Night Milky Way over Fort Churchill

Milky Way over Fort Churchill · **6 Likes**

Aaron28 · 07-20-2015, 03:23 PM

looks great! wish I could find skies that dark!

uday029 · 07-20-2015, 03:36 PM

Originally posted by Aaron28

looks great! wish I could find skies that dark!

Yeah. Some of the darkest skies are within 3 to 4 hours drive from Reno. I finally found one reason to be happy about living in a place like Reno.

Aaron28 · 07-20-2015, 03:40 PM

hahaha! that's great.....my drives outta town are usually under an hour.....gonna be trying a place about 2 hours out......hopefully its a nice campsite

Janse · 07-20-2015, 03:40 PM

A very nice one!

gifthorse · 07-20-2015, 07:14 PM

Nice! I have to get out there. How do you get into the park? (No how do you get to the park) Do you park at the campground and walk in or can you just drive up the the ranger station and park there? Do any of the park workers question your being out there in the dark? Have you tried the cemetery there after dark? And when did you find clear skies with the strange weather lately? I know the fort is a popular place for night photography, I just haven't got out there yet. Maybe I'll give it a try during one of the upcoming meteor showers. Anyway, very nice image you have there.

uday029 · 07-20-2015, 07:40 PM

Originally posted by gifthorse

Nice! I have to get out there. How do you get into the park? (No how do you get to the park) Do you park at the campground and walk in or can you just drive up the the ranger station and park there? Do any of the park workers question your being out there in the dark? Have you tried the cemetery there after dark? And when did you find clear skies with the strange weather lately? I know the fort is a popular place for night photography, I just haven't got out there yet. Maybe I'll give it a try during one of the upcoming meteor showers. Anyway, very nice image you have there.

If you look at aerial view in google earth, you can see a road encircling all the fort buildings. There are couple of parking lots on the road. You simply park there and walk to the buildings. Its not a long walk at all. Some of the buildings are about 3-4 minutes walk from the parking lot. We reached the park just before sunset (8 PM) and there was NO ONE there. You are supposed to pay $5 at the entrance (honor system) and then enter the park. I did not see any rangers in the park. I don't think there are any restrictions on being inside the park post sunset. It is a pretty popular spot for night photography. You are supposed to stay on the trail, from where you can see most of the buildings. But I think people wander off the trail all the time. All the photos I see on flickr and other websites are taken from locations outside the path and I saw people go inside the buildings for some light painting. We were lucky to have a cloud free sky last weekend. From what I heard from other photographers, the sky gets clear most of the time by midnight or so. It sure is a great spot for night photography.

plantej · 07-21-2015, 10:06 AM

Very cool photo!

**luftfluss** · 07-21-2015, 10:11 AM

Gorgeous! A beautiful, haunting composition.

gifthorse · 07-21-2015, 12:30 PM - **1 Like**

Thanks for the info! I've been to the fort during the day but haven't made the trip at night yet. I didn't know that the road circled the fort. A couple of other places for dark skies are Washington rock at Pyramid lake. It's a short distance from the Needles and has some nice tufa formations for the foreground.

About twenty miles further up the road on the south end of the Smoke creek desert is Sand Pass. It's pretty isolated so you don't get as much traffic to interrupt your shooting.

about five miles further on is Bonham ranch. It's maybe 60 miles from Reno so there's virtually no lights to degrade the images and the low hills give a nice fov of the skies. And there's a nice hot spring there for a midnight soak.

Closer to Reno, maybe twenty miles, I like the 'Moon Rocks'. In the summer there are often people camping or kids partying but in the winter, say for the Geminids meteor shower, it's a pretty good place. (Although it's possible to get the glow from Reno if you aim in the wrong direction. Again, thanks for the info!

Aaron28 · 07-21-2015, 02:39 PM

nice set

uday029 · 07-21-2015, 05:07 PM

Originally posted by gifthorse

Thanks for the info! I've been to the fort during the day but haven't made the trip at night yet. I didn't know that the road circled the fort. A couple of other places for dark skies are Washington rock at Pyramid lake. It's a short distance from the Needles and has some nice tufa formations for the foreground.

About twenty miles further up the road on the south end of the Smoke creek desert is Sand Pass. It's pretty isolated so you don't get as much traffic to interrupt your shooting.

about five miles further on is Bonham ranch. It's maybe 60 miles from Reno so there's virtually no lights to degrade the images and the low hills give a nice fov of the skies. And there's a nice hot spring there for a midnight soak.

Closer to Reno, maybe twenty miles, I like the 'Moon Rocks'. In the summer there are often people camping or kids partying but in the winter, say for the Geminids meteor shower, it's a pretty good place. (Although it's possible to get the glow from Reno if you aim in the wrong direction. Again, thanks for the info!

WOW! Those are some great shots. I might go out to these places this weekend. Do you need high clearance vehicle to get to Sand Pass?
Also, do you know if you can get to north or east coast of Pyramid Lake? I wanted to always try to shoot south from the northern end with milky way raising from the lake.

gifthorse · 07-21-2015, 08:10 PM

High clearance isn't needed but you should have good tires. The buildings at Sand Pass are abandoned and falling down so be careful about going in. I think it's on reservation land so you might want to pick up a use pass at Crosby's lodge in Sutcliff. ($10) for overnight.) Take some water/drinks and snacks. From Sand Pass you can shoot south over the buildings or frame north for star trails over the Smoke Creek desert. On the east side of the playa (the right side in the third image) a light will appear every few hