Arizona Sunrise
by Az Jackson
Title
Arizona Sunrise
Artist
Az Jackson
Medium
Photograph
Description
The large canyon walls of the Colorado River reflecting a beautiful golden sunrise over the mountain ranges of Arizona
-- Artist Notes --
I actually don't know where this is apart from somewhere in Arizona but I am extremely grateful to have witnessed this beautiful morning. This was taken the morning after my Grand Canyon Sunset experience which you can read about here... https://fineartamerica.com/featured/grand-canyon-sunset-az-jackson.html?newartwork=true.
This was an unplanned photo opportunity as the night before I was due to check into a hotel in Page, Arizona. As if the ordeal of the previous Grand Canyon Sunset wasn't bad enough, whilst driving to my hotel from capturing the sunset at the Grand Canyon I encountered a road closure just 10 miles from my destination. Ok, no problem, I thought, I'll just recalculate another route. My navigator was saying that the new route is 4 hours away... WHAT?! That can't be right, so I double checked and triple checked but I was still getting the same answer. I had less than a quarter tank of gas and my cell phone was dead from using the light to survive my previous ordeal so I couldn't call the hotel for alternative directions.
There was literally only one desolate highway and I knew I didn't have enough gas to chance driving too far. This was a real Mad Max problem but in pitch black darkness. After a few cold hours of waiting in the car I managed to flag down a generous local trucker who tried to help me the best he could. He told me there was a gas station about an hour away but it was closed. What do I do, I thought? It was pointless staying where I was so with limited options I decided to drive to the station where I would sleep in the car until they opened in the morning. Wayne, the trucker, had generously offered to drive behind me to the station in case I ran out of gas which I thought was a very nice gesture and one of the reasons I believe in paying it forward.
So I made it to the gas station, parked in one of the bays and proceeded to sleep in the back seat even though the wind was howling through the car. I had 3 layers of clothes on and switched on the heater intermittently so as not to keep the engine on for too long. After getting probably only 45 minutes of sleep I was awoken by the bright light of the sun and I know that once the sun wakes me up there's no chance of me getting back to sleep so I decided to go for a walk. There was no wind present and the sun was so beautifully warm but the most amazing part of that whole experience was waking up to this incredible view. Despite the challenges, I am truly grateful.
Uploaded
June 15th, 2020
Embed
Share
