Sun and Moon over the mountains from camp Kofa

Part of the February Geogypsy Journey—that nobody attended except me—included watching for the full moon over the mountains.  Clear nights are best for the moon, clouds make colorful sunsets, and dust is different.  Wind tends to blow during the winter in the desert Southwest so the days and nights are uncertain.  Yet even a cold (to me) 45° night in the desert feels better than below freezing with snow.

End of a long day

After watching the early rising moon for several clear afternoons, moving a little further south on the horizon every day, I hoped to see the full moon over the mountains with the rugged ridgeline of the Kofa Mountains.  I’ve seen it before, and you may have too if you’ve seen my photos or been there yourself.

Clear sky at sunrise hits those same rugged Kofa Mountains, just a little further north than the current header shot so the light is different again.  I believe early February would be better for that.  A good reason to make the February 2023 Geogypsy Journey: Sharing the Kofa Light nature experience centered around that full moon rise on the 5th.  (More coming on this around August/September or ask.)

By afternoon the temperature reached almost 80° and a light southern breeze kept the camper comfortable.  I sat outside reading and watching the world, eye caught by a soaring Prairie Falcon.  Noticed the moon about an hour before a pleasant sunset.

That wind persisted over night, increasing in strength, and blowing against my door from the SSW, opposite what the usual winter wind does.  At first it was just rudely obnoxious.  By early afternoon the camper was rocking and soon came the dust.  First the Chocolate Mountains to the west disappeared.

By dusk, moon over mountains was looking pretty fuzzy.

And sunset was a rather eerie blur.  The temperature suddenly dropped about 30° so I oven heated the house with pizza for dinner.

The next morning, clear blue sky still carried a haze of dust particles, yet the stillness was a creepy contrast to the night before.  An afternoon light wind eventually blew the dust away.  I played electrician when the hot wire on the 12v socket simply fell off.  The solar panels are making lots of power and keeping the battery fully charged every day.  What good when I couldn’t access the power?  I had already tried to tape the connection but no go.  I do not have the right connectors to replace the one that’s obviously not holding a solid connection.  Spare parts are important to carry.  So I stripped back some of the plastic insulation to expose more length of wire and wrapped it around the post on the back of the socket.  Viola!  It ain’t pretty but it works until I get the right connectors in town this week.   I’m a half-ass MacGyver.  I do have to be extremely careful not to bump it when plugging and unplugging the inverter that makes 12v DC into household 110v AC to charge my laptop.  Another thing I want to change, the inverter should have a power switch to reduce that stress on the socket system.  I don’t really know.  Maybe I’m wrong.  I’m not really an electrician but I’d like to see the entire set up more solid.  Perhaps an inverter could be hardwired.

In the afternoon I took a walk to look for a potential location to shoot the moon over the mountains, and maybe a Saguaro in the foreground.  Between the PhotoPills app I never entirely trust, and a backup compass bearing, I get a close idea to where the moon should break over the horizon.  Sometimes, it’s close to right.  I set the tripod where I wanted to shoot from, within sight of the camper where I returned for dinner.

Moon rise occurred about 30 minutes after sunset, noticeably clearer than the night before.

With the limited light I always struggle to clearly manual focus the camera when auto focus doesn’t work.

The series isn’t bad, of course I want better, but gives me the challenge to try again next month.

At sunrise east over the Kofa Mountains, I managed to catch the setting moon over the mountains and Earth’s Shadow to the west, the Chocolate Mountains.  Such a wonderful name.  Sometimes the first morning light makes them look dusted with confectioners sugar.

As I began to process the moon photos my laptop tells me the drive is full.  My D5600 camera takes 24mp photos, times almost six because I shoot in jpg and RAW, plus bracket every shot and all that equals huge file sizes that fill disk space.  I backup everything twice on external drives so it was time to move photo files before I could process more with Lightroom.

I’m kind of camped at the end of a line and isn’t easy to find.  In almost two weeks here, only two vehicles have come by then turn around and left.  But on weekends, the main gravel Palm Canyon Road can be like a freeway.  People fly in all kinds of vehicle from two-wheeled to 12, kicking up a trail of dust that thankfully blows away from me, most of the time.

Not like my little house on wheels isn’t dirty enough with dust, dirt, and cat hair.

It’s about time to shop, dump, fill, and do laundry.  Timing mostly revolves around propane needs to maintain fridge, stove, and heat.  Have RVer company coming this weekend so need to get chores done before hand.

Hazy view

Must be getting itchy feet as I’ve been studying the road atlas—a real paper version—for routes this summer.  Starting with the Cascade Mountains north to the Pacific Northwest and then east through the northern states for a mid-September arrival in the Chicago suburbs for my 50th high school reunion.  I’m not good at specific date plans so reservations are rather difficult to digest.  I figure if I stick with routes through/near federal and state public lands I can boondock much of the way.  I’ll be staying off interstates as much as possible.  What we used to call “blue-lines”, now those are the freeways on maps.  I’m not about go fast to get somewhere and would rather enjoy the journey.  I hope to visit with some of you along the way and will share my route ideas soon plus am open to suggestions.  Side trips can be arranged and I like to friendock if you have space for my truckcamper.

Phone shot of the full moon over the mountains

In the meantime, I’m thinking about a different set of mountains for full moon rise in March.

(Hope you enjoy this palindrome date on Tuesday 2-22-22.  The next time all of these conditions align in the same way is in the year 2422, 400 years from now.  Don’t think I’ll be here. But if you read this then, please leave a comment.}