week eighty-one — the illusion of permanence

I like the stars. It’s the illusion of permanence, I think. I mean, they’re always flaring up and caving in and going out. But from here, I can pretend…I can pretend that things last. I can pretend that lives last longer than moments. Gods come, and gods go. Mortals flicker and flash and fade. Worlds don’t last; and stars and galaxies are transient, fleeting things that twinkle like fireflies and vanish into cold and dust. But I can pretend…
— Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol.7: Brief Lives

i took a night hike up to Chasm Lake on the Longs Peak trail last weekend. the goal was to see the sunrise at the 12k foot lake, and with hike to the lake being a touch over 4 miles with an elevation gain of 2400 feet, i had to start early. the night was absolutely beautiful, though, so starting early really wasn’t a nuisance at all. i set up my gorillapod (tiny tripod) shortly after reaching the alpine tundra and snapped a few star shots. i didn’t really have the gear or the ability to produce anything spectacular, but i still found the scene worthy of photographing:

• if you squint really hard, you can see the headlamps of some climbers ascending the face of the Longs Peak diamond on the left
• the Milky Way is the hazy cluster of stars that’s leaning off to the right in what looks like a half-hearted attempt to avoid duck out of the frame
• all the lights in the foreground are hikers who are making their way to the summit. see, i’m not the only madman who starts hikes at 2:45am!

the rest of the hike and the sunrise at Chasm didn’t disappoint either, and i’m sure i’ll throw up a few more shots from that trip in the next week or two…so stay tuned!