Tag Archives: Night Hike

Night Sky, Photos, Troy's Blog

In Search of the Perseids

Every August I like to go somewhere with dark skies to view the Perseid Meteor shower. For the last couple of years I’ve either ventured to the North Shore of Minnesota or Voyageurs National Park. This year I wanted to try something different so I began looking for a place in Western Minnesota. Blue Mounds State Park came up as a potential spot as the skies should be dark enough and I’ve been wanting to return and explore this park again. I visited this interesting park in 2014 and enjoyed my time there. Having a little familiarity with it would help in picking out a spot to photograph meteors flying through the sky so that would be my destination for this years Perseid’s.

A nice, clear sunset leaving a clear sky for stargazing

Returning from Isle Royale National Park in July left me pretty unmotivated because that was such a great experience for me but my vacation time was now used up for the year leaving me with little desire to grab the camera and go out photographing. All that was left were my homeowner projects which I really needed to get taken care of. I just didn’t have any desire to. Now a trip to see a meteor shower at in a beautiful place was on the calendar and my energy began to return even though it was only for a weekend. And not a long weekend at that. While planning this little trip and preparing my camping gear once again, a thought arose. What would the moon phase be during this meteor seeking weekend? Looking at a astrological calendar showed that a nearly full moon was expected with moon rise shortly after sun set. That won’t work! Should I still go? Somewhat deflated I settled on keeping my plans and decided to go anyway. Maybe there would be a nice storm which is something else I wanted to photograph over the vast prairie in this area.

Moon rising above the horizon

While driving to Blue Mounds State Park I explored some different options for taking advantage of the bright moon light. Where could I set up and get some unique photographs? The moon can provide some interesting effects to the landscape which I’ve been experimenting a little with. As the sun was setting I hiked out to a spot near cliffs of pink stone which hopefully will illuminate well from a bright moon. Getting into place and setting up my camera as the sky was becoming dark, I was hopeful for a few beautiful pictures. Soon after the moon rose above the horizon and my night of photographing began. I tried a couple of compositions from panoramas of the horizon as the moon broke above to placing some of the pink rocks in the foreground. As the moon rose higher in the sky I turned the camera towards the now brightened cliffs to see how the moon would shine off of those jagged rocks. The big dipper did cooperate and was shining just above the horizon above some of these interesting cliffs. Unfortunately I didn’t really capture pictures that I was hoping for but it was a fun night to be out there with the occasional pack of coyotes howling off in the distance. That is until the wind pick up!

A moon lit landscape

Exploring, Troy's Blog

Thunder Bay From the Island

Thunderbay Cananda at Night

The typical first reaction to this photograph is “What a beautiful sunset or sunrise!” People are never fully sure which one it is. Once it is explained to them that this was taken at night, they are often shocked. This photograph was taken at the same time of night as the one below showing all of the stars and the Milky way. Isn’t it amazing just how much light a city the size of Thunder Bay in Ontario Canada can give off? This photo is taken from one of our campsites on Isle Royale.

One of my expectations when traveling to Isle Royale National Park was that the nights would be extremely dark especially when there is no moonlight. I was very surprised to find this much light in what was suppose to be such an excluded location. The photo below shows how clear the stars can be when looking straight up into the wondrous night sky. There are so many people that never get the opportunity to see all of the stars and everything that is going on above us. It was incredible to see just how many satellites there are orbiting the Earth. As a bonus we were privileged to see some of the Perseid Meteor Shower while gazing into the twinkling lights above.

A Gorgeous Night Sky

Adventures, Troy's Blog

The Conclusion of an Evening Adventure

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The Beautiful Night Sky

We continued to descend as quickly as possible but that was slow going at the best because each step had to be felt before placing your full weight on your next step. A fork in the trail arrived and while I was pretty certain which direction to go, I did not want to end up making a very costly error so out came the lighter. Most of the time you would think of a lighter as a source for light because there is so little there. In complete darkness a lighter can blind you for a minute or two. After a little light near the sign indicating which way to go a little feeling of calmness fell over me and now time to continue on. Unfortunately it took another minute to go as my eyes needed to re-adjust to the darkness. Moving slower once again we came to a staircase built out of rocks. I recalled this part of the trail and knew that Karen should be at the bottom waiting – this is if she was still brave enough to be sitting in the dark forest. I was anticipating that she moved on to the car. There was just one problem, I had the only set of keys. What I believed to be the bottom of the stairs was approaching but I could not make out a bench and there certainly was no sign of Karen. I stopped and tried to get my baring’s but the feeling of being lost was creeping in. I could not find the direction of the trail and where to go next. Finally I decided that the best direction was to continue in the same direction we were already going.

An Airplane Streaking Across the Sky

Moving extremely slowly we I found more stairs to descend and in a short time the place we left Karen was in front of us. Still no sign of Karen though. I was pretty sure that she had returned to the vehicle. Maybe it was more hope that she had gone back. Only one way to find out – continue on. The trail was relatively flat at this point with few stones to trip over allowing us to move faster. FINALLY! THERE IT IS THE PARKING LOT! There may have been more whoops of joy if it were not for the welcoming words of Karen. O.K. so they were not as welcoming as scornful. The ensuing conversation does not need to be repeated here but I was still extremely glad to see her standing by the car.

Finding the Parking Lot

Kristy and Lysa have agreed on a new hiking rule since this – no hiking within 45 minutes of darkness. I believe we just need to bring flashlights next time. A good night hike can be a great experience. The next day the girls thought we should go back to bubble rock so mom could see it. What they didn’t realize is that mom had no interest what so ever to go back to that location after the less than positive experience the previous night. I believe this was a great learning experience for all of us and created an adventure we’ll never forget.