The towering 14k ft Long’s Peak (Neníisótoyóú’u) dwarfed below the galactic scale of the Milky Way Galaxy exploding from its summit block. A powerful black and white piece demonstrating relative scale, reach and immensity.

I left the Long’s peak trailhead at midnight, hiking slow and methodically to Chasm Lake, alone, above treeline and under the setting moon and bursting starry night. Upon arriving, I realized the Milky Way’s positioning was further along than anticipated and I quickly got to work shooting while bats hunted the swarming moths. Night photography requires you to slow down, shooting 15 second exposures, awaiting each exposure patiently absorbing your surroundings. I knew in several hours, climbers would pass me at sunrise looking to summit. But in this darkest hour, I had this beautiful amphitheater to myself. In between exposures, I looked up to this ancient rock, then further, to the stars whose lifetimes transcend our understanding of ‘ancient’. I wonder, what future summits might we encounter in our astral home? What other islands exist in this archipelago of space and time? Maybe one day we’ll climb high enough to find out.