Trip Report: Central PA, September 2020

    This year has been a particularly bad one for me in terms of getting out and doing night time photography. It started off in March. After years of wanting to do this, I finally booked a trip to go camping in the desert, and had planned expeditions through Death Valley National Park in California and Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada, only to have pandemic-related lockdowns start on that exact weekend. Since then, every month I've scoured the weather forecasts for all the dark sky locations within a day's drive on the weekends closest to the new moon, hoping that one of them would produce a couple days that weren't rainy or overcast, and trying to stave off any social obligations for those weekends until I was sure the weather wasn't cooperating. Even for taking photos that don't require clear, moonless skies, it's been kind of difficult to get out between the fact that I have to wake up by 5:30 for work, and you know, the pandemic.

    But, I finally found a weekend. The first one after September's new moon had clear weather on the East Coast. The West Coast, on the other hand, was a different story. Smoke from the wildfires had reached us by then, but I persisted anyway. Star viewing conditions weren't optimal, but they were the best I was going to get any time soon.  Of all the potential locations I was looking at, I had decided on World's End State Park - about a 3 hour drive from me, camping available in the park, and a short drive from Rickett's Glen State Park, which had some magnificent waterfalls which I hadn't seen yet. It wouldn't be my first time to those locations. In the beginning of 2019, I had hit both locations on a day trip, and felt like I didn't get the full experience. The waterfall trails at Rickett's Glen were only open to ice climbers, and the roads to the good overlooks at World's End were too treacherous for my Prius to travel. Unfortunately, one of the downsides of basing your plans around the 10 day forecast is that you're left to do a lot of your planning last minute. My plans of camping in the park were dashed when I realized there were no spots open, and while some drive in and hike in sites were available in the adjacent Loyalsock State Forest, the feasibility camping in one of those places wasn't something I felt I had time to look into. So, on a whim, I checked Airbnb and was actually able to find something pretty ideal. Barakah Heritage Farm, located about half way between the two parks, had a couple of campsites available on their property. The trip that would ensue definitely did push me a bit in terms of my problem solving abilities and personal limitations.

    I left work early on Friday so I could make the drive and get to the farm during their check in hours. I had some big plans: check in, set up my tent, drive to one of the overlooks and get a full night of shooting in, then wake up early the next morning and get out to a good vantage point in time for sunrise. As time went on, though, I became increasingly aware that that wasn't going to happen, I just didn't have it in me. I checked in at the farm, was shown to my site, and was able to get my tent up before dark, but at that point wanted nothing more than to sit by a fire and enjoy the Italian hoagie and coffee stout I'd brought with me. After a debacle where I realized that the only working firestarter I had with me was a piece of flint, which I had to teach myself on the fly how to use, I was able to accomplish that. After a bit of a recharge, I was able to drag myself out of my chair and take a few photos from the comfort of my site.

    I woke up the next morning, about 15 minutes prior to sunrise. It was actually below freezing, my sleeping bag was warmish, and rushing headlong into my day just didn't seem that appealing. Once the cold level had become tolerable, though, I got up and drove to a spot that I'd been planning to catch sunrise from, a spot I'd seen on the road on the way in. By this point, it was 45 minutes past, so there was still some good golden light, and some good photo opportunities. It also gave me a chance to hit a nearby gas station and get a warm cup of coffee.

    I spent most of the rest of the morning around the farm, there was a good variety of animals there for me to take photos of: Ducks, chickens, goats, horses, and donkeys, as well as the guardian dog. 

    Once mid morning hit, I decided it was time to head to my next location, I was going to go o Rickett's Glen. Here I hit another one of my poor planning pitfalls. The area I was in had almost no cell phone reception, nor did I think to bring a paper map or memorize my routes. Occasionally I'd find a spot where I could check my map and get my bearings, but I'd go back there later that day and found that I got no coverage. This was compounded by the fact that my phone was, at this point, on its last legs in its ability to take and hold a charge. To go three full days without my battery dying, I had to keep it in airplane most most of the time, and as a result wound up getting bit turned around on the way there, but I finally did arrive, probably around 11 or so. I could definitely see why the falls trail was closed to hikers in the winter, it was definitely wet, steep and rocky at points. Considering the amount of people I saw trying to climb up the waterfalls, I can see why they wanted to keep people off of them.

