Around Cedar Breaks, 9/13/2026

I was in southwestern Utah, again, for the Southwest Astronomy Festival. My wife and I came up to volunteer with a telescope, again. We were last here over the Fourth of July weekend, which was capped by a nice aurora display. No such luck, this time, around!

This summer, Cedar Breaks has been having an astronomy program every Friday and Saturday, which I think is great. You're above 10,000 feet, and, despite Cedar City being in sight, the skies are still pretty dark, much darker than my usual stomping grounds of Joshua Tree. Sky's the Limit is about 4.4 on the Bortle scale, while Point Supreme in Cedar Braks is about 3.5. By contrast, the parks around Moab (not in Moab, itself, but from some of the observing points within Arches, Canyonlands, and Deadhorse Point are between 2.5 and 3.1 on the Bortle scale.

You can get from the LA area to Cedar City in about seven driving hours (less, if you stop less frequently), so it's doable to leave LA in the morning and get to Cedar Breaks with enough time to set up for dark sky observing. Obviously, it's also possible to get back in a day, as well. But it does wear me out.

The Southwest Astronomy Festival runs three days and nights, with a variety of talks, a day or so of solar viewing, and three nights of dark sky viewing. So I left Friday morning, volunteered Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights, then drove back Monday. I'm still sleep-deprived, but wanted to get this posted reasoanbly, quickly, if only to get the leaf photos posted.

These were all taken on the morning of Sunday, September 13, 2026. The leaves were just starting to chage in spots, which means, by now (Sepember 16), some of those areas will be at or near peak, but most will still be a week or two away from that. These photographed areas, in particular, were east of Cedar Breaks, off of UT-143. It's the same area I visited on September 22, 2024, so that about tracks.

A couple of obligatory shots from Point Supreme, here. Point Supreme is where they do the astronomy programs. It's a nice, relatively open overlook, with a fair amount of parking. The exception was when they were working on building the new visitor center, when we set up at Northview Point. Also good visibility, but a smaller parking lot. Still, it was the best they had available.

That's actual Brianhead Peak, the prominent point at the top left. The structure in the first two shots of this post is there. The same point is visible as a silhouette in the aurora shots in the previously-linked post, above, from July, 2026.

The structure also appears in some Milky Way shots I took in 2021. In November, 2022, the structure's roof was destroyed in a windstorm. Replacement happened just this year, wrapping up just in time for the Fourth of July weekend.

Got another sticker to add to my water bottle. Funny story, by the way: There was a thin metal pin that held the lid on, so you could unscrew just the top, flip the top back, and drink from the growler. The pin fell out during our July 4 visit. I'm pretty sure we found that same pin on this trip, when I thought I lost a small rubber cap on the end of my finderscope, and about a half dozen people with flashlights looked for that, at the end of the night. Didn't find the cap, but someone did fine that tiny pin, so my growler lid stays put, again.

Took only one short hike, on September 12, 2026. I'll try to get that one posted relatively quickly.

West Side Loop, JOTR National Park, CA

Hiked August 17, 2026. I came out this weekend mainly for a night at Sky's the Limit, but booked two nights instead of my usual one, because I was off on Monday, as well. So the plan was to do astronomy on Saturday night, hike Sunday morning, head back out Sunday night for either landscape photography or more telescope viewing, then head home Monday morning. However, after my Sunday morning hike, I lacked motivation to head back out on Sunday night.

However, having paid for two nights, if I didn't do at least one more thing late Sunday, I could have just driven back home after the hike and saved the $65 or what ever the second night cost me. So, after that lazy Sunday afternoon and night, I *had* to do something on Monday morning. But not too long, since I'd have to drive back. Also, figured I'd want to take a shower before that, so I needed to get back relatively early, to have time to eat and shower and still be able to check out by 11am.

I settled on the West Side Loop, because it, like the Panorama Loop from the previous day, was the closest, quickest JOTR National Park access point from the Super 8 in Yucca Valley. Drove on up Joshua Lane, parked in the same spot in front of the nature center as the night before, and walked off to the West Side Loop trailhead, that I had passed on the way in, the day before.

Hiked the loop in a counterclockwise direction, so that meant heading mostly west, then south, then east, then south, again. The photos are in reverse order, by the way, so the top shot is nearing the return to the trailhead, the last good vista before you're making the dip back to the trailhead.

I guess the second shot was to illustrate that there's not a lot blooming around here in mid-August, not like my spring visit to Warren Peak, which I have not yet managed to blog.

This hike's scenery was obviously very similar to what I saw the previous day. It was adjacent, just a little north and south of what I saw on the Panorama Loop. And that hike had some similarity to the Warren Peak loop, which I haven't blogged, yet. BTW, some of the trail markers in this area will simply have a two letter marking: WP for Warren Peak, PL for Panorama Loop. I can't remember if it was WS for the West Side Loop or not, but there, you have it.

