Cathedral Valley is noted in dusty guidebooks for its solitude, because nobody goes there.
Well, almost nobody. I went there once. I haven’t gone back.
Why? Probably because its in a tough neighborhood: too much competition from the Great Circle’s nearby (in Red Rock Country reckoning) Horseshoe Canyon, Canyonland’s Maze and the Golden Staircase, and Capitol Reef’s own canyons, the Waterpocket Fold and the ghosts of Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch.
What we have here is a monotonous, backcountry desert of gypsum clay, with a slippery 4WD track that eventually leads you to a range of red rock cliffs. Near their foot are some tall, freestanding sandstone obelisks, resembling cathedrals. In the mid-day sun the similarity may not be too striking.
Take photos in early morning or late afternoon when strong shadows are at play — interesting possibilities for black and white photography. In either case (digital or BW) you need to arrive in the afternoon, set-up camp away from the temples (photographs including your own tent are un-cool).
Then scout out the temples with an eye to the afternoon sun and set-up your tripod position(s) accordingly — follow the interplay of light and shadows on the obelisks as the sun goes down.
When the evening light finally fades, decide where to set-up your equipment for the morning light. If you’re disappointed in the results of the late afternoon shots, you have another chance coming in the morning. You might prefer just to pack-up and go, but it is too dangerous to move around at night. You’re stuck until morning whether you like it or not, so you might as well concentrate your thoughts on getting the best out of the morning light.
To travel into the gypsum clay desert means that you’re going to get really close to solitude. Also, you’re going to use at least a day and a half of trip time that you could be spending in Horseshoe Canyon, the Maze, et al.
It doesn’t rain there often but when it does, the clay becomes impassable, and you can easily lose a couple of days getting out.
When the rain water rages down through the canyons from the west, it carries red silt into the Fremont River (along Highway 24, the southern edge of the desert). With the sun behind it, the river boils blood red.
Cormac McCarthy wrote about a river like this in “Blood Meridian,” but I didn’t believe in the image until I saw the Fremont River turn to blood.
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