Don't Die Today

I was going to call this post "Blood Moon", but according to Mr. Google, a blood moon is when a moon in total eclipse appears reddish in color as it is illuminated by sunlight refracted by the earth's atmosphere. Since I couldn't view the lunar eclipse, I wasn't actually viewing a blood moon. "Buck Moon" is another name given to the July full moon. It signifies the new antlers that emerge on deer buck's foreheads around this time of year. That might have been a better post title.

Regardless of what we call the full moon in July, I made plans to take a short hike starting from the Boy Scout Trailhead off Indian Cove Road in Joshua Tree National Park to take some moon shots. Moonrise was scheduled for 7:55 PM. I planned to begin my short hike (about 1 or 1.5 miles each way) at 7 PM to a spot that would give me a good rocky backdrop for the moonrise. It was a brutally hot day, but it should be much cooler by 7 PM, right? Wrong!! At 7 PM, it was 103 degrees!! Here's the sign that greeted me at the trailhead. When I saw this sign, I knew what the title of my blog post would be!

The "don't die today" is certainly good advice and definitely caught my eye!! Hiking the length of this trail, which from this location is 8 miles and almost all uphill, would be just plain stupid, and probably deadly. My short 2 mile round trip hike, taking it slow and easy and with plenty of water, seemed more reasonable, although I'm certain some would call THAT stupid!

After exploring the area and finding some cool rock formations (future post!) I found a great spot to set up the tripod and wait for the moonrise. It was 8PM and I should see the moon rising over the rocky peaks at any moment. I also used the timeanddate.com website to get the compass heading (113 degrees) so I could compose the shot. By 8:15 PM I was getting antsy, and by 8:30 PM I figured something went drastically wrong with my calculations!!

Finally, at 8:34 PM, the moon peaked over the ridge. Not only was the moon late, but the 113 degree compass heading was off significantly! Some of this was due to the fact I'm not viewing the moon on a flat horizon, but also worth noting that websites that predict this sort of thing are only approximate. Anyway... things were moving quickly now and it took the moon <10 minutes to rise above the distant rock formation.

8:35 PM

8:36 PM

8:37 PM

8:38 PM

8:38 PM

8:39 PM - Clear of the rocks, but still low on the horizon and yellowish in color.

9:25 PM- Higher on the horizon and the yellowish tint is gone.

PS: This was my first significant hike in desert darkness. For my hike home, the full moon was on the horizon so it wasn't providing much light. I used a headlamp which worked great and I highly recommend. I was hiking on a trail that I was very familiar with and which was super-easy to follow (even at night).

Linking up with Skywatch Friday.

Thanks for stopping by!!