In April 2025, I took a solo road trip to St. George, Utah to visit my mom and aunt. My plan included sleeping in the back of my 4Runner, and as it turns out, driving a lot of miles over the eight days of travel through eastern Oregon, Utah, and Nevada, visiting places I’d not seen before. Starting in Portland, I drove to Eastern Oregon’s Owyhee Canyon and stayed in Leslie Gulch for a night. Crawling out into temps in the low-30s was a challenge in the wee hours, but I was committed to try to catch as many Milky Way photo ops as I could on this trip.

After a quick post-Milky Way session nap, I set out on the long day by driving south through the eastern side of Nevada en route to St. George, Utah. I’ll admit I was pleasantly surprised at how beautiful it was, having expected boring desert vistas. In St George, I stayed with my mom and aunt for a few days—it’s always so great to see them. Next up was an afternoon and night at Bryce Canyon National Park. Again, an early morning Milky Way photo op. This time it was at Bryce’s Sunset Point overlook, where I met Sean, a photographer making his way from his home in Virginia to the North Cascades for a summer gig.

From Bryce, I took a side trip to Escalante, Utah (no exploring aside from the drive itself), before returning to eastern Nevada and Great Basin National Park for a night forecasted to bring snow and 60-mph wind gusts. While the wind didn’t materialize—at least where I was camped—I did wake up with snow and ice on my windshield though the roads were clear. No Milky Way photos, but as I was leaving, I had fantastic views of storm clouds forming and blowing through the wide valley below Great Basin. That day brought a long drive through Nevada to Oregon’s Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. I wanted to camp up on Steens Mountain but the loop into the mountain area was closed. This was a blessing in disguise since instead I ended up staying at the Page Springs Campground on the edge of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. I’m not sure I would’ve explored the Malheur if it wasn’t for the road closure. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard so many birds (apparently the region is home to over 360 bird species), a luxury we clearly do not have in the city. A leisurely day of driving, including a nap midway, brought me home, eager to return to spend time in all of these locations.

My 2400-mile route.