At dawn the moon sets behind Wheeler Peak (Great Basin National Park), a 13,000" (nearly 4km) monster about 65 miles (105km) away.
Actually it's only about 8500' (2.6km) above the desert floor, but that's still pretty big.
In front of it and still in shadow is the relatively diminutive Crystal Peak, about 25 miles (40km) away. It stands out from its desert surroundings because it is made of quartz sandstone. It was a distinct landmark for settlers traveling to California in the 1800s.
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This is the picture I've been trying to take for the past ten years.
Roughly, this moonset geometry and timing only happens in late Nov. or late Jan. / early Feb., and only very rarely are both geometry and sunrise timing this good: With the possible exception of one-day waxing or one-day-waning events, this particular alignment at the moment of sunrise will not occur until after the year 2100. To access the magical viewpoint requires hiking nearly two miles (2.8km) with no trail up a very boulder-strewn ridge with a vertical gain of nearly 2000' (more than 600m). The weather has never cooperated. Finally, on February 12th of 2025, the sub-zero (-20 Celsius) cloudless sky was perfect, and my camera performed far better at that temperature than I would've thought. The original photo was a bit "flat" or "muddy", but a minimal bit of processing resulted in a clearer image, and somewhat emulates the look of old "low dynamic range" early color film.
At dawn the moon sets behind Wheeler Peak (Great Basin National Park), a 13,000" (nearly 4km) monster about 65 miles (105km) away.
Actually it's only about 8500' (2.6km) above the desert floor, but that's still pretty big.
In front of it and still in shadow is the relatively diminutive Crystal Peak, about 25 miles (40km) away. It stands out from its desert surroundings because it is made of quartz sandstone. It was a distinct landmark for settlers traveling to California in the 1800s.
--
This is the picture I've been trying to take for the past ten years.
Roughly, this moonset geometry and timing only happens in late Nov. or late Jan. / early Feb., and only very rarely are both geometry and sunrise timing this good: With the possible exception of one-day waxing or one-day-waning events, this particular alignment at the moment of sunrise will not occur until after the year 2100. To access the magical viewpoint requires hiking nearly two miles (2.8km) with no trail up a very boulder-strewn ridge with a vertical gain of nearly 2000' (more than 600m). The weather has never cooperated. Finally, on February 12th of 2025, the sub-zero (-20 Celsius) cloudless sky was perfect, and my camera performed far better at that temperature than I would've thought. The original photo was a bit "flat" or "muddy", but a minimal bit of processing resulted in a clearer image, and somewhat emulates the look of old "low dynamic range" early color film.