Rainbow Over Mitre Peak from Skyline Drive

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Mitre Peak Rainbow-West Texas

Capturing a fleeting West Texas desert rainbow before an evening of astrophotography.

A Sky Island Surprise

Many people pass off West Texas as nothing more than a dusty, hot, and empty stretch of highway. To me, it’s turning out to be of the most stunningly beautiful regions on the planet. Ever since making Texas my home three years ago, I find myself drawn back to the Trans-Pecos region again and again. Whether wandering through the art community of Marfa or hiking the dramatic canyons of Big Bend National Park, the landscape never fails to inspire. In fact, I already have another trip locked in for this December to spend more time around Terlingua and Big Bend.

Escaping the Heat on Skyline Drive

During a past trip camping at Davis Mountains State Park, I made a habit of paying the $3 night-use pass to drive up to Skyline Drive once evening approached. Sitting at nearly 5,000 feet in elevation, this "sky island" offers a welcome retreat from the low-desert heat and serves as a premier launching pad for astrophotography. My plan for the night was straightforward: set up my gear early, catch the late afternoon light, and then run my smart telescopes alongside my primary camera body to hunt for deep-sky targets and shoot the Milky Way.

When Desert Storms Deliver

Getting to my spot early paid off in a way I didn't anticipate. Right before sunset, light refracted through a lingering weather cell, casting a brilliant, vertical rainbow slice directly over Mitre Peak near Alpine, Texas Standing prominently against the surrounding sky, this solitary peak—a volcanic remnant formed over 30 million years ago—caught the golden hour light just as the spectrum of light flared behind it. As the sun dipped below the horizon, the storm clouds dissipated as they so often do in the desert sky, opening up clear skies for the rest of the night. The night sky here isn’t quite as dark as it is in Big Bend, which is a world class Bortle 1 dark sky location. Here, the sky is still quite dark, between Bortle 2-3, which is way darker than I have at home in Austin.

Camping at Davis Mountain State Park

Camping at Davis Mountains State Park makes operations like this effortless. Plugging the van into camp power ensures my gear batteries stay topped off, and having shore power to run the air conditioner in the camper van makes all the difference during warm West Texas afternoons. It is also just down the road from the McDonald Observatory, home to world-class research facilities and famous evening star parties. Every year I’ve been buying the Texas State Parks Pass for $70. The benifits of having this pass, for me, is free daily entrance fees while camping and also getting 50% off the second night of consecutive nights reservations. I figure I pay for the annual pass after only visiting 4 Texas state parks and camping for at least two nights at each one to get that 50% discount.

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