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This one almost didn’t happen.

It was the very last morning of my Spring 2012 Death Valley trip and the plan was to just get up and head back to Vegas. It had been a long week and frankly, “exhausted” had been in the rear view mirror for awhile now.

But…

I got up anyway and noticed there were some seriously great clouds scattered across what was still an inky sky. Well, no matter how tired I am I just couldn’t stand the idea of missing some killer clouds at sunrise!

I gathered the gear and headed for the Mesquite Dunes near Stovepipe Wells. It had been windy overnight and I was thrilled to see the thousands of footprints in left in the sand from the previous day’s tourists had been fully eradicated.

The hike was easy at first, then came the dune climbing. My sore legs were not happy and after miles and miles already hiked on this trip really needed a recovery day. Fortunately  the distance was short and in about a mile and a half I reached this spot and setup. Despite my lack of energy, I was still at least 15 minutes early.

I sat down and eagerly watched the sun start to light the clouds and spill across the dunes. I really wanted a shot showing the sun as it forcefully lit the dunes – and when it finally materialized I snapped away.

On the (downhill) hike back I was really glad I’d decided to go out just one more time. It may have made for a hectic morning trying to get back in time, but I think it was worth it!