January 17, 2012
Yucca Sunrise in White Sands National Monument, New Mexico

I went to White Sands National Monument earlier than usual yesterday. Officially, the gate opens at 7:00 am, just a few minutes before sunrise at this time of year, and two days ago we pulled in right at 7:00 and the sky was a fantastic orange that faded before we could get into position to shoot. I wanted to see if it was possible to get in a bit earlier, so I arrived at 6:45 yesterday morning and the gate was open — sweet! I drove into the park and parked just inside the dunes as some red was forming on the clouds. I walked out to find a nice composition, and was able to take this image just as the color was starting to fade. I was also intrigued by the border patrol helicopter flying way out over the dunes and some border patrol and ranger vehicles driving up and down the monument road. Then I went back to the car and drove further into the dune system and walked around some more and made a few images before it started to rain. When I drove back out of the monument, the entrance kiosk was still unoccupied at 8:15 which was odd. Then I got to the gate by the visitor center and a ranger was standing by a half-closed gate so that no one could enter the monument. I stopped and asked why she wasn't letting anyone in, and she said the monument was closed because they were conducting a search and rescue mission. So there you have it, if you want to get into the monument before the gate is supposed to open, just wait for a day when the monument is closed. :)

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