Milky Way over Heart Rock

 This will be my last Milky Way photo for 2024. I'm sad and happy at the same time. It's been a fun project and I daresay I've gotten a little better at taking pictures of the Milky Way. For me, practice doesn't make perfect, but practice makes better. 

 

By next month's new moon, the galactic center (brightest part) of the Milky Way will only be visible from about 7:30pm to 8pm, which is before the darkest night sky, bringing an end to what is sometimes called the "Milky Way season". A little after 8pm, the GC drops below the horizon. You can still take pictures of the MW... They just won't be as dramatic without the GC.

 

I thought long and hard about a location. I don't think I could possibly best last months photo of the Milky Way over Amboy Crater. The photo is memorable, and so was the experience, with our death march out to the crater in some of the hottest temperatures I've ever experienced. Then it struck me: What about Heart Rock? It fits my requirements of being a relatively short hike and something that isn't photographed often. Let me clarify that last sentence: Heart Rock is photographed a lot, but not often at night and rarely with the MW over head. When I did a Google search, I only found a couple photos of the MW over Heart Rock, and none in late season with a vertical MW, which is what I am hoping to capture. So off I went on a hot, late afternoon hike to Heart Rock in Joshua Tree National Park.

Hiking to Heart Rock I came across this silhouette of a sky watcher!

 

I anticipated only two potential problems (pretty good for MW photography, which is fraught with challenges). First potential problem is the alignment with the MW. I hadn't been out to Heart Rock in a while and was just going from memory. If I remember correctly, the compass heading when viewing Heart Rock is roughly south to SW. If my memory is off (wouldn't be the first time), then the MW won't align over the top of the heart. Second issue is crowds. Heart Rock is now extremely popular, with a marked trail leading to it and every couple that visits the park wanting their picture in front of it for an Instagram post. With camera, tripod, and LED lights set up, I might be in the way of others.

 

Fingers crossed, I hiked out to Heart Rock about an hour before sunset. The bad news is that it was still very hot (triple digits) and I was carrying a heavy pack. The good news is that it was still very hot (hardly any other hikers on the Heart Rock trail, so crowds shouldn't be an issue). 
 

As I arrived at Heart Rock, I was anxious to check the position of the Milky Way using the PhotoPills app on my phone. Yes!! PhotoPills shows the Milky Way will be directly over the top of the heart at about 8pm. Just what I was hoping for!

 

I have about 2 1/2 hours before the MW will be in position. First order of business: Find a shady spot and relax! It turns out the heart provided some of the best shade in the area. Take off my heavy pack. Drink fluids. Once rested and rehydrated, I decided to explore the area.

The Joshua Tree boulders have their own unique personality!

 

Heart Rock looks good from either direction. For the MW, I am shooting to the SW. The photo above is the opposite view (NE). This photo also shows how Heart Rock takes on a golden color in the late afternoon light. 

 

Sunset at Heart Rock

 

As the sun sets, it's time to set up my LED lights (L and R of the heart), camera and tripod, and start taking some foreground shots. Once the camera and tripod are set up, I can't move them.
 

7PM: Blue hour. It won't be long now!

 

Viola! The galactic center is directly above the cleft in the heart. As if the heart is so full, it's bursting with stars! Ya, I'm getting carried away, but it's always fun getting the result you were hoping for. There are many things that can go wrong when it comes to MW photography, so I feel extremely fortunate to have gotten this photo. 
 

Thanks for joining me on my last Milky Way adventure of 2024!!

Linking with Skywatch Friday.

Walking the Trails

 While my granddaughter has soccer practice, I like to go for a walk on the trails located just behind the practice fields. The area is full of wildlife because there is a year-round stream that runs through the property. My only problem is her practices start at 6:30PM, just when it's getting dark. The last week or two, I've needed to bring a headlamp with me so I can see the trail. 

