All my apps and tools indicated that sunset last night, the night sky, and sunrise here at Mono Lake could be exceptional. The sunset was, in fact, stupefyingly beautiful. And while the center of the Milky Way was not quite in the position that I had interpreted from the star charts, it was still beautiful above the lake. Sunrise, well that’s the title pic of this entry. 

June is tourist season, and Lee Vining is chock full of people. The roads, even with the Tioga and Sonora passes open, have a lot more traffic. And the main roads are dotted by lengthy construction delays. But at 1am in the morning, none of this matters. Even at the picturesque South Tufa Towers, there’s no one else here. And with almost no wind, it’s easy to here the sound of ripples hitting the shore and insects landing on the water. 
This is an unretouched iPhone shot looking out at the South Tufa Towers at 1:59am. In the foreground, you can see my Phase recording a long exposure. What’s that? You don’t see anything? Look closely; see the two tiny green dots? That’s the IQ4 back of the Phase. And that’s how still this place feels in the middle of the night. 

This is a place whose only time is the movement we think we see in the stars.