Colorado National Monument

Spent a recent weekend in Colorado National Monument, a place that went very quickly from being somewhere I had never heard of to somewhere I absolutely loved. Only a quick two hours (or so) from where I am, the monument and surrounding area seemed about five times as green. Although we didn't have enough time to do a longer hike through one of the canyons, multiple viewpoints and short overlook hikes kept us well entranced. 

Blue moon

I had a brief love affair with this tree my first day at the monumet. The next morning I found myself near the same tree when stunning red light burst forth from the sunrise and bathed the rocks and trees for about two minutes, then disappeared into the dark clouds above. I think the red seemed unusually powerful because of the dense cloud coverage that lingered a mere finger-width  away from the horizon, giving the sun mere moments to envelope the landscape before disappearing completely (see last photo).

Sun disappearing into clouds over the Book Cliffs.