    One of the downsides of picking a weekend where there was no overcast is that the midday sun wound up being pretty harsh. I always liked long exposure photos of waterfalls, and while I was able to take them, they didn't come out as well as I would have hoped. The harsh light was part of it, but also the fact that I'd accidentally left my strongest neutral density filter at home, and the number of other hikers sometimes made it difficult to frame a shot with no one in them. 

    I managed to get about a third of the way through this trail before I decided to head back. I wanted to get to an overlook for sunset and star photos, and realized that I'd spent so long setting up shots that I'd have to rush to get to an overlook in time for sunset. I narrowly missed it, arriving at Loyalsock Canyon Vista a few minutes after sunset. But from what I saw on the drive, I didn't miss too much. I still had enough daylight to scout the area, set up a tripod, and take a few golden hour photos. One common technique I've seen among astrophotographers is to blend a daytime exposure into their night photo, and I decided I was going to try this. It involved leaving my main camera in one place for an hour and a half, but I did have my backup camera, telephoto, and a bit of time with a crescent moon before it set.

Once the stars came out, I was able to get the shots I really wanted. The stars weren't as clear as they were the last time I was there, but still impressive compared to what I'm able to see near the city. The daylight exposure, and the light trails from the cars on the road below, I think really made for a good image.

  

  I had also recently purchased a second astrophotgraphy lens, one which you don't see used too often - an 85mm f/1.4. Here's where I hit another pitfall - I didn't take the time to focus it properly, and most of the images I took with it wound up unusable as a result. But, I did have one idea that panned out pretty well - light painting some of the nearby branches with the stars out of focus.

The next morning was a lot like the previous one. This time, having a better understanding of the area I was in, I made my way towards World's End State Park, taking a brief stop in the nearby town of Eagles Mere. I spent the afternoon hiking some of the short and hard trails, first the High Rock trail, then the World's End trail, both promising a scenic overlook. High Rock had a pretty impressive view.

World's End, not so much. But, as I was coming back down the trail, I did look back to see some light hitting the trail in a pretty cool way.

After that, it was a quick trip back to Loyalsock Canyon Vista to scout the nearby Rock Garden. I planned to return there later that night, and knew that I'd have to see it in the daylight first, and frame a few shots while I could still see, looking for a decent composition, and as much of the sky as I could include in the frame.

The rest of the afternoon was spent at High Knob Overlook, which was on an adjacent peak, waiting for sunset. A lot of people showed up as I waited, including another photographer who I had a nice chat with. He was a local guy, who shared some of his tips about getting good locations in the area, as well as the typical gear talk. One takeaway that I did get from him is that a backpacking stove is a great asset to have on shoots like these, making the cold weather a lot more bearable. As the sun came down, it became a lot more apparent just how much the smoke from the West Coast was affecting visibility.

Once the sun was down, I returned to Rock Garden. Unfortunately, not all of the effort I'd put into planning my shots paid off. With my low angle shot, I just couldn't find a good position to replicate what I had seen before. The one looking down the split rock, though, was not too difficult. When I was planning my trip to Death Valley, I had planned to find a slot canyon and take a photo down the canyon light painted from above. This rock had the same basic shape, and I could even walk around the back to safely get on top of it. Once I had taken this shot, though, I found myself not wanting to spend much more time here. Being in the pitch dark, totally alone, and out of cell phone range honestly did make me a little uneasy. Still, I did go to one last location, back to High Knob Overlook, where I'd spent the afternoon.

Despite the poor visibility due to smoke, the core of the Milky Way was visible, and just something about being in a parking lot made me feel a little more secure. I had, at this point, realized and corrected the issue I had focusing my 85mm lens, and was also able to get some photos of the Milky Way core over the horizon.