Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona
A nice night of solitude watching the Milky Way rise over one of my favorite national park units in the southwest. I absolutely love the views of the night sky in the desert. It seems as though there are no limits to the number of stars that you can see in the cool, crisp, cloudless nights that are so common there.
From my trip to the southwest back in May of this year, this was my first night of camping in the desert on this trip. By the time the trip was done, I would have spent 13 out of 14 nights sleeping in the back of the Jeep under skies like the one seen here. It was a magical trip!
What a surprise it was to be traveling through north central Minnesota recently, when I came around a bend in the highway and was shocked to see this eagle sitting on a post just 50 feet off the edge of the pavement. I whipped around, made a few photographs of him, and left a tobacco offering on the ground, thanking him for posing so nicely. Check out those awesome talons!
Back in May I had the pleasure of staying at a very well-appointed campground on the Kaibab Paiute Indian Reservation in northwest Arizona. The best feature of the park? It is an amazing place to view the Milky Way, right from your campsite! The Kaibab Paiute Reservation is also the first Tribal Nation to have been designated a Dark Sky Nation! The Kaibab Paiute people have worked hard to preserve their night skies, and it shows. I highly recommend a stay at the RV Park and while you're there, be sure to check out Pipe Spring National Monument, located just a short walk from the campground. Pipe Spring has also been designated an International Dark Sky Park. This area is such an amazing place to experience the wonders of the night sky!
