No time then, made time this trip.
After a calm night at the RV park in Magdalena, NM I woke at around 5AM and made breakfast. Soon after 6AM, I had Scarlett unloaded and was riding west along NM 60 towards the VLA.
Got there just before sunrise and my timing worked out great. There was an incoming storm to the west as I parked Scarlett and I got these pics of the sun rising just before clouds moved in and it started snowing.
Yes, snowing.
The horizon was aglow just before the sun peeked over
the eastern horizon
Using Sunset Mode
The sun rising, you can see the snow flakes coming
down as the clouds moved towards the east,
finally completely obscuring the rising sun.
So it snowed and was completely overcast for perhaps 30-40 minutes, I took what pics I could but the blowing snow was pretty heavy.
Pretty big dish eh?
Finally, the snow clouds blew past towards the east and the sun started to come out and light things up a bit:
The eastern "leg" of the three legged formation of dishes
Saddling up, I rode over to the highway to get these shots of the northern "leg" of dishes visible from a parking spot provided for just such viewing by highway drivers.
Yep the dishes do move, pretty regularly....
The visitor center wasn't going to open till 9AM and I decided to instead return to Magdalena to get the URRV ready for travel.
I left the village of Magdalena shortly after 9am I think and a couple of hours later was setting up camp on BLM land 15 miles north of the town of Truth or Consequences. Yep, the town named themselves after a game show.
It was sunny finally but the strong gusty wind conditions forecasted till 8PM tonight made for chilly conditions.
Tomorrow is a non-travel day and forecasted to be warmer (I'll settle for little to no winds!). I hope to explore the canyon area to the east of the campsite.
10 comments:
I love these! What an interesting subject to add to the sunris/landscape. They are massive. Thanks for sharing them.
Thanks Kari for the kind words and comments. The dishes were very impressive and if you watch them long enough, you could see them moving....
Stop at Pie town brother
Where be this Pie Town?
Great photos of sunrise at the VLA! And the dark sky photo is very dramatic. Do all the dishes move together or act individually?
Thanks RichardM, the dishes move in sync
Fascinating light, and a great motive, Dom. The amount of the dishes amazes me.
Thanks SonjaM, it was indeed
You get around and I enjoy your travels but Gulliver missed Pie town as well. ITs where 60 crosses the Continental Divide. May the sun keep you warm you on those chilly days
Oh well...glad you like following along
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