Goblin Valley State Park
Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2008 11:01 am
Just around the corner from Capitol Reef National Park, maybe about 50 miles away, is a surreal place known as Goblin Valley. Certainly worth visiting if you're ever in Utah. We arrived with just enough light to set up camp & get the fire going. First thing next morning, we hiked within the valley for about 3 hours. I was kind of annoyed that there was a huge storm system overhead, with black & gray skies-pure crap conditions for taking photos. But, crappy photos are better than no photos, so I took hundreds of shots anyway.
The campground & Goblin Valley in the crappy light:
Returned to camp, ate some lunch, then drove down a dirt road out of the park to a place called Little Wildhorse Canyon, which is a popular hike:
On the way back to the campground, I spied a sign posted next to a little dirt road that had warnings about needing high clearance 4x4, etc. Had to take a short detour and drive it. It was only a couple of miles in length, but severely washed out. It ended at an overlook of a rock formation outside the park:
From the overlook, I saw a fairly large patch of blue sky out to the west, and the sun was getting close to breaking the clouds. We decided to go back to Goblin Valley with the hope of having some light this time, although it would be cutting it real close to the sun setting.
We totally lucked out, as the light was fantastic. Even all the dark clouds added to the overall ideal shooting conditions:
Here's our campsite the next morning as we were slowly packing for the drive home:
The black thing on the bottom right of the photo is a cat. The rangers told us it either ran out of someone's RV or, more likely, someone abandoned it. It's been there 3-4 years and is super healthy looking & astonishingly clean. It hopped from lap to lap all night in front of the fire, and I saw him a bit later perched on a cliff overlooking the camp, with a couple of big crows sitting next to him. Oddest thing. We fed and gave it water and were contemplating bringing him home, but if he's survived this long out here, then he's doing just fine. Talk about out of place, but he'd be more so if he was stuck in someone's house. Still, it really pisses me off to come across an abandoned animal like this. Some people just need to be shot for their own good & the good of others.
The campground & Goblin Valley in the crappy light:
Returned to camp, ate some lunch, then drove down a dirt road out of the park to a place called Little Wildhorse Canyon, which is a popular hike:
On the way back to the campground, I spied a sign posted next to a little dirt road that had warnings about needing high clearance 4x4, etc. Had to take a short detour and drive it. It was only a couple of miles in length, but severely washed out. It ended at an overlook of a rock formation outside the park:
From the overlook, I saw a fairly large patch of blue sky out to the west, and the sun was getting close to breaking the clouds. We decided to go back to Goblin Valley with the hope of having some light this time, although it would be cutting it real close to the sun setting.
We totally lucked out, as the light was fantastic. Even all the dark clouds added to the overall ideal shooting conditions:
Here's our campsite the next morning as we were slowly packing for the drive home:
The black thing on the bottom right of the photo is a cat. The rangers told us it either ran out of someone's RV or, more likely, someone abandoned it. It's been there 3-4 years and is super healthy looking & astonishingly clean. It hopped from lap to lap all night in front of the fire, and I saw him a bit later perched on a cliff overlooking the camp, with a couple of big crows sitting next to him. Oddest thing. We fed and gave it water and were contemplating bringing him home, but if he's survived this long out here, then he's doing just fine. Talk about out of place, but he'd be more so if he was stuck in someone's house. Still, it really pisses me off to come across an abandoned animal like this. Some people just need to be shot for their own good & the good of others.
... Very nice......... Triffid