Last year, Blake and I made a trip down to Cathedral Valley in Capitol Reef National Park. I had just started getting the hang of star photos and this was the perfect place because of the dark skies. I knew that we had to go back so that I could take more star photo. We knew that we would be going to Manti for the Mormon Miracle Pageant and decided that we would make it a longer trip and head to Cathedral Valley as well. We invited Aubrey and Logan and also decided to the Cassidy Arch Canyon again. We had such a blast doing it the first time that we wanted to try it again. It was also fun because it was Aubrey and Logan’s first canyoneering experience and so we got to be the guides.

We got to Cathedral Valley right at the perfect time. The sun was just going down and the lighting on the monoliths was incredible. We spent a few minutes exploring the area and scouting out the best star photo locations before making our classic camping meal — hamburgers. We had decided before we left that we were going to ditch the tent and spend the night under the stars. Logan and I got all set up for star photos. The moon was coming up around midnight so we had just enough time to capture the Milky Way. I decided that I was going to make a goal to shoot a time lapse over the Temple of the Moon and the Temple of the Sun. I really wanted to capture the North Star so that I could get the circular movement of the stars. I’m really happy with how it turned out and can’t wait to try new things with star trails.

We packed up early Saturday morning, and headed straight to Cassidy Arch. You can read more about our guide of the canyon here. We loved doing the canyon a second time and want to try more canyons in Capitol Reef.