Warrior Tree

I thought I knew what a good dark sky was, but I had no idea just how good it could be until I went to Death Valley.  We stayed out at the Mesquite Flat Dunes past sunset to watch the sky turn dark and fill with stars.  We had no idea just how many stars we would see!  We have some pretty dark skies in northeast Minnesota, but Death Valley's night sky blows ours away.  The stars were so bright we could actually see enough to walk around without the aid of a headlamp.  We found this cool mesquite tree right near the trailhead for the dunes.  It was the perfect foreground for photographing some stars.  We spent at least an hour at the base of this tree photographing it and enjoying the beautiful sky above.  I sure wish we would have had more than one night to spend in Death Valley.  I can't wait to go back and photograph more of the night sky in this amazing park!