Adventure on Mother's Day?

So the story behind this shot:

For mother's day, we decided at the last second to surprise my in-laws and show up at their home for mother's day. If I were near my family, I know how much that would mean to them, and it's no different for my husband's. So we took off early that morning with gear in tow to surprise my mother in law. Our goal was to spend the day with them and return home via this short hike, in order to capture some semblance of a sunset. Boy were we blown away! Literally...

So on Mother's Day the wind gusts in town had to be in excess of 40 miles an hour. It got worse as the day continued, but the weather was warm and sunny. After dinner, despite family comments on reconsidering my photo hunt, I took off with my husband Jesse and my mother in law, Janell, to hike to the edge of the canyon and capture this incredible sunset. The clouds were looking promising, and by now, the gusts were at least 50 mph, creating an incredible dust in the distance that was sure to promise a colorful evening.

We departed to the trailhead and walked the brief, breathtaking (literally) distance to the edge. Janell ducked under  a rock cliff and chatted with my sister in law about our visit while we thoroughly entertained her with our frantic antics on the cliff's edge. I must've heard at least ten times from my husband to back away from the edge (even though I was a good ten feet from it) and to be careful. He keeps me on a tight (but good) leash when my adventurous excitement starts to take over my common sense.

Of course, when you are shooting sandstone cliffs and vistas, there are sand paths, sand pools, and sand specs eroded away over the years from winds just like those. So my tip for the day: do NOT wear shorts and a t shirt in winds in excess of 50 mph on a cliff edge where pools of sand and sandy paths are all around you. It felt like someone took an electric sander to our legs and arms. I've felt sand storms before, from the monsoons in Tucson, but never anything like this. Sand was in my teeth, ears, hair, nose, and was eroding away my skin (just as it had been from the winds that carried it)

 (....and THAT is why I buy Nikon camera bodies. They are built with a better weather seal than nearly any other camera in exstence. I wouldn't shoot with anything else for all the adventures and surprises I take that thing through. )

So, back to the cliff...we had planned on getting there 20 minutes before sunset, but I wanted to go earlier because we were losing light faster than I was comfortable with. Glad we did! The sun started to set and then hit a line of clouds in the distance that covered it up 17 minutes before it was supposed to set. We got it before it disappeared, at the perfect light, with the perfect clouds, wind, and colors. God always shows off His beauty when I really pursue a photo. He is the one I give credit to!

After three failed attempts at standing on the edge in the blasting sand, we finally succeeded in a brief moment of pause from the winds to capture the image above. We departed quickly and painfully back up the trail to hide in our truck. In short, we tucked tail and ran, but not without our trophy: this image!