I was on a quick trip between the LA area of California and Moab, Utah. I had one night to find a place with dark skies so I could get a good Milky Way photo. But there was one problem. Monsoonal moisture had spread all over central and southern Utah, and when I stopped for the evening, showers and clouds were obscuring most of the sky. In addition, driving on dirt roads that have recently been rained on can be extremely treacherous. When I pulled off the highway for my 3-mile (5 km) drive down a dirt road to find a more secluded spot, mud had filled each gully I came to. Thankfully, the road had only received minimal rain, so I had good traction on the road and several short 20-foot (6 m) sections where the mud was fairly thick. After the first half mile (1 km) and a few of these gully crossings, the road was dry.
Using GaiGps.com as my guide, I found a good place that would give me unobstructed views of the Milky Way with some interesting rock formations in the foreground. But as day turned to night, the clouds did not go away. I set up my camera in the hopes that at some point in the night, the sky would clear. It didn’t, until shortly before sunrise. As night was turning to day, I moved my camera from its southern point of view to an eastern view. The sunrise did not disappoint. Just a few clouds to add character to the sunrise, complete silence, and not a breath of air movement. It is in these quiet early morning photoshoots that I find nature at its finest.
This view is looking due east with the sun just cresting the top of the San Rafael Swell. Muddy Creek meanders between sandstone walls, between the close foreground and the crest of the San Rafael Swell. In the foreground are scattered Pinyon Pine and Juniper with grass, sagebrush, and creosote bush scattered in the dry desert landscape.
