Lockett's Bliss

This is an image I photographed in Northern Arizona as the fall colors are shining brightly and beautifully. On this particular day, I had started hiking up the mountain and by the time I was just a short distance away from my intended destination, I was welcomed by a loud bang of thunder. It almost seemed like an omen not to keep going. I decided to play it safe and just turn around back down the mountain. On the hike back, I endured rain, sleet, and a little bit of hail. I thought that for sure the mountain was going to become socked in by the clouds above. The rain and hail didn't let up until about 10 minutes until sunset, where I had considered running up a steep slope to get a high vantage. There was no time to do so, so I ran back down to a spot with just a tiny bit of height to show some of the aspens on the mountain. The sun turned just the undersides of the clouds a nice pink hue before disappearing into gray specs in the sky. On the drive home, I noticed lightning off in the distance. As soon as I rounded one of the bends in the highway, a bolt struck nearly right in the middle of the road in front of me. It was so bright, that I was convinced that part of the bolt might have struck a little too close to my car. I made it home unscathed, but it was a day about the weather and just being up on the mountain. Nothing like the scent of a wet autumn forest! via Pcoskun http://500px.com/photo/86322975