Goblin Valley–Dark Skies and lots of rocks

22 Sept, 2017: Goblin Valley State Park, Utah

Dark sky designation


Goblin Valley is a designated ‘dark sky’ area.  The nearest towns (light sources at night) are 35 and 50 miles away, making this area one of the darkest in the US (although it seems that all Dark Sky areas claim that!).  Nevertheless, I can testify that once the sun is down, you cannot see your hand in front of your face.  It’s black out.  While several nights have been overcast, I’ve had a few really clear nights and the sky view is outstanding!  Lots and lots of stars and a clear view of the Milky Way.  I think I read that 2/3 of Americans no longer have a view of the Milky Way from their homes – too much light pollution in the cities.  How unfortunate!!

One of these days I will have the patience to go through all my camera settings and set up a tripod to see if I can get a photo of the amazing night sky – but not yet.  The nights have been getting progressively colder and colder – my temp gauge is reading around 20F in the mornings – it may be getting a little wonky because that seems very cold – on the other hand, my furnace has been running a lot at night!!  Even the day time temps are chilly if I’m sitting in the shade (still T-shirt weather for hiking).

Wandering through the Valley of Goblins


What can I say?  I love all the weird shapes and the dramatic colors.



A duck?






"I found that I had more to say about the color blue" Georgia O'Keefe



Suspense! When will it fall??

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