5/19-5/23
I picked up Varun late Friday night in Las Vegas and we immediately took off for Utah. Given that we needed to get to Arches the next day and it was over 6 hours away, we wanted to cover as much ground as possible during the night. We pulled into a rest stop an hour into Utah around 2 AM and slept in the parking lot. Given that we were in the van, it was actually really comfortable to sleep there. The following day we stopped for breakfast at Taco Bell (as is tradition), filled up gas, and then continued on our way to Arches. Due to a few stops at vista points along the way, we got there around 3.
Arches is currently undergoing road work, and so they’ve been closing the park from 7 PM - 7 AM every night Sunday - Thursday. This meant that Saturday night was our only night to get night shots there, and we committed to staying up the whole night to photograph the park and just generally hang out. After scoping out a few photography locations (Balanced Rock, Double Arch, the Windows, and Courthouse Towers), we headed to a picnic area to cook a dinner of pasta and veggie sauce. Given that we were going to stay up all night, I brewed some strong tea as well.
We rushed back to Double Arch a little bit late for the shot we had planned, but with enough time to experiment and enjoy the vibrant oranges and reds the setting sun painted on the rock.
For the next few hours, as we waited for the sky to go black and for the Milky Way to rise, we hung out under the one of the massive Windows Arches. It was surreal to be casually experimenting with our cameras under this iconic prehistoric landmark. We found that there was a photography group painting the underside of Double Arch as well, and so we took advantage of their fancy lights to take some shots there as well.
We had committed ourselves to making the hike out to Delicate Arch at around midnight, but having not done the hike before, we repeatedly lost the trail in the dim light of our headlamps. After finally making it to the broad expanse of slickrock where we expected to see the Arch, we instead saw jack shit and made the decision to turn back. Taking it slower this time, we followed footprints and worn rock back down to the parking lot, stopping only a couple times to backtrack a few steps.
Disheartened and disappointed from our failure to find Delicate Arch, we headed back to Double Arch to get Varun’s prized photo of the night - the Milky Way through the Arch. My 50mm lens was too tele to capture that shot, so I settled instead on hopping around between angles underneath the arches and experimenting with different shot compositions and camera settings. Towards the end of the night it struck me again how lucky I was to be able to casually hang out under the Arches and the Milky Way, taking pictures and shooting the shit all night, with the entire area to us.
I managed to get a few hours of sleep in the wee hours of the morning, after which we headed out to see a couple of the Arches further into the park. Unfortunately Devil’s Garden was closed, but we still managed to check out Sand Dune Arch and Broken Arch, which were cool but no where near as impressive as Double Arch.
Exhausted, we headed out of the park and towards Moab, and found a campground along the Colorado river between steep red canyons. After relaxing for a while, we made veggie dogs for dinner and were blessed by a spectacular sunset. I was completely dead, and passed out very soon after.
Monday morning we headed out to check out Canyonlands National Park. We scoped out a couple photography locations, then headed into Moab to buy some dinner & photography supplies. We grilled veggie kababs for dinner, then rushed back to the park to capture sunset and more night shots. We selected two locations: Green River Overlook and Mesa Arch. Mesa Arch turned out to not be ideal for the shot we envisioned, and after a cloud rolled in we packed up and then headed back out to Green River Overlook. We captured our shots and passed out in the parking lot late, although not as late as in Arches.
Tuesday morning we headed out to the view point at the very tip of the Mesa. It was a beautiful view, and after an hour of walking along the rim we headed back to the campsite to clean up and head to Salt Lake City. Varun flew out in the evening and I spoiled myself with a hotel room, as I had a lot of little errands and repairs I wanted to do.
These four days seemed to fly by in a blur! It was awesome to step up my photography game by taking pictures with someone so much more experienced than me, and it really helped having someone around to motivate me to stay up late and hike around in the dark hunting for cool shots. Definitely a trip I won’t forget.