Some sections of the trail are wide and fenced on either side. I turned my headlamp off before taking this photo. I was using my cellphone and was surprised to see that it wasn't a blurry mess. It was dark out, but somehow my phone's camera lightned things up nicely and steadied the shot. Impressive!! The photo properties tell me the exposure time was 1/13th of a second. With my DSLR, there is no way a hand-held shot would come out sharp at 1/13th second. Not sure how the iPhone camera manages to pull this off.

 

Hello Moon!

 

iPhone 12 mini, f 1.6, ISO 500, 1/25th second (no tripod).

 
After taking this photo, on my hike back to the soccer field, a large coyote crossed the trail in front of me and stopped and looked at me, as if trying to determine if I were a threat (or perhaps a meal?). I was in total darkness and never would have spotted him without my headlamp. He was larger than the desert coyotes I'm used to seeing, closer in size to a German Shepherd, and his fur was darker. With my headlamp shining towards him, his eyes glowed. Solitary coyotes in the desert never bother me, but this guy spooked me a bit. For the rest of my hike, I found myself turning around and facing backwards from time to time to check for glowing eyes. Maybe this helps explain why I've never seen anyone else hiking in the area after dark🫢.

 

Thanks for stopping by!!

Linking with Skywatch Friday.

Milky Way Over Amboy Crater

 Continuing from my last post... Mitch and I are attempting to do something truly crazy in our "Summer of 2024 Milky Way a Month" project. For September, we are attempting to take a photo of the Milky Way in a vertical position over Amboy Crater, which requires a late summer exposure (August or September). The problem is the extreme heat at Amboy Crater in late summer. Dangerously extreme (114°F when we started our hike). Which makes me wonder: Has anyone ever attempted this before?? A quick Google search turned up a nice image of a diagonal MW over the crater, but no photos of a vertical MW. So you might be seeing something fairly unique here!

It's about 7PM and I'm sitting with my back to the crater. The best time to photograph the Milky Way will be between 9:30pm and 10pm, so we have some time to kill. I sit comfortably in my camp chair enjoying the desert scenery. Those clouds have us worried. Will we even be able to see the Milky Way??

 

Dramatic clouds over the crater.

 

 

Pink clouds and rain to the northwest.

 

Ta da!! I'm pretty happy with this photo. We were sooooo lucky that the clouds cleared in time for a clear view of the Milky Way. The vertical orientation makes it look like the Milky Way is erupting out of the crater, which is what we were hoping for. I wasn't able to get quite as much of the Milky Way as I was hoping for, so I re-positioned my camera on the tripod for portrait (vertical) orientation.

Yes, I like this even better, with more of the Milky Way visible. It really does look like the crater is erupting! Mitch and I don't waste any time hiking back to the car. Even at 10PM, it's still triple digits. We both agree we will never again hike Amboy Crater in the summer!🥵

 

Thanks for stopping by!! 

I'll probably make one final Milky Way outing (early October), and then the Milky Way season (and this project) will be over.

Linking with Skywatch Friday.

Amboy Crater

 During the hottest summer on record, and one of the hottest days of the year, I'm hiking at one of the hottest places in the US. Crazy, right?? The area around the small town of Amboy is significantly hotter than the Joshua Tree area where I usually like, and I'm not taking any unnecessary chances. I'm using the buddy system, hiking with my friend Mitch. We have lots of water, ice, cooling towels, appropriate clothing, and all the other safety gear recommended. We have two sun umbrellas to keep our bodies shaded as we hike. In the back of my mind, I'm recalling that it was this same month (August) back in 2017 when two hikers from Yorba Linda died from dehydration at this exact spot. On that day, it was 113°F, and their bodies were found only about one mile from their car. The husband and wife team had become separated and were unable to find each other (early signs of dehydration can include confusion). Their bodies were found just 100 yards from each other. Their water bottles were empty.

As we pull into the Amboy Crater parking lot at about 4:30 in the afternoon, Mitch's car thermometer registers 114°F. Not surprisingly, the parking lot is completely empty.

