Sky Pilot and Longs Peak

I’ve always loved the view of Longs Peak and the Rocky Mountain National Park skyline from Timberline Pass, reached via a two-mile hike along the Ute Trail from Trail Ridge Road. However, I’ve struggled to find a good foreground to pair with the grandeur of the distant peaks. Then, on June 30, 2017, I hiked to Timberline Pass in late afternoon and discovered the most beautiful patch of sky pilot I’d ever seen near Trail Ridge Road, nestled amidst boulders splashed with orange lichen. I photographed the flowers at sunset, then hiked back out to my truck as the evening twilight faded into night. After resting briefly, I photographed star trails over Longs Peak from the Rock Cut from about 10:45 p.m. until 2:20 a.m., using moonlight to illuminate the landscape for the first part of the star-trails sequence of 214 one-minute exposures, which I later combined into one image. The moon had set by the time I finished the star-trails sequence, so I was able to photograph the Milky Way over Mt. Ida from the Rock Cut. When astronomical dawn arrived at 3:21 a.m. and ended Milky Way shooting for the night, I hiked the Ute Trail once again to Timberline Pass. By then I was severely sleep-deprived. I struggled to stay awake as dawn slowly approached but was rewarded when I was able to make this image of sky pilot and Longs Peak at sunrise.