Saline Valley Star Circles
About fifty miles down the desolate Saline Valley road, one valley to the west of Death Valley, as the sun set, I stopped to camp for the night. I set…
Sunset from Lembert Dome
Lembert Dome lies in the upper reaches of Yosemite National Park, California, at the eastern edge of the Tuolumne Meadows. As I trudged up the trail to the top of…
Stacking Through the Night
Gradually I became aware of light, so much light that it woke me because I thought it was dawn. Actually, the crescent moon was rising above the trees. I knew…
My Favorite Bristlecone
This is my favorite tree in the Patriarch Grove of Bristlecone Pines. Even when we pretend neutrality (as with our kids) the truth is that we likely have our favorites.…
Ancient Music of the Stars
The Bristlecone Pines were in their youth when Odysseus plowed the Aegean in search of a way home to his Ithaca. These trees were already ancient when Julius Caesar crossed…
The Forest and the Stars
At about 10,000 feet elevation the mosquitos were ferocious. They swarmed in great clouds, buzzing their way through any minute gaps in my defences. Even lotion purportedly made of 100%…
Star Trails over Half Dome
Leaving Berkeley in mid-afternoon, I grabbed a quick bite in Mariposa and made it up to Glacier Point just after sunset. There was still some light to see what I…
From Sunset to Sunrise
Relative to the earth, the stars wheel in the heavens every night, though we don't see them that way. If we live in a city we hardly see the stars…