 

On the drive to Amboy from 29 Palms, you go over the Sheephole Pass. For some odd reason, knuckleheads can't resist painting these boulders at the top of the pass. Taylor Swift is a new addition. The view from the pass of wide open desert is impressive.

 

Amboy is mostly famous for Roy's Motel. It's a semi-ghost town, with just a couple employees to run the gas station, which also sells cold drinks and souvenirs. One of the employees told me they probably get close to 50% of their summer visitors from Europe! That's likely due to the fact that locals know it's way too hot to be in Amboy in the summer. The motel isn't open, but is a cool remnant from the 1950's when people would "motor west" on Route 66! I took this photo in October of 2022. As I exited Roy's and headed west on Route 66, I noticed the moon was rising over the Roy's sign. Of course, that required another stop for a quick photo!

For more info. on Roy's, click here.

 

Old postcard of Amboy when the town was thriving. Date of photo unknown.

 

Leaving Roy's, Amboy Crater is just a short distance west on Route 66. You can't miss it! It's formed of ash and cinders, is 250' high and 1,500' in diameter. It is situated in one of the youngest volcanic fields in the US. I'm wondering if that means it could blow it's stack at any moment!?

 

Amboy Crater trail marked with lava rock.

 

Looking NE (away from the crater), with light filtering through the clouds and even some rain on the horizon. If you enlarge this photo, you can see a train, the town of Amboy, and Route 66 disappearing off into the distance. It was still well into the triple digits at 5:40PM when I took this photo, and I was feeling really hot. I had put some ice water in a plastic bag at the beginning of the hike and decided now would be a good time to soak my cooling towel in the nice cold water and cover my head. When I reached into the bag, the water felt like it was about 100°!! Dang, no cooling towel for me!

 

6:38PM: Golden light and increasing clouds to the NE.

 

The semi-ghost town of Amboy, CA, can be seen in the distance.

 

This is about as close as we got to the crater. The trail continues on and eventually takes you to the top of the cone, but it was much too hot to attempt it on this day.

 

 

 

7:06PM: Clouds appear to be erupting out of the crater!

 

So you may be wondering: Why would we choose to hike to Amboy Crater on such a ridiculously hot day, risking life and limb?? Well, blame it on (or give credit to) Mitch. He came up with the creative idea of trying to take a photo of the Milky Way over Amboy Crater, positioning it so it would appear the stars are spewing out of the volcano. Cool idea, but one problem: The MW is only in the correct position during the crazy-hot days of late summer. It was almost as if we had no choice. We had to try it!

 

I look forward to sharing what I captured with you on my next post.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Linking with Skywatch Friday.

Harvest Moon

 A not quite full Harvest Moon, taken September 15, 2024 (95% full) from my backyard. So named because the bright moonlight would help farmers harvest their summer-grown crops. What caught my eye, and required me to grab my camera, was the way the moon and clouds were competing with each other for center stage!

Thanks for stopping by, and happy skywatching!

Linking with Skywatch Friday.

On This Day...

 I'm at a bit of a crossroads. This blog has always been about desert photography (well, mostly) and a place to document my hikes. I want to stay true to that purpose. However, I don't get out to the desert nearly as much as I used to, which means I either need to post less often, or post from the archives. Going forward, I will probably do a little of both. We will see...

I have a program on my laptop called Microsoft OneDrive. I was using it to back up my photos and other files to the cloud. In theory, it would keep me from losing any files in the event of a laptop meltdown. Unfortunately, OneDrive was an abysmal failure. It would take too long to go into details, but trust me, it's bad. About the only good thing I can say about OneDrive is it sends me a daily email titled "On This Day." If I click the link, it shows me all the photos I've taken over the years on that day. Pretty cool! I have many thousands of photos on my hard drive, so it's always fun to review photos taken over the years. Today's post is just a couple favorites from September 12 (give or take a day or two). 
 

"Get out of the way, Grandpa!!" Lilly was 5 when I took this photo. Before long, she'll be driving for real!😟

 

Out by Stirrup Tank in Joshua Tree National Park, and one of the most dynamic skies I've seen. There were curtains of rain on the horizon, all lit up in yellow from the setting sun.
 

