Sunday, July 20, 2025, the night after an outreach event at Sky's the Limit. Hadn't done many Milky Way shots recently (except for at Chaco Culture National Historical Park, of course). So I figured I'd use my second consecutive night night in Yucca Valley for a late trip out, into the desert, after dark. This is a location I frequent, because of the impressive rocks. It's maybe 1/2 mile from the designated parking area, at White Tanks trailhead. Mostly flat, but a little tricky to find the arch in the dark, since you can only see it from inside a slot-like ravine.
There were some folks taking pictures when I got there, which I somewhat interrupted. But they wrapped things up pretty quick. I shot from my usual place. They were a bit higher and to the right, but by the time I was there, the Milky Way shot only worked from down below. Took a dozen shots or so, until I was sure I had what I wanted, without any planes. Then wandered over to Heart Rock. Someone was there, too, but he had no problem with me spending about ten minutes getting my shot, then leaving.
What i didn't realize until the next day is that the heart shape is very dependent on angle. Just a little down and to the right, and the heart gets very quickly deformed. Oh, well; lesson for next time!
Still, a very nice cap to my day, which started with bobcat kittens.
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