"As dark as the night sky": the fairly common phrase ran through my mind as the bright band of the Milky Way stretched from horizon to horizon. Thousands of dazzling specks of light illuminating a dark canvas, interrupted here and there by scintillating flashes of a meteor, the steady pulse of a transpacific flight and the long slow march of the communication satellites. The mercury continued to drop as night settled in deep in the heart of the Central Cascades of Washington, but I continued my obsession with the ethereal dark night sky.

The night sky is something we all take for granted. Only when you experience the light of the night and see the Milk Way traverse the sky, however, do you realize the importance of a wilderness where you can really feel that the earth is but a mere mote of dusk floating through the vastness of space. It is a treasure that helps you experience the cosmic perspective. And every few weeks, I yearn to return to such a wilderness.

Goat Rocks Wilderness

WA USA