Archive All Issues April 1996

The Great Quake

The 7.5 magnitude of the earthquake of 1887 rattled 720,000 square miles of the Southwest and gave birth to some very strange newspaper accounts.

Featured in the April 1996 Issue of Arizona Highways

Morning stormlight infuses the Vermilion Cliffs with color.

BY: TOM TILL

After months without a hint of rain, thunderstorms begin to build in late morning over the high plateaus and mountains of northern Arizona. By late afternoon, the humidity rises substantially, and the normally parched air carries the scent of wet sage and a hint of things to come rainbows, flash floods, iridescent cloud streamers and the final and most beautiful denouement: stormlight, a bathing of the land in a momentary and spectacular orange glow. When the special light comes, I try to control my excitement and get on with the work. Sometimes I just

Stormlight Alpenglow

want to look for a second and to immerse myself in the scene. I can't for more than a few seconds, though, because many of the lighting effects I want to capture for this portfolio last no more than 30 seconds before they disappear or change. I must have my camera in place with a composition ready. It was the same at sunrise and will be again at sunset when the reddish sheen of alpenglow settled on the mountaintop.

The thrill for me is being there, experiencing each effect's distinct personality, and fighting the elements to come back with a tiny piece of film that represents, in a small way, the power of Nature's greatest spectacles.

Stormlight AND Alpenglow

(PRECEDING PANEL, PAGES 14 AND 15) A storm combines with sunset to create a scene of ephemeral beauty in the Kachina Peaks Wilderness. This photograph can be purchased through the Arizona Highways Gallery of Fine Prints; see page 47. (ABOVE) Morning stormlight infuses the Vermilion Cliffs with color. (RIGHT) A piñon pine clings to a rocky cliff as a stormy day breaks above the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River.(PRECEDING PANEL, PAGES 18 AND 19) A waning sunset emphasizes the allure of the rock island created by the Colorado River at Muleshoe Bend. (LEFT) Clouds glow just after sunset, subduing a field of high-country wildflowers. (ABOVE) Oak creek mirrors the breathtaking sunset view at Red Rock Crossing, near Sedona. (FOLLOWING PANEL, PAGES 22 AND 23) A small pond reflects the San Francisco Peaks as a summer monsoon surges in.