The trail is well marked, except near the campground, where it's crisscrossed by use trails, and could be a little confusing, without spotting the signs. Also, there's a short segment, just about halfway through, that was severely eroded by the remnants of Tropical Storm Hillary, a few years back.

That's what the big red signs were about, one on either end of the washout. That probably took out any steps or switchbacks, and makes the short segment have some very steep and unprotected climbs. I mean, it's not like you're exposed to a drop, but if you don't have grippy shoes, and, especially, if you're heading down, I think the chance of a slip and slide is pretty good.

So, if given a choice, I would take the trail in a counterclockwise direction. Mind you, I didn't know this when I started; just a fortuitous turn of events.

I got an earlier start on Monday then I got on Sunday, maybe an hour earlier. Also, I think the temperatures were a little cooler. You can definitely see the difference in color, with the lower, softer, orangish or yellowish light in the first few shots I took (the last few shots in the post.

Still, between the two hikes (and the late night of astronomy on Saturday), I apparently built up a hydration debt. I was tired and thirsty for several days after I got back home from this weekend.

All told, from car door to car door, 4.85 miles, and 830 feet of gain. Not particularly long, but about what I wanted for a "hike before checkout" thing. Quite a bit easier than the day before.

General info: No drones, no dogs on the trail. Not a lot of shade, so keep that in mind. Pleasant walk, though. I had gotten so few hikes in, recently, that I partially made the second night's reservation to make me take a couple of hikes, that weekend.

Panorama Loop, JTNP, CA

Well, after an extended hiking drought, this should be my Hike #28 for the year. Hike #27 was another short jaunt up to Mount Hollywood, which I won't separately blog since I've done it so many times.

There was a trail registry on top of Panorama Peak, so I went ahead and wrote in it, then placed it back where I found it. That's why we have two shots of a can on a rock. Apparently, I didn't face the can the same way as I found it, and I shot it from slightly different directions, but, close enough!

This trailhead is out of Black Rock Canyon campground, which you'd reach by taking Joshua Lane south, out of Yucca Valley. Joshua Lane is part of a signaled intersection in Yucca Valley. CA-62 goes east-west through town. Heading in from the north at this light, it's CA-247, also signed as "Old Woman Springs Road." Heading down to the south is Joshua Lane.

There is currently (as of August 24, 2026) substantial construction along Joshua Lane and some of the other roads south of CA-62, which slows the drive. Still, it's only about fifteen minutes from the Super 8 in Yucca Valley, to the Black Rock Canyon campsite.

I hiked Warren Peak in the spring (April 18, 2026), but never managed either a blog post or even a facebook post on my personal account. However, I did make mention of having made this hike, here, and I did find the photos I took. So there's a hike I need to go back and blog.

This trip, like most of mine here, wa in connection with a night of astronomy at Sky's the Limit. That part of my trip proved a little complicated, as my Skywatcher 350P had a major malfunction. Still, it's functional even without all the electronics as a perfectly usable 14" Dobsonian telescope. It just lacks goto and tracking, so it wasn't a total loss. People still got to see some pretty cool stuff. And after it was over, I used my Telrad and some patience to track down Comet Tempel 2, the 10th comet for which a periodic orbit was calculated. It was pretty faint and tiny, and probably would not have photographed well, which is good, because I forgot to bring my counterweight for my tracking equatorial mount. So the astronomy side of the trip was far from perfect, but still somewhat enjoyable, if not necessarily what I had planned.

The next morning, I got up, ate my breakfast, drank my coffee, and left the motel some time around 8:30am, later than intended. Parked near the nature center. Got started on my hike a little before 9am.

In the summer, a lot of the campsites are closed off, and the nature center up there is only open on the weekends, and closed for an hour for lunch in the middle of the day. Although it is part of Joshua Tree National Park, you are not required to pay an entry fee or display a permit to park in the day use areas.

There are several potential starting points for hikes here. I just headed south from the nature center, and started my hike at the south end of the campground. The trailhead was signed, with mileage indicators, and other signage along the way.

There's quite a bit of Joshua tree, juniper, and pinyon pine along the area, as well as lots of creosote. The area burned significantly not too long ago, so there are also areas of stading dead trees and what not. It's a slight incline, and somewhat sandy in places, but a quick walk, and, again, well-signed.

After about 1.8 miles, the trail splits. The next three miles or so is a large "lollypop" loop. If you go right (counterclockwise), you' shortly hit another right, which would take you to Warren Peak (WP, on the trail signs). To make it different, I headed left.

About halfway through that loop, the trail approaches, but does not ascend, Panorama Peak. But its location is obvious when you're there, and several use trails leave the main loop to head up to the summit. There are plenty of nice views along most of the loop.

