It was mid afternoon and I was approaching Moab from the North driving along the beautiful stretch of road (route 128) running parallel to the Colorado River. I was planning to spend the rest of the day wondering around Arches National Park, although my expectations for photography were not very high due to some approaching heavy clouds. At one point the pavement turned wet as I noticed significantly cooler air coming in through the window, together with that smell to humid dirt characteristic of downpours.

As I crossed a bridge over a then running but usually dry creek, I decided to stop and photograph the contrast between the water, the vegetation bordering the creek bed, and the sandstone cliffs in the background. I was scouting for the best positions to place my tripod when the sun found a gap among the clouds turning what had been a nice image into an amazing display of warm light, flowing water, wet ground, and dark clouds. I had enough time to shoot different angles for about five minutes before the sun disappeared never to be seen again.

"Spare, spare, austere, utterly worthless, inviting not love but contemplation. A dangerous and terrible place,... of rock and heat, sand dunes and quicksand, cactus, thornbush, scorpions, and rattlesnakes.... Enter at your own risk. Carry water. Avoid the noonday sun. Try to ignore the vultures." Edward Abbey, describing the U.S. southwest desert

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