It was silent up there. Every rustle from the pine trees, every hoofbeat on the meadow, every chirp of the grasshopper were as loud as the crack of a bullet. But this silence let me focus on the beautiful night sky above me.

The sky glittered with the light of a million stars. The occasional meteor from the Perseid shower sped across this sparkling dome in a brilliant scintillating flash. And behind this, the bright band of the Milky Way arched across, a highway from earth to the heavens above.

Moments like these make me realize that we are but an insignificant mote in the vastness of space. And out here, in the PNW, such moments are rare to come by. I am glad I could be in wilderness on nights like these to enjoy its dazzling splendor.

Mount Rainier National Park
WA USA