Even before night fell, the distant south rim of the Grand Canyon was being pummeled by a thunderstorm that hugged the edge of the canyon like a bird of prey with talons of lightning. Strike after strike illuminated the cloud bank that would eventually spread northward and cover the sky, but for more than an hour, our view was of the galaxy we call home, and the countless stars that vied for our attention. Days later, with many a wonder seen and experienced, my son Tadeh and I would both agree that this was the highlight of our road trip through the Southwest. Photographed August 2021.
It was just before midnight, and my alarm provided that last prod to wake me from a less than deep slumber. Through the gauzy wall of my tent, I could see the Moon kissing the high ridge to the west. Moments later, on the shores of a nearby pond decimated by the high temperatures in the Sierra, I witnessed one last act of the Moon, that of bathing the crags to my left with golden light. Then, the Moon set, and it was as if a veil had been withdrawn from the sky as hundreds of stars twinkled into view, and, directly ahead, our home galaxy rose to span the sky, from Sagittarius and Scutum to Cygnus and Cassiopeia… How I'd missed the Yosemite backcountry... Yet, here I was, improbably backpacking into the wilderness after securing a permit days before, and finding myself stargazing in solitude... Photographed July 2021.
