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Comet Hale-Bopp: views from the inner Canyon

In April of '97, I took a hike along the Tonto Trail. Lucky me! I usually prefer to hike on the week before a full moon, when the moon is big and rises before sunset. I'd planned this hike several months in advance, before the comet had been sighted. Even with a nearly full moon at my back, the comet was still vivid enough for me to capture on film. And of course, I also got some nice landscape scenery in the shots.

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This is the comet over Lyell Butte, near Grapevine Creek on the Tonto Trail East. It was a few days before the full moon, about an hour after sunset. Even with all that moonlight in a clear Arizona sky lighting up the landscape, the comet was amazingly vivid.

Here, we see the comet from Cottonwood Creek, also on the Tonto Trail East. I was actually standing in the creekbed when I took this shot, at the mouth of a small side canyon. Once again, I had bright moonlight at my back, and and a bright comet in the west!

Here's a view on the night after the full moon, just at sunset, from Cedar Ridge, which is about halfway down to the Tonto platform from the South rim on the South Kaibab Trail.

Another view from Cedar Ridge, same night, just after sunset. Since the moon rises about an hour after sunset on the night after the full moon, and the comet set at about the same time, I wasn't able to get light on the landscape. Still, I thought the comet itself made a good show that night.

Comet Hale-Bopp: views from the inner Canyon

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	This is the comet over Lyell Butte, near Grapevine Creek on the Tonto Trail East. It was a few days before the full moon, about an hour after sunset. Even with all that moonlight in a clear Arizona sky lighting up the landscape, the comet was amazingly vivid.
	Here, we see the comet from Cottonwood Creek, also on the Tonto Trail East. I was actually standing in the creekbed when I took this shot, at the mouth of a small side canyon. Once again, I had bright moonlight at my back, and and a bright comet in the west!
	Here's a view on the night after the full moon, just at sunset, from Cedar Ridge, which is about halfway down to the Tonto platform from the South rim on the South Kaibab Trail.
	Another view from Cedar Ridge, same night, just after sunset. Since the moon rises about an hour after sunset on the night after the full moon, and the comet set at about the same time, I wasn't able to get light on the landscape. Still, I thought the comet itself made a good show that night.