Thursday, October 28, 2010

SkyWatch: Head's in the Clouds

No kidding.. we WERE in the clouds all last week.  Nothing but fog, rain and cold every day, until Sunday when it started to clear up a bit.  Right after a storm is usually a great time for beautiful skies, so I was heading out to Joshua Tree for an afternoon of shooting among the rocks.  On the way down our mountain (Mt. San Jacinito) I had to hit the brakes and grab a quick panorama of this scene, looking across to the 11,500ft. (3505m) Mt. San Gorgonio sitting there quite contentedly, with it's peak clear and above the clouds.  Click the image for a bigger view on this one~!
For those of you not familiar with southern California, the I-10 freeway that heads directly from LA to Palm Springs, Phoenix and beyond is running directly below that low-level cloud layer... Palm Springs is just about 15 miles to the right.  The area you see in the foreground shows the foothills of Mt. San Jacinito and was devastated by a major fire in 2006.  Looks kind of recovered now from this far away, but up close you can still see evidence of the recent burning.  It was started by a nut job arsonist down near the freeway during a Santa Ana (powerful, hot, easterly winds that we tend to get in the Fall) wind event, with the intention of burning up the whole mountain, I suppose, but luckily it never got up into the forest where we live.. had that happened it would have been even worse that it was. 35 homes and 20 or so other buildings were destroyed and five firefighters were killed when they were suddenly overrun by the flames while defending some houses in the area that you can see in this shot. The guy who started it was convicted of arson and murder last year and sentenced to death.
Visit the SkyWatch site every weekend for beautiful sky shots from all around the world.
More fall colors from Utah coming up next...

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love how the mountains are rising above a sea of clouds!

Anonymous said...

Whoa! Above the clouds isn't an option here in SeMo, so I sincerely appreciate scenes/views such as this!!!

EG CameraGirl said...

Very beautiful panorama!

The Giraffe Head Tree said...

Definitely worth over-sizing to see everything clearly. Lovely shot. I hate arsonists. Looks like this particular one got his due.

Carolyn Ford said...

I live in the Inland Empire and know that fire story well...I am glad you weren't affected, property wise, anyway. This is an amazing view towards San Gorgonio...awesome shot(s)all stitched together perfectly.

giorno26 ¸¸.•*¨*•. said...

Wow
gorgeous landscape !!!
Bye :))
Myriam

Ebie said...

Beautiful panorama! I would stop and take photos by any means!

P.S. I look forward to your UTAH photos. We flew to SLC and drove to Yellowstone the first week of October. We are planning to go next year in the FALL in the Utah area.

Laura said...

so beautiful...thank you for taking me on this mini vacation!

storybeader said...

I love being up on a mountain top, about the clouds! Magical! {:-D

eileeninmd said...

Wow,beautiful sky and mountain scene. Lovely photo!

Trish ~ ♥ ~ said...

sweeping image, so tranquil

Unknown said...

Thank's for the large view Mark and thank's also for converting in meters the mountain elevation. I would have never guessed that such a round mountain could have more than 3000m.

Nice to see some images of your new surroundings.

I lived 15 years in a forest with huge fires every summer. It never came too close to the village but a friend of mine had once the flames just in front of her windows...

Gaelyn said...

An excellent way to see the sky, both above and below the clouds. When I lived above Wenatchee, Washington I was often above the winter clouds.

Light and Voices said...

Your work is always exceptional.
Joyce M

Usba said...

magic!

Randi said...

Awesome capture! Love your composition and the colours!

BraCom said...

Beautiful SkyWatch posting!
thank you for sharing this beautiful photo work


Happy SWF! Have a good weekend,

Regards, Bram

My SkyWatch on WordPress

Seen on Sky Watch Friday, Season 4, Episode 16

Kelli said...

beautiful photo, the mountains are beautiful and the sky is too

betchai said...

oh, love this scenery, if I hiked today would have seen this at Mt Woodson or Iron Mountain, but kind of got lazy to do anything today.

Ashrays said...

thanks for the large size excellent! and for the ft... the highest mountain we have here in the UK is just a 4406ft

Mary Howell Cromer said...

This is such an awe-inspiring and elegant scene captured~