On a Whim

 I do like night skies, so I do follow a place called Driftless Stargazing on Social Media. I noticed a post about a Guided Star Gazing walk at a place I've wanted to check out for quite a while. The land is managed by the Mississippi Valley Conservancy and is open to the public for a variety of uses.

Hunting [in season], Hiking, Fishing [in the Kickapoo River] ... Bikes, Dogs, and Camping is not allowed.

It is a Nature Preserve/State Natural Area that is know for its Dark Skies.

There is a trail that goes up and around old bluff tops and prairie grasses. There are some cliffs/bluffs along the river. How could I not want to explore those!

Not my photo:

So.

I signed up to go on the walk. This is a new thing for me. What could happen? I could meet some other nice folks and maybe make some connections. Or I could be bored and never want to join up with any other of their activities.

I met two people who have mules. All the folks there loved the night sky. I met a gent who used to ride in the same areas Rich and I did many years ago. 

The two leaders had laser pointers and started naming the stars as the appeared in the sky. By the time it was fully dark I learned a few things. I can find Pegasus and of course the North Star, the Big Dipper, and the Little Dipper easier than I used to.

I'm no astronomer, but I do love the night sky.

The evening was warm enough that we didn't need coats and best of all, no Bugs!

I 'friended' a woman who would like to go hiking at the Reserve but only knows her way around the paved trail. I offered to take her on a hike if she was interested some time. She was nice. Who knows?

When I got home, I sat out on the porch with the dogs for a bit on the old camp cot I'd cobbled back together. 

I decided to take a shot of the Milky Way which won't be visible all winter. This is the view from my porch. The glow at the tree level is from lights far off on the ridge.

Then I set up my camera to take a Star Trail. I set the timer for an hour. After checking on it a few times, I laid down on the cot with the pups and snoozed a bit.

This was the result below. It is obscene that I can let the camera do the work instead of taking 260+ photos and putting them together in Photoshop.

I put the camera and tripod away and grabbed a couple of blankets and a pillow.

The night was so pleasant and starry, I didn't want it to end. So I plopped down on the cot to gaze at the sky. The dogs snuggled in with the blankets and me.

I woke up to the sounds of Robins landing in the yard at predawn. 

Some folks go clubbing on Saturday nights. I spent it with the stars.