Shortly before you finish the loop section, you've pass the Warren Peak trail, coming in from your left. If you have the time and inclination, you can add that as part of your day. As for me, because I still planned additional hiking or photography that evening, I just continued through the intersection, and walked back to my car.

When I got back to the nature center, it was closed for its 11am - noon lunch break. So I took a seat on one of the plastic Adirondack chairs on the porch of the nature center and ordered Subway. I had a perfectly usable cell signal from here. There's a Subway right at the 247-62 intersection, in a gas station, about as "on the way back" as it could be," so I could easily pick that up on the way back to the motel. Ordered two footlongs, on account of a coupon. Ate one for lunch, and saved the other half for either a later dinner, or to eat, the next day.

Just about seven miles for the day, including an extra 1/5 of a mile or so to walk down to the restroom near the nature center and back. 1,211 feet of verticle. Turned out this wiped me out pretty good, and I lacked the motivation for either astrophotography or a sunset hike. I did manage a short wander around the Desert Christ thing. Not sure if I'll blog that. We'll see.

Stuff Around Mesquite, NV

We left Cedar City on July 5, 2026, after two nights of astronomy outreach at Cedar Breaks National Monument, the highlight of which was a night of pretty nifty aurora borealis.

On return drives, I'm always torn between wanting to see "one more thing," and just wanting to get home. So among the things I didn't see on this trip was the largest American flag in the world, which was temporarily being displayed in Tuacahn, near Snow Canyon State Park. I also didn't do another trip to Red Cliffs National Conservation Area, to show my wife the little patch of dinosaur prints, there.

But, once safely through the Virgin River Gorge, I felt more relaxed. The Gorge is a place you don't want to get stuck in or on the "wrong" side of, because, depending on where there's an accident, if it's serious enough, it can shut down I-15 in either or both directions, and and leave you with no good way around it. An accident on many parts of I-15 can have that effect, but I-15 shut-down accidents seem to occur with higher frequency in or near the Gorge, because it's somewhat curvy, with an incline, so trucks can be moving much slower than cars want to drive.

Once south of the Gorge, there are two Pilot/Flying J truck stop in quick succession. One is on the Arizona Strip, north of Mesquite. The other one is just south of Mesquite. They're actually an "Eagles Landing," which is an affiliate of Pilot/Flying J, and operates several locations in southern Utah, the Arizona Strip, and southern Utah). I usually stop at the one south of Mesquite, which is on Lower Flat Top Drive. From there, my first detour was within a few miles of that location.

Two miles northeast of the Pilot, on Lower Flat Top, is a collection of carvings (the first of which, I think, was the "Little Mount Rushmore" one). They're actually pinned on Google maps, now. Unfortunately, "Little Mount Rushmore" has eroded to the point of not really being recognizable. But there have been many additions, including "Crazy Horse" and a mostly-buried "Statue of Liberty."

There's also some interesting ideas, including the banana taped to a wall art piece, and a reproduction of the "Falling Man" pictoglyph. Many are done very well, while others are not.

"Little Mount Rushmore" is about two miles northeast on Lower Flat Top Drive from the FLying J, just east of a road called "Witwer Trail," and across the steet from a trail parking area. In this area, as of now, Lower Flat Top Drive is one lane in each direction, with a large median, and a wide parking area with a curb on either side of the road. A surpising number of people were stopping along the road to look at these. Well a surprising number, considering the normal traffic on this road, which isn't a shortcut to anything.

My wife and I actually drove by here by accident, a number of years ago. I-15 was backed up, and so, from my usual gas/bathroom break location, my GPS navigation sent me down Lower Flat Top Road. Couldn't believe what we saw!

You can walk along the shoulder, or just stop your car repeatedly along the way. In the summer, when it's hot, this might be the more common way to experience it.

After some wandering around here, we continued south on I-15, toward Nevada. My fitbit told me I hadn't taken enough steps that hour, so I pulled over, at what I think was the third truck parking area on southbound I-15, south of Mesquite. It's at Mile Marker 96. If you reach the Logandale/Overton Exit 93, you've gone too far.

At the truck parking area, there is a closed but unlocked, unsigned (not labeled as "No Trespassing" or "Tribal Land" or anything) gate. There is a sign that says "Keep Gate Closed." So I opened the gate, drove through, then closed the gate.

On the other side is a gravel road, one of which parallels the highway, and heads towards a hill with a number of antenna, to your southwest. I drove slowly that way. Passable with my Camry, but some places had rocks that would scrape the bottom of the car, if I wasn't careful. So I drove carefully.

