Mesa Arch Sunburst

This image captures a summer sunrise from Mesa Arch, Canyonlands National Park, outside of Moab, Utah. Located on the Island in the Sky Mesa, this scene was 15 million years in the making (uplift of the Colorado Plateau) where erosion of a small pothole in Navajo Sandstone lead to today’s rock arch. The image captures the moment where the rising sun briefly paints the underside of Mesa arch and warms Buck Canyon in amazing orange light while silhouetting the distant La Sal Mountains. As you can see from the thin slit of clear air on the horizon, the moment was transitory, as a cloud bank quickly obscured the sun.

Sublocation
City, State: Mesa, Arizona