lots of wonderful side canyons. The woman suggested to just knock on the door if the Sedan was parked outside. After Colin got a bit of information about how to return without causing concerns, we followed her to the locked gate to their property (not the way we came in) and she let us off the property. On the way out, I apologized and wished her a good night. We wandered another mile down the road to a place we could camp. The wind began to pick up a bit and we both thought it best to get some sleep for whatever adventure we were to partake the next day. I set my alarm for sunrise just in case, and when it went off I couldn’t see out my rear windshield. It was frozen over. I thought it might have just been the freezing temps overnight, but apparently it snowed a bit and the strong winds had snow caked onto the back of my Jeep. After attempting to take a sunrise image, I immediately went back to the warmth of my vehicle and waited for Colin to awake. Another discussion about where we would go and we were off to areas further north… To be Continued…