Where the road starts turning to the right and climbing the hill, the road looked a little iffy, so I pulled over and parked, there. This was after about 1/2 mile of driving. Then it was maybe 1/4 of walking along the road, until I could see the arrow.

I later found this post, on "Avoiding Regret," one of the blogs I read, on occasion. The irony is that "Avoiding Regret" also mentions the Donkey Museum, which she apparently did not write up in her blog, but did write up on facebook.

So follow those links for more information on the navigation arrows. Otherwise, that's all I've got for my drive back from Cedar City. Collectively, the Cedar City and Mesquite stuff was Hike 26 for the year. Been in a bit of a hiking lull, since then.

Aurora Over Cedar Breaks NM, UT!

I spent the Fourth of July weekend in Cedar City. The evenings of July 3rd and 4th, I went up to Point Supreme to support their night sky program. I also took a short hike during the day on July 4th. And I stopped and saw a few things on the drive back down towards Las Vegas, on July 5th. I just have stuff from the 3rd and 4th, here.

The main thing to report was that there was a pretty nice display of the northern lights (aurora borealis) on the night of July 3, 2026, and the early morning of July 4, 2026. In real-life, the color is not nearly as apparent, or as intense, but the curtains and pillars of light were easily visible, and hints of tint, mostly reds and greens, were faintly visible.

These shorts were taken with my Samsung S25 phone, ISO 1600, 15 second exposures. I had no dslr on this trip, and no tripod, so I just leaned my cell phone on top of a stone fence brace, with a spare power source to hold it up. As a result, the shots were at odd tilts, and I had to correct the tilt in post-production.

A daytime view from the same area gives you an idea of the skyline you're looking towards. This is from Spectra Point (near the visitor center), looking north. The aurora were active from about 10:30pm until after midnight.

The intensity of the displays came and went, and appeared to travel right to left. It was several hours of great excitement, as I had never seen significant aurora before, and definitely not with a modern camera handy. This doesn't sate me from wanting to go somewhere further north, where it would be more impressive, but at least I got an idea of what to look for.

Because I was up so late on the 3rd, I wasn't much motivated for a long walk on the 4th, so I just did the Alpine Pond Loop, and the link between Chessman Ridge Overlook, and the north Alpine Loop trailhead. There's a master plan that create a "North Rim" trail, all the way from North View to Spectra Point, but, unfortunately, we're not there, yet. So just a bit over two miles of walking there. But I got way more than a mile more for the day, hauling my telescope stuff from the parking lot at Spectra Point and back. It's two roundtrips to take stuff out and two to take stuff back, and usually a few more as I go back and forth between the car and the observing point, getting lined pants or dropping off things I don't need.

This past year was a near-record low snowfall, so the wildflowers came early. A lot of the areas that would still be greening out were already past-peak. Still plenty of other flowers among the forested areas, but the big fields were not in bloom, unfortunately. By comparison, while the fields I saw were mostly spent, here's what they looked like, three weeks later on the calendar, a few years ago.

As previously noted, sill lots of flowers in the forested areas. Lots of Colorado columbine, various lupine, purple penstemon, a few Indian paintbrush, and other flowers, not pictured.

Didn't go on the paved trails that run from the administrative building towards Spectra Point, because I was pretty sure it was all going to be spent flowers, there. Just satisfied myself with a little walk along a flower-lined path, and a walk by of the Alpine Pond, before heading back down into town, to eat and rest, before returning for the astronomy program, later that night.

During the summer season, Cedar Breaks has an astronomy program every Friday and Saturday. Obviously, different experiences if you go when the moon is up versus when it is not. Fourth of July was near third quarter moon, so it rose late, and was pretty dark during both observing periods. But dark comes late at this latitude, so the best viewing was well after we started.

The night of the third was a little chilly, but the cold went away when we were distracted by the aurora, at least for us, who were still there. The vast majority of visitors left before we noticed the aurora, which is a shame.

The Fourth of July, by contrast, was warmer, and more visitors stayed longer to enjoy the telescope views. We could also see the higher-launched fireworks that went off in Cedar City. Their show ends with an explosive disposal of excess aviation fuel, apparently. That was a pretty bright and startling sight. So each night was a very different experience.

No other hikes on this trip, though I had considered a number, including a return to Spring Creek Canyon Wilderness Study Area, near Kanaraville. Also, in retrospect, having seen how low the water was in the lower stretches of Ashdown Creek, should probably have taken advantage of that by exploring Ashdown Gorge, too. But got too lazy. Combination of late night and hot day.

To partially make up for that, we hit a couple of minor attractions on the drive back down, which I will probably post, next.

Likely coming back to Cedar Breaks for the Southwest Astronomy Festival, in the same capacity. Possibly colder, then (it's in mid-September). But if you know about the temperature difference at 10,000 feet, and dress accordingly, it can still be a load of fun.