Bryce Canyon (Part 6 - Inspiration Moon)

     After our buffet dinner that followed a full day of hiking, we decided to go back into the park for one more adventure before the day was through. This time we mainly wanted to play with our new Pentax camera in low-light conditions. Bryce Canyon National Park is known for having some of the darkest skies in the world, with very little light pollution and good sky clarity. You can see the milky way on dark nights. I had hoped to get a good look at the Milky Way and maybe get a picture on this trip, but it was a full moon when we were there and the light from the moon was way too bright to see the Milky Way. Full moons are always cool to see and the rising moon had provided me with an awesome sight on my road ride the night before when I reached Inspiration Point. I noted the time of the moonrise on that ride and we got back to Inspiration Point a bit earlier than that on this night so we could set up our new tripod and be ready for the moon to pop over the mountains to the east.

Shannon lining up the shot in the evening shadows. It was already getting cold, down into the 30s after a 75-degree day.

     The moon soon popped into view and it made for some good pictures with both cameras. We watched in awe as it rose above the mountains and kept getting brighter while the sun slowly descended at our backs. The main amphitheater made for one heck of a foreground in front of the moon.

Some colors in the sky as darkness approaches.

Full amphitheater in front of a full moon.

     We also played with some sky pictures once full darkness set in. This Pentax does well picking up the stars and is surprisingly clear for a lower-end camera. We stayed out until we were really cold and started to hear a lot of coyote activity that sounded really close. It was a great way to wrap up our time inside the park.

Stars behind a dead tree

The dipper behind a tree. It was so dark when I took this that I couldn't see the camera right in front of my face.

     More from our departure coming in the next post as we made our way east along scenic Highway UT-12.