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From Minnesota to the Southwest

TJ Sky

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Hi everyone,

Well, I've been home from this trip for about a month already... including a 14-day total quarantine in my home following the trip. But, just now getting around to organizing the photos. Earlier this spring I was already well into my trip when the coronavirus madness really started to ramp up. I finished out my trip which was a total of 3 weeks long and i arrived home just before all of the stay-at-home orders started getting issued for the various states.

I live in northeast Minnesota, and this was my 3rd road trip to the southwest with my 2018 JLU, which I purchased in November 2018. After this most recent trip my odometer now sits at about 47,000 miles. On this trip I did about 6,000 miles. My goal when I travel is to visit some of the most remote locations I can find. I definitely accomplished that on this trip. Big Bend National Park was experiencing record visitation when I arrived, but it's easy to get away from the crowds as the majority of park visitors stay in the more developed areas. I spent almost all of my time exploring the backcountry road routes in the park and over the course of 3 to 4 days I saw less than a dozen other vehicles.

I spent two nights camping on the River Road, one night camping on Old Ore Road and one night I stayed mobile and explored the paved roads looking for places to take night sky photographs. I'm a part-time photographer and specialize in night sky images, so my trips are often planned with night photography in mind. When I camp I don't bother with a tent, I just sleep in the back of the Jeep with the rear seat folded down. Its plenty comfortable for one person and associated gear.

Big Bend was AWESOME, and I can't wait to go back someday. This park is HUGE and has so much to see and explore. During my visit the park was getting rainfall every day, in some cases heavy rain. This turned some sections of the backcountry roads into a muddy mess. But, I never ran into anything that was impassable. One of the photos in my first post here shows the worst section of road that i came across. It was a very muddy section that was maybe 1/4 mile long. Most of the roads were pretty rocky and dried out quickly.

This first batch of photos is just from Big Bend, I'll post some other batches too from other portions of the trip. Enjoy!
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TJ Sky

TJ Sky

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Kofa National Wildlife Refuge, Arizona.

I absolutely loved this place. So much space and so few people in it. The west side of the Kofa Mountains was somewhat busy with a fair amount of people camping in the flats leading up to the mountains. I spent most of my time on the east side, though, and in 3 days the only other traffic I saw was one group of 4 UTV's. Lots of cholla cactus in the refuge, and boy if you can spend a sunrise and sunset among the cholla I highly recommend it. The way they catch the light is unbelievable. Just watch out for the "babies", as they have a tendency to cling to you!

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HappyJeeper

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Great pics! You should hit up the Bradshaw Trail in So. Cal. sometime. As a lone camper in my Jeep, I like the Houser Geode Beds.

Lots of exploring and rockhounding to do there. This is my old '13 JKUR. Haven't gone in my new one yet...

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TJ Sky

TJ Sky

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Travis
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Great pics! You should hit up the Bradshaw Trail in So. Cal. sometime. As a lone camper in my Jeep, I like the Houser Geode Beds.

Lots of exploring and rockhounding to do there. This is my old '13 JKUR. Haven't gone in my new one yet...
Thanks! Appreciate you sharing your pics as well. I had the Bradshaw Trail saved in Gaia GPS, but I didn't make it over as far as California this time around. I'd like to do the full length of the Mojave Trail as well. Next time :like:
 

wibornz

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Wow, you have some great shots. I love red rocks with some green vegetation. You are were in my favorite part of the country. Thanks for posting them up. I can't wait to see some more. Hey how about some of your night shots?
 

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TJ Sky

TJ Sky

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Wow, you have some great shots. I love red rocks with some green vegetation. You are were in my favorite part of the country. Thanks for posting them up. I can't wait to see some more. Hey how about some of your night shots?
Thanks! Here's a few I've worked on so far. You can always see more of my photos by visiting my website too. My photography is kind of a side job, as I do work full time apart from it as well. https://www.travisnovitsky.com

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wibornz

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Beautiful work. Those are amazing. Some of the best night photos I have seen in a while.
 

JAY

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Stunning photojournal!!
 

sstuner

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Amazing timeline photos. Thanks for sharing
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