A little later in the afternoon on the same day at Stirrup Tank, the curtain of rain had moved a little east and was losing its yellow color and picking up some pink color. I was so lucky to have the silhouette up on the rock to give perspective to the photo. A very memorable afternoon!
 

I'm curious what people are using (if anything) to back up files? I no longer subscribe to OneDrive, so just doing it the old fashioned way (backing up to an external drive when I can remember to do it). The weak link in this approach is me remembering to do it!

 

Thanks for stopping by!!

Linking with Skywatch Friday.

Cholla Milky Way

 So it turns out I'm still alive. We DID survive the dreaded jumping cholla and scorching temperatures while stumbling around in the dark trying to photograph the Milky Way. I did have to pull out a few barbed cholla harpoons during the course of the evening, but I guess that's to be expected. It's really a small price to pay in exchange for the opportunity to be out in the desert under the sparkle of Milky Way stars!

In my "Milky Way a month" attempt, this is my August entry. I had my doubts about using cholla cactus as a foreground subject for the Milky Way, but pretty happy with the way this one came out. I just finished up a trip to the desert for the September Milky Way, and will post that soon. Not sure about October yet. At some point, the Galactic Center will drop below the horizon and MW season will be officially over. It's been a fun challenge, and I'm looking forward to sharing all my 2024 Milky Way photos in a single post.
 

Thanks for stopping by!!

Linking with Skywatch Friday.

Cholla Cactus Garden

 Cholla are probably the most bad-ass cactus in Joshua Tree National Park. The cholla species found at the Cholla Cactus Garden is Cylindropuntia bigelovii, also called teddybear cholla or jumping cholla, and it's particularly nasty. And so that you don't sound like a tourist, you should know the Ls are silent. Jumping cholla is the perfect name (teddybear cholla not so much): You can be walking along minding your own business and somehow these cholla mange to jump and stick to you! The spines are needle sharp and barbed at the end. They hurt like heck going in, and they hurt even more coming out. It's hard and painful to pull them out of your skin because of the back-angled barbs.

These nasty needle balls litter the ground around the cholla plants and are what jump on you when you're not looking. This one literally jumped on to the side of my shoe. Lucky I had some plyers with me, anticipating that these little buggers were going to give me trouble. I managed to pull the ball off my shoe (with difficulty), but a bunch of spines were left behind with their little harpoons sticking into my shoe. After about 10-15 minutes I was able to pull out most (but not all) of the barbs.

 

This poor guy seems to have come in contact with a cholla. Kind of looks like a golf bag on the left. It would have been very bad judgement to go after a golf ball under a cholla bush! Not my photo, and not sure who to give credit to, but it's a good photo to illustrate the consequences of bumping into a cholla, and good luck pulling out all the barbed spines!!

 

Photo credit: Katiewanders.com

 

So when Mitch suggested the Cholla Cactus Garden as a location for our next nighttime Milky Way photo shoot, I had serious doubts. I had visions of the guy in the photo. Even with a head lamp, I figured we would end up being human pin cushions! 

 

The Cholla Cactus Garden is an amazing place. In most parts of the park, they grow as solitary plants or sometimes in small clumps. Here they are like a thick forest, so dense in some areas that it's impossible to walk through them, and you'd be stupid to try. It's a wonderful location for sunrise photography, but sunsets aren't too bad either.

 

Some cholla grow 8-10' in height.

 

 

Cholla Garden sunset.

 

Mitch, trying to stay cool, contemplating the cholla, and waiting for the Milky Way.

 

A pretty sky over the Cholla Cactus Garden.

 

Now we have time to kill while we wait for the sky to get dark and the Milky Way to rise.

Join me next week to see if we get jumped by the cholla and survive the dreaded cholla spines, while trying to get a photo of the Milky Way!

 

Linking with Skywatch Friday.