Colorado and Utah, October 2026 - Part 2

 Part 2 (continued from Part 1)

Utah Color

October 7, 2026 (continued)

It seemed like a long slog to Utah where I gassed up (BTW travelers, the Maverick in Monticello is no longer the lowest gas prices in the area.) I initially thought I'd head west on UT-95, but the size of the thunderstorms rising above the Abajo Mountains, and Elk Ridge too, pushed me farther south. I wanted the chance to do some astrophotography Wednesday and Thursday nights in clear skies. Since rain was forecast for the weekend I suspected clouds might start moving in on Friday, too.

Valley of the Gods

I continued south on US-191 to Bluff, then took US-163 west with the intention of camping at Valley of the Gods. As usual there were lots of campers and, as usual, most of the RVs and travel trailers were along the first few miles of the gravel and dirt road. A couple of the washes were deeper and rougher than years past, but not too difficult. 

I always love the first glimpse of the buttes and pinnacles,
especially beautiful with the clouds for a backdrop.

This is actually from farther along the road past my eventual campsite.

The storms building over the Abajo Mountains made for a dramatic backdrop to the buttes of the valley, so I took lots of photos looking for the one that would be just perfect. Which one do you like?

Castle Butte

Don't know if this butte has a name, but look at those clouds!

I drove past the northern corner of the road admiring the scenery and taking photos, then drove back to claim my favorite site northeast of what Google Maps calls Castle Butte. It was very warm with the sun beating down, especially after the chill of the high mountains.

Sunset reflecting on eastern clouds.

There were no clouds to make a sunset, but clouds had drifted to the east to make for an anti-sunset. And a silhouette of Castle Butte at twilight.

Beautiful twilight behind Castle Butte.

The beauty of a warm day was a warm night. I was able to sit out in my comfy chair and star gaze. I spotted a few falling stars and many satellites, natch. Wonderful.

I set up my astrophotography telescope and scheduled a session for the Andromeda Galaxy. 

I had intended to take some Milky Way sequences, but had some issue with my lens, then with focusing. I finally changed lenses and took those sequences, but haven't processed those as of this writing.

I retired inside and read for a while then hit the bunk.

Thursday, October 8th

Valley of the Gods (continued)

I ventured out at dawn with my camera, but like sunset the night before, there were no clouds to make a good sunrise photo. I did get a nice one of buttes at dawn and another of my next door butte.

Beautiful dawn light. Thats the Hen and Rooster Buttes in the middle.

Continuing my love affair with Castle Butte.
Can you spot the tent campers?

Regular readers will recall I had fashioned my own awning from a cheap plastic tarp and a couple of telescoping tent poles. It takes some time to set up and take down, but I generally have plenty of time when camping. The best part is I can rig it to shade the upper, pop-up portion of the camper to keep it cooler inside—not a feature of those pricy, easy to set-up models. A disadvantage has always been that cheap tarp is noisy in the least wind, crinkling and crackling. This year I splurged and bought a nylon fabric tarp and this trip is the first time to try it out. Wow, much easier to handle, hardly makes a sound in the breeze, and looks better, too. Check it out.

My homemade awning shading the camper.

And how about that campsite view?

I also noticed an interesting insect hole in the ground near my rear tire. It looked like a nesting hole for a native bee, but there was no activity. The next morning I did see one solitary, small ant who was in the process of removing a tiny stick that had fallen into the hole. Never saw another ant or a bee.

Mysterious insect home.

I didn't take photos during the day as I have so many already (click on the keywords to the right to see those) and there were no interesting clouds for a sunset either.

I was a little better prepared for the Milky Way this night and took a few long exposure images that didn't turn out too bad. I took yet more sequences that I still haven't processed. I set up my telescope and synced a schedule for another Andromeda astrophotography session.

Isn't this something? Hope you clicked for the larger version.
This was definitely one of my goals achieved.

