Mitch's Milky Way Arch

**Warning: You might want to get yourself a cold drink before reading this post!** 

 

I very nearly cancelled this July Milky Way attempt. It was ridiculously hot. Dangerously hot. But I was on a roll and had taken photos of the Milky Way during the new moon every month this year starting in April, and hated to break my streak. Crazy, right??

 

But it's a dry heat!!🥵

 

4:30PM, my backpack is packed and I'm heading out the door. I've packed:

- Way more water that I think I'll need

- Small cooler with ice and a cooling towel, which can go over my head or around my neck

- Garmin InReach (in case of emergency)

- Camera gear 

-All the other stuff I usually pack

 

It's a heavy pack, but a very short hike (around 3/4 mile to the arch). I'm counting on the fact that I will be higher in elevation and it will be later in the day, so temperatures should be 5-10 degrees cooler. I likely won't have any shade.

 

One last check of the weather, thinking it's probably cooled off this late in the day (4:37PM). 

Nope, still crazy hot. I leave the house wondering if I am doing the right thing. As I head to the car, it feels like I've stepped out of my air conditioned house and into an oven!
 

Quack quack!!

 

I get out to the arch about 7:30PM (1/2 hour before sunset). It's hot, but not dangerously so. The hike out was easy and flat. I leave my pack by the arch and walk abound the area admiring the Joshua trees and photographing the sunset filtering through their weird, twisted branches. I see no other humans out hiking and only a few cars driving through the park. I pretty much have all of Joshua Tree National Park to myself on this hot, summer day!

Can you feel the heat??

 

 
The sunset at been beautiful, and I'm happy with my photos. It's time to head back to the arch for some foreground photos. I'm using an LCD light and headlamp to add some subtle lighting to the arch.

With my foregound photos done, I have nothing to do but wait for the Milky Way to rise to it's optimal position. I use PhotoPills to show me that will be about 1:30AM, so I have a lot of time to kill. It's a beautiful night in the desert under a starry sky, and the temperature is actually pretty comfortable. I'm glad I made the decision to come out tonight and take pictures. By about 10PM I find myself getting tired, so I put a tarp on the ground with a sleeping pad, lay on my back and look for shooting stars, and eventually drift off to sleep. My phone alarm wakes me up at 1AM.

 

July Milky Way, 1:18AM, Mitch's Arch

If your curious about the name, it's just a nickname I use because Mitch was the person who showed me the arch. 

 

Thanks for stopping by and joining me on this very hot hike to capture the July Milky Way!!

Linking with Skywatch Friday.

Surfer Girl in Training

 The mission: Get Lilly down to the Huntington Beach pier every day for a week by 8:30AM for Surf Camp. Lilly's responsibility: Learn to surf! Me: Sit in a chair, sip coffee, enjoy the ocean breeze and wonderful views, and watch Lilly learn to surf. I'll take this assignment anytime!

This sky kind of sums up the weather for the entire week: Cloudy, with the sun trying to break through the clouds (usually unsuccessfully), with temperatures in the high 60's to low 70's. It's lovely beach weather. Very comfortable, not much chance of a sunburn. 
 

The kids had to carry their own boards a considerable distance, which I thought was a good rule. You wanna surf, you darn well should be able to carry your own board! The buddy system seemed to work best.
 

Instructions begin! Step 1: Practice going from a lying position to a standing position without falling of your board. It's harder than you might think! That's Lilly in the middle.
 

Junior lifeguard practice was going on at the same time. Huntington Beach Pier is a very busy place in the summer!
 

Seagull under the pier.

 

Action Shots

She's getting the hang of it!!
 

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you are enjoying your summer.

It seems to be flying by!

Linking with Skywatch Friday.

Of Moons & Rockets

 I got the urge to take pictures of the recent "strawberry moon". It had been quite a while since I had taken moon photos, and I think what got me up out of my chair was knowing a close friend who lives in Joshua Tree was going out into the desert to do the same thing. I couldn't join him in the desert, but I did manage to hike the local hills for some full moon fun.

Photographing the moon is in many ways similar to photographing the Milky Way. As I hiked around in the hills, I was constantly looking for something that would make an interesting foreground. I knew where the moon was predicted to rise, so using the compass on my phone, I could compose the shot prior to the moon actually rising.

 

Once you have a foregound you like, the other issue is focus. For most of these photos, I took two shots from the same exact spot (you need a tripod to do this effectively). The first photo is focused on the foreground. Your moon will be fuzzy and out of focus. Your second photo will be focused on the moon. Then you blend the two images to get sharp focus on both the moon and foreground. Although I was only blending two photos, I guess you could call this focus stacking.

 

 

 

The strawberry moon appears to be rolling down a very hazy Saddleback Mountain!

 

A couple nights later, I was scrolling through Facebook posts, and I noticed somebody posting about a SpaceX lunch. I went out in the front yard to check it out. I was a little late in viewing it (just the contrail was left), but it still made for an interesting night sky!

 

These SpaceX rocket launches are becoming so commonplace that people don't make a big deal about them anymore. I still enjoy seeing the rocket (or left over contrail) streaking across the sky!

 

I'll leave you with this video (more of an audio) of coyotes yelping. You'll need to turn your volume all the way up. I had finished taking my strawberry moon photos in the Coyote Hills, hiking back to my car, when the local fire department deployed a fire truck. The coyotes couldn't resist howling when they heard the siren. Without that siren going off, you would never know there were coyotes living in Coyote Hills! 

 

Thanks for stopping by, and keep looking up!!

Linking with Skywatch Friday.

The 4th of July

 One of my favorite places to be for a 4th of July celebration is at the beach. Huntington Beach shoots off fireworks from the end of the pier, so its both beautiful and very photogenic. Unfortunately, it's also extremely popular. The crowds are challenging, parking is impossible, and traffic is gridlocked, especially after the fireworks end. These photos were taken on the 4th of July in 2022. 

Breezy conditions as we wait for the show.

 

 

 

 

 

If you celebrate, have a happy and safe 4th of July!!

Linking with Skywatch Friday.