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 Then, the Moon set, and it was as if a veil had been withdrawn from the sky as hundreds of stars twinkled into view, and, directly ahead, our home galaxy rose to span the sky, from Sagittarius and Scutum to Cygnus and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.
The Summer Triangle is a prominent asterism that can be seen overhead all through the summer months. It is comprised of Vega (brightest star in the upper center of the phone) in the constellation Lyra, Altair (brightest star just below the Milky Way in the middle right) in the constellation Aquila, and Deneb (bright star near to the left of the x watermark) in the constellation Cygnus.
The silhouettes of Lone Pine Peak and Mt. Whitney were too dull on this moonless night to be worthy of a frame… Leaning against the rough granite of the Alabama Hills, my gaze turned north instead of the usual west, my eyes followed the mobius twist of the arch clockwise instead of counter-clockwise, and there, just above the twist, found the North Star, Polaris. As I watched, Cassiopeia, her throne anchoring the northern stretch of the Milky Way, prostrated herself in her nightly homage to the North Star, and slowly turned her gaze downward. Perhaps she wondered, from her heavenly seat, whether this was a sea serpent turned to stone by Medusa’s gaze, frozen in time as it arched and twisted above the frothy waves, now stone themselves… Surely that’s how this expanse of surreal shapes was formed, a turbulent sea turned to stone, then carved by wind and rain…
