These photographs were taken during a 3 week road trip from Connecticut to Denver in June 2025. From Denver I drove a loop from New Mexico to Arizona to Utah and back to Denver.
In New Mexico I returned to Shiprock, the monadnock that rises 7,200 feet above the high desert plain of the Navajo Nation in San Juan County. The formation figures prominently in Navajo mythology as a giant bird that carried the Navajo from the cold northlands to the Four Corners region.
My next stop was the Toroweap Overlook on the north rim of the Grand Canyon. It was a 50 miles/4 hour drive on a sketchy dirt road/trail, but the views (and wind) were incredible. After sunset I took my first shot at astrophotography. I’d rate my effort about 5.3/10. In the morning I took some photos of cacti before heading to Monument Valley, Utah (too many people) and then to Hanksville, Utah, a place I visited last year.
The initial plan was to drive to Death Valley, California prior to going to Hanksville, but the 14 hour round trip to spend time with tons of other humans didn’t seem worth it. My evening photoshoot was going to be at the Silver Spire, a spire located about 4 road-less miles off Hanksville’s “main” road. Last year I almost buried my rental car in a ditch so I decided to hike the last mile to my spot. The sunset was good, not great, but I’m still pleased with the results. I took a second shot at astrophotography after hiking back to my car, again with mixed results. It was so hot overnight that the AC on my car finally surrounded, so it was another sleepless night.
The daytime temperature in Hanksville was 108 degrees and nighttime temps were in the mid 90’s, so sleep plus a 4 am alarm were less than restful. For sunrise I chose to shoot the huge canyon walls that rose up around me from three sides. The sky was fire and I was quite pleased with the results.
I had roughly 12 hours to kill before my sunset photoshoot at Moonrise Landscape, a pretty well known photo location. Trying to sleep in a Subaru Forester when it’s 108 degrees out, even while parked under the only tree in southern Utah, was so brutal that I decided to drive the miles and miles of desert Bureau of Land Management roads to eat up the hottest part of the day. Landscape photographers generally loathe the middle of the day, preferring the better light of sunrise and sunset. I drove to Factory Butte, another huge rock jutting out of the desert, and was able to shoot some black and white photos that turned out surprisingly well. I spent about 3 hours driving on the sketchy desert roads before almost bailing on sunset. I was so tired of the heat and so covered in the chalky dust of the desert after not showering for 4 days, that I almost bailed on Moonscape Overlook. A person much wiser than myself convinced me to stay and, because of that, I was able to capture some of the best photos of the entire trip.
After trying one more time to do some astrophotography, I decided to head back to Denver to take a shower, eat real food, and spend time with my brother.
As an aside, I dislike driving through the Midwest so much that I decided to drive straight through from Connecticut to Denver in about 30 hours, taking a few short rest area naps along the way. I repeated the straight shot on the way back.
Colorado, I love you.
