You never know what’s going to happen when you head out into the wilderness during the Arizona monsoon. I got a reminder of that in September 2024, when my wife and I went on a camping trip in the Huachuca Mountains of Southern Arizona. It was my wife’s first time in those mountains, and I had backpacked there a couple of years earlier and had always wanted to return to do some serious photography.
One of my goals was to make landscape photos at the summit of Carr Peak, the second-highest mountain in the Huachucas. We left our campground around 4 p.m. for a hike of about 3 miles to the summit. My wife went part of the way up before turning around so she wouldn’t have to hike down in the dark.
As I continued up, I noticed monsoon storm clouds gathering and the light changing faster than I’d expected. As a result, I stopped often to make photographs — including this one, which was shot around 6:30. I liked how the setting sun was turning everything gold and how those tones contrasted with the blue of the clouds. That year’s monsoon activity was relatively thin, so I was glad to be there when this view came together.
Because I made so many stops, I wasn’t sure I’d get to the summit before dark, but I ended up making it with about 10 minutes to spare. I made more photos there, then started back down. The trail is reasonably good, but I had another unexpected situation on the return trip: I stepped in a hole and hyperextended my knee about a mile and a half from the campground. I made it the rest of the way
without any problems, other than thoughts of hungry black bears and mountain lions.
My knee still hurts a little from that mishap, but at least I came back with some great photos. If the weather and the light would create scenes like this for me more often, I’d be grateful.