It's really surprising how much light you get out in the desert from the sky, actually. I mean, i say that because I'm from Seattle and we have both a lot of overcast and a lot of light pollution. But I swear, you get really, really bright light from the stars, and there are next to no streetlights of course, so there's nothing at all to interfere with it as your eyes adjust to the darkness. I was also in Death Valley in 1997, I think it was, when Comet Hale-Bopp came through and it was amazing. I remember coming up over the ridge out of Death Valley and just seeing the comet against the sky; it was bright in a way I had never, ever expected it could be. Of course, I also distinctly remember that other than the headlights, there was precisely one artificial light in my field of vision. and it was a ways away. :)
One thing I've noticed in all of my night-time-really-dark-driving is that pretty quickly you get to a point that your dashboard lights are too bright. I was careening through a canyon in Idaho (I didn't have the map, and I DID have the constant sudden rearing-up of, say, a cliff face made of granite at the bend of a hairpin turn) with my dash lights almost to off because I was so blind and the light from the dash was distracting. But I was also deep in the Rockies at that point, and it's obviously not got the starlight/moonlight access of being on the open, if not flat, land of SE Utah. With your eyes nearly fully dilated to pull in all the light, I found the dashboard distracting more than helpful. Also, you have to watch for deer - after full dark they're less of an issue, and an F-150 would take out a deer without even blinking, but you can see them bedded down by the side of the road, their eyes gleaming in the headlights.
In order to have good shadows, I'd say it would really need to be a full moon on a track that was going up the side of a hill through trees, but that seems like a lot of work. I agree with the people suggesting a hidden hole would be a better option.
One thing I've noticed in all of my night-time-really-dark-driving is that pretty quickly you get to a point that your dashboard lights are too bright. I was careening through a canyon in Idaho (I didn't have the map, and I DID have the constant sudden rearing-up of, say, a cliff face made of granite at the bend of a hairpin turn) with my dash lights almost to off because I was so blind and the light from the dash was distracting. But I was also deep in the Rockies at that point, and it's obviously not got the starlight/moonlight access of being on the open, if not flat, land of SE Utah. With your eyes nearly fully dilated to pull in all the light, I found the dashboard distracting more than helpful. Also, you have to watch for deer - after full dark they're less of an issue, and an F-150 would take out a deer without even blinking, but you can see them bedded down by the side of the road, their eyes gleaming in the headlights.
In order to have good shadows, I'd say it would really need to be a full moon on a track that was going up the side of a hill through trees, but that seems like a lot of work. I agree with the people suggesting a hidden hole would be a better option.
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