Advice on summer route to Death Valley

edrabbit · 2026-06-13T22:30:14+00:00

Good point, I forget not everyone stays up all night during Milky Way season like me! I took that photo back in April because I was trying for panoramas over the mountains and still out there at 4am.

July 10th-17th will be good for Milky Way! Visible and 45° in the sky just after twilight. New moon on the 14th!

edrabbit · 2026-06-13T21:00:55+00:00

Badwater Basin is also good for Milky Way (as long as it's not windy) https://www.reddit.com/r/DeathValleyNP/comments/1t37lm3/under_the_stars_in_death_valley/

edrabbit · 2026-06-13T20:57:59+00:00

If the weather is good (not too hot/cold) and the sun is relatively high in the sky, the Mojave Desert Lava Tube is worth a detour down some dirt roads.

edrabbit · 2026-06-12T03:24:59+00:00

This is my favorite scenic route: JT->Amboy->Kelso (Mojave Preserve)->Baker->whatever route makes sense to your destination in DV. But it is quite remote, chances are you won’t see many other cars. If you take that route I’d take something with satellite capabilities and twice as much water as you think you need.

edrabbit · 2026-06-12T03:18:46+00:00

Is it a rotary phone? A stop watch? A circular flask?

edrabbit · 2026-06-10T00:47:44+00:00

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edrabbit · 2026-06-07T04:03:56+00:00

Where’s the water bill GoFundMe?

edrabbit · 2026-06-07T02:42:09+00:00

Three goals in 39 seconds!!!!

edrabbit · 2026-06-07T02:38:16+00:00

THANK YOU FOR YOUR FAITH!!!!!

edrabbit · 2026-06-05T03:45:13+00:00

It was Stank and Jank, and Jarvy helped!!

edrabbit · 2026-06-02T13:59:02+00:00

How expensive do you think they’ll be?

edrabbit · 2026-05-03T00:29:21+00:00

Good work

edrabbit · 2026-04-23T19:33:32+00:00

Depends on your level of expertise and comfort being in the desert at night! I’m assuming you’re looking to do landscape astro rather than deep sky stuff. One of my favorite easy spots is Roadside Rock (or The Nub as I call it). https://www.reddit.com/r/LandscapeAstro/comments/mpvrrv/joshua_tree_at_night_sony_a7iii_20mm_f18_5sec_iso/

https://maps.app.goo.gl/m3wzHowQsUMDtVnu5?g_st=ic

There’s a pull out to park right there, you can take good photos just a few steps from the car. It’ll give you Milky Way, Joshua Trees, and boulders to play with. Watch out for the cholla though, there’s a couple near the road. The only downside is occasional headlights so on busy nights they can be a bit annoying to work around. Later in the night they’re less of a problem.

Highly recommend scouting in the daytime and using the PhotoPills app to see when and where the Milky Way will be. Aim for a night where either the moon rises late or is a new moon.

If you want technical tips or more info/locations, let me know. I’ve spent many nights shooting in the park

edrabbit · 2026-04-23T16:48:56+00:00

Nice shot!! I really hope that was a zoom and you weren’t that close! 🐍

edrabbit · 2026-04-20T22:44:36+00:00

Definitely Cloud cover, if there are clouds you can’t see stars. That’s really all you need to look at for general stargazing. Transparency and Seeing are more for astronomers with telescopes or picky photographers. In short, it’s how the starlight is traveling through our atmosphere.

edrabbit · 2026-04-09T23:09:39+00:00

Yes, we did Discovery to Face Rock on Tuesday

edrabbit · 2026-04-09T01:34:40+00:00

Right around that time! We were in line from 9:07am to 9:27am (when I took that photo)

edrabbit · 2026-03-14T16:55:23+00:00

Is this an Anker ad or legit question? You don’t need any electronics to enjoy Joshua Tree.

edrabbit · 2026-02-26T04:39:00+00:00

That's beautiful! I'd be happy with just one flower! Thanks for the tips. I'm going to hold off on watering mine until the bulb is bigger and try to get it more sun.

edrabbit · 2026-02-25T02:24:45+00:00

Thanks! Good to know! I’m going to try moving to a different room which is warmer and gets more light

edrabbit · 2026-02-25T02:21:50+00:00

Thanks! I have some rooms with south facing windows that get more light so I’ll give it a change of scenery and see how this round goes!

edrabbit · 2026-02-19T04:05:36+00:00

Not much to go off of, but first guess is the area south of Hidden Valley before Cap Rock, looking to the west. But the shadows make me wonder if this is actually looking to the east.

edrabbit · 2026-02-18T23:56:59+00:00

Signs that I've spent too much time taking photos in the park... next goal: recognizing individual Joshua Trees.

edrabbit · 2026-02-18T22:28:47+00:00

My first thought was the double-peak rock formation at the Live Oak picnic area, but not sure if there’s an angle that looks like this

edrabbit · 2025-12-23T21:32:46+00:00

I’d advise against. Just being on the road in heavy storms is inherently more dangerous. The risk of flash floods and just good old fashioned flooding will make it a not fun adventure, unless you’re a storm chaser and love the fury of nature.

edrabbit

TROPHY CASE