...and the stars look very different today; Washington Pass astrophotography, 6.3.19
Well it sure has been a great last few days! Saturday I went on a fun hike with Greg and Donna to Ebey’s Landing and Sunday I went on another really fun hike with Greg Dilley and Cindy to Goat Lake. Yesterday was a different type of excursion that I have been planning for over a month.
Based on an amazing trip report I saw recently, I decided it was time to try my hand at astro-photography, shooting stars if you will. Several elements are handy for this sort of thing. One is to get as far away from any light pollution as possible such as cities. Another is to plan your shoot for when there is a new moon so the light of the moon doesn’t flood out your star photos. My plan was to try and photograph the Milky Way which supposedly rises to the south in our neck of the country at this time of the year. Of course another essential element is having a cloudless night. All these elements lined up for me yesterday which was the date of the new moon for June. I had considered several spots that had a mountain to the south of where I would take photos from and I visualized capturing the Milky Way rising over the mountain. There is a great spot for this up on the north side of Mount Baker but the forecast for Monday night looked cloudy. My second option was a pullover by the side of the North Cascades Highway below Washington Pass where I could shoot to the south right over the crown jewels of Washington Pass, The Liberty Bell and Early Winter Spires. Being in eastern Washington, NOOA claimed that this spot would be “mostly clear” last night and sure enough, it was.
Now that I had a plan and a purpose, another plan and purpose merged with my original plan and purpose. In addition to clear skies, the low temperature there was forecast to be 31 degrees. You’d think I would be all cozied up in the RV with the heater on 85 but nooo, I had other things in mind. There is a spot in the Cascades called the Enchantments which are in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness high above the town of Leavenworth. This place is a glory hole of smooth polished granite slabs, babbling creeklets trickling from pristine alpine tarns and jagged pinnacles and crags all around. Many of the tarns have large groves of western larch trees surrounding them, whose needles turn a brilliant gold in the fall, much like the leaves of the lovely aspens in Colorado. To be in the Enchantments in autumn when the larches have turned is pretty much the Holy Grail of places to be if you are into mountain splendor. However, due to its popularity, there is a strict limit on how many people can go in there at any given time. Well a couple of months ago Greg Dilley and Cindy (Betty Bushwhack) managed to secure permits for four people to go into the Enchantments in early October which is the ideal time for larchmania. They were kind enough to invite Neighbor Greg and myself to join them and we joyously accepted their offer. So what does all this have to do with my story? It’s going to be friggin’ cold in October! I’m mostly a warm weather camper and any cold weather camping I have done has been more by accident than design. So I was thrilled when the forecast called for 31 degrees because it gave me an excuse to sleep in a tent in cold weather to see if I would die or not. More on this later in my story.
So yesterday morning I hit the road and it was an absolutely beautiful drive. I just love the North Cascades Highway and never tire of the amazing scenery along the road. My first stop was a quick stretch break at Diablo Lake Overlook. I had just posted pics of this spot a week or two ago but did I already mention I never tire of the scenery along the road?
Diablo Lake from the overlook
After Diablo Lake the scenery just keeps getting better and better until you finally come to Washington Pass which is the transition from western to eastern Washington, at least as far as the Cascade mountains are concerned. There I stopped at the Washington Pass Overlook. A short path from the parking lot leads to the top of some huge cliffs overlooking the entire pass area (yes there are guard rails). Since it was a Monday during the school year I wasn’t too concerned about finding a campsite so I spent a bit of time just hanging out there and soaking up the views.
Washington Pass from the overlook
Liberty Bell and Early Winter Spires
Below the pass the highway winds down just a few miles to the closest campground to the pass area called Lone Fir Campground which is where I planned to set up my base camp for the night.
Looking down the eastern side of Washington Pass. The pulloff just before the road goes around the corner is where I planned to shoot photos from.
Arriving at the campground I was one of only a couple of campers. I set up shop, wrote in my journal, played a bit of guitar and worked on a new song for a bit. There is a two mile trail along a creek running right out of the campground so I decided to explore that. I came across a nice little creek so I set up the tripod for a few silky water shots.
Nice little creek
Now, about my sleep plan. I knew it would be a bit brisk standing around for several hours near Washington Pass at midnight and I was prepared for that. That meant I was already dressed for my 31 degree night sleeping in my tent. First off, I inherited my mom’s old sleeping bag. It was made by Holubar back in the seventies. I have no idea what its cold weather rating is but it has enough goose down to fill the Kingdome so I figure it is the warmest bag in the family (Bridgit laid claim to it as soon as we began camping together).
Anyway, I killed time until around 6PM and then tried to get some sleep, setting my alarm for 10PM. Here is what I wore to bed: long johns, wool socks, polypropylene long sleeved shirt, fleece jacket, down puffy, gloves and a ski hat. It was probably overkill (ya think?) but I figured it would be easier to shed layers if I got hot than to add layers if I got cold. I didn’t get cold.
MSR Hubba Hubba tent with the Holubar sleeping bag
“And I wonder what you think about when it’s late at night. Does your mind meander when the stars shine bright?” from “Danny” by Jon Newmark
In my research on how to take astrophotography, good equipment and how to use it is vital to any chance of success. My camera equipment isn’t optimal but it would have to do. I use an old Canon 30D which I think is the 2nd generation of Canon DSLRs. It only has 8 megapixels. My lens only goes to 28mm at F3.5 and my ISO only goes to 1600. I’m sure all this is edge of your seat riveting to anyone who doesn’t take pictures but I threw it in there just to show I was handicapped before I even took one shot. I do have a sturdy tripod which is super essential when taking exposures as long as 20 to 30 seconds each.
So armed with my gear, I got up at ten and all dressed for an arctic winter I was at my pre-determined spot by about 10:45PM which was in a pull off right on the North Cascades Highway. Liberty Bell was pretty much due south of me. I wasn’t too concerned about light pollution. There are no cities or even towns for many miles in either direction and on a Monday night this late I only saw a few cars go by the entire time I was up there shooting.
I spent about two and a half hours up there as the conditions changed. It was still somewhat light when I arrived (it stays light until almost eleven at this latitude in June). The position of the stars changed with the movement of the earth. One example of that was the Big Dipper which was very high overhead when I arrived but by the time I left it was almost sinking behind the ridge.
The coolest thing about shooting long exposures is that the camera picks up much more than the naked eye can see. By adjusting for various exposure settings, I got a whole variety of different looks. The Milky Way never did rise over the Liberty Bell. It seemed to me like it was more northeasterly over Silver Star Mountain but I just shot in every direction to see what I could come up with. I have a whole lot to learn but I was fairly pleased with the results of my initial experiments.
This was one of the earliest shots around 10:45PM while there was still some “normal” light
The Big Dipper
So the next new moon is on June 30th and I will be on a backpack trip staring south at Mt St. Helens. If I can drag my sorry butt out of bed I think I’ll give it another crack and see what develops!