I had been hoping for years to get back to Cathedral Valley in Capital Reef NP, but had been scared off by bad road reports. This dry spring finally made for perfect conditions and we actually enjoyed the drive in our RAM truck & camper. A big advantage of the bad rep. of the road means not many venture back there, so it was very quiet, and easy for us to find a camp spot just outside the park boundary (no camping allowed in the valley).
On the drive in
Temple of the Moon
PhotoPills predicted moonrise to the side of Temple of the moon, so I headed out after dinner to catch it. I was hustling to get up on a bit of a ridge when I stopped to look and saw the moon rising between the small tower and the large formation. A quick tripod deployment got me the shot. After 15 minutes the moon was rising into clouds, and it was getting very dark, when I realized I hadn't brought a headlamp. A quick pack up and careful hike back went well - one of the best experiences of a month long trip.
Jim, great monochrome set of a wonderful area. It has been many years since i traveled that road. Very cool you had the camper and could set up camp outside the boundary. I used to have a 4-Wheel Popup Camper on the back of a 4WD Tundra for Southwest trips.
The textures/geology there is great. Did you go farther in? I vaguely remember some really striking mixtures of geology with black boulders/erratics scattered amongst sandstone. Those storm clouds must have been a bit worrying for you.
Monica, we didn't go further in. We were moving on to the Hanksville badlands next (posts to come). The clouds didn't scare us much, no prediction of much rain, and if a thunderstorm messed up the road we had plenty of supplies to wait for safer conditions.
I heartily recommend doing the whole loop. Views from Upper Cathedral Valley Road are awesome as are the bentonite hills along the way. Thas said, the Fremont River crossing can be dicey.
