Rio Grande and River Road by Night

I spent most of the day driving, looking and stopping along the way. I wanted to see the sights. It was clear but I still enjoy the drive and the view. I also wanted to stop along the river to do some night photography.
The Valley between the Sierra Diablo and Delaware Mountains, around the Beach Mountains into Van Horn. Then across the high desert grasslands south of the Davis Mountains into Valentine and finally into Marfa. From there you turn south and cross more grasslands then down through valleys to the Rio Grande where you meet the River Road in Presidio. Turning southeast you follow along the Rio Grande into Big Bend Ranch State Park. We made the state park mid-late afternoon.

There we walked Closed Canyon and went to the Big Hill for sunset. We set up camp in a nearby camp for state park. Like most places out here-we had it to ourselves.
That put me in a good spot for some night images at a few locations.
I was up early the next morning to dark sky and and a rising Milky Way. The Big Hill, the tepee rest area and the old Contrabando movie set were my targets. All of them are regular places I visit in the day and I thought might also work at night. Luck was with me and I was able to get them all.


It was another good morning with dark and mostly clear skies that gave a good Milky Way image at each location. Each a shot on my list and each one solidly checked off.
I was especially glad to get a shot of the Contrabando movie set as the news is reporting that it is likely to be demolished. It was never built to last and some of them damaged bad in the flood of 2008. In any event my chance may be gone. Glad I stopped when I did.
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