Friday, October 9th

Valley of the Gods (continued)

There were a few clouds just at the horizon so tried to get a sunrise shot. Also photos of the surrounding buttes.

Dawn just beginning to light the clouds.

Gotta love those colors.

The nameless butte in morning light.
Can you spot the Sprinter van?

I enjoyed a leisurely morning around camp. Rain was forecast for the weekend and I figured clouds would start moving in today. I would take the short drive up to Cedar Point Road close to Muley Point as a bonus side-trip. It would also make the drive home tomorrow shorter than if I went farther today.

I broke camp and headed out the east entrance. To the west is not farther, but less interesting and with the possibility of worse road conditions. I headed around, then up the Mokey Dugway to the top of Cedar Mesa. The road was in good condition though there was some erosion of the edge. I was surprised they (county? state?) had removed the cattle guard at the top—I always used that as a trail marker when telling folks where to turn for Muley Point, oops. However there was a new recreation sign at the junction marking the road. That's good then.

Cedar Point Road

I wasn't a real clear day so skipped the Muley Point overlooks entirely and drove onto Cedar Point Road. I looked over a few of the many open dispersed campsites and chose a one I hadn't camped at before. 

The camp looks like bare dirt, but when you are there all you see is the view.
Just beyond the dirt the mesa falls way into PJ forest.

I got set up, had lunch, relaxed, enjoyed the view, read my book, and took a short walk. Then relaxed, enjoyed the view, had dinner, and read my book.

A grand old Utah Juniper.

Snakeweed, Peppergrass, and a weathered branch.

Monument Valley as seen from my campsite. Glorious!

Sure enough the clouds moved in heavily and it sprinkled a bit. I stayed in and got a good night's sleep.

Saturday, October 10th

Cedar Point Road (continued)

Got out of the camper before the sun was up to try and catch a sunrise photo. Some low clouds so tried my luck. One that wasn't too bad and I did get a cool photo of a juniper skeleton with the first red rays of light shining on it. And just a bit later one of Monument Valley that I really like.

Sunrise!

Dramatic red light at dawn directly lit this weathered juniper.

Gorgeous sight of Monument Valley lit by the sunrise.

I wasted a bunch more exposures then got my act together to get on the road before too late. Clouds were getting heavier, but I packed up and hit the road before the rains came. 

On the Road Again

An uneventful drive toward home. The best way. Took US-191 down to US-160 in Arizona, then east into New Mexico. I gassed up in Beclabito, as is my custom, then got caught up in a long construction delay where they are doing a much needed overhaul of US-64. That was OK as it got me into Shiprock just in time for lunch. I picked up a green chile cheeseburger at my favorite mom-and-pop drive in, That's A Burger. Yummy!!

Then the Navajo back highways to US-550 toward home. Only a few sprinkles and clear sailing.

Addendum

When I got home, recovered, and set about looking at the Andromeda Galaxy astrophotography sessions I scheduled in the beautiful dark-skies of Utah, I was shocked and bitterly disappointed to discover a major problem. My smart telescope should have stacked approximately 200 frames each night; I got 20 one night and 26 the next. More frames increases signal-to-noise ratio, i.e., more details and cleaner skies. A complete bust.

Tech support has been good and after analyzing my log files they believe I had the telescope setup incorrectly on the tripod. I would swear in court that I did it right, but whatever, I lost those nights.

After a firmware update I tried again in the bright skies of home. Didn't expect to get much of a result, but at least would know that the 'scope is working correctly. Here is one of the test results and it's better than I had expected, though not as good as it could have been had I been in dark skies. This is around 200 exposures combined to form one image.

Andromeda Galaxy captured in my backyard

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Thanks for coming along. Hope you enjoyed the scenes and story.

* As a side note: cellular towers must be springing up like mushrooms. I think I had some kind of signal at all campsites and enough strength to be able to make phone calls in all, but one. I was going to test my phone's satellite text service, but seemed pointless. I got spam texts the whole trip. Big change from when I first started with the camper.