A Night with The Outlaw Josey Wales. Pahreah or Paria, Utah is one of the places where the Outlaw Josey Wales was shot. It’s also an amazing display of geology. It’s down a pretty tough road, but a car could make it by going slow.
Despite its beauty, this night, the conditions were bad as it was shortly after there had been some severe rains in the area and although the ground was dry, huge ruts had emerged that would close the road to all but 4×4 traffic. Being June, I didn‘t have to wait long for the Milky Way to arrive. I had just got back from a 20-hour drive returning from California / Bristlecone Pine Forest / Yosemite and was needing rest in the worst possible way. I set up one camera to capture the Antares region of the Milky Way (see earlier picture) and then took a couple of panos here before collapsing in the back of Jimmy for a few hours of sleep. It was a fantastic night in the beginning, but the temperature as it often does began dropping and the chill became frost which is really unusual in Utah.
I had gone a bit further down the road earlier to the end at the Paria River. I had taken my crackers and some cheese, a few grapes and a Naked fruit juice out for a stream-side feast. It’s such a shame the river is set up wrong for a Milky Way shot. It is indeed a fulfilling location, so restful after the hours and hours of driving.
A breeze hinted at cooler air arriving. A few bugs flitted about my faces as I ate and I contemplated crossing the river with all my gear to attempt a partial Milky Way over the river.
Reason prevailed in the end, and I finished my meal as the sun set and went to get setup for what turned out to be an unusual frosty night in paradise.
Tech: 42 Images Canon 6D, 55mm f1.8 ISO 8000. Cropped a bit left and right to bring foreground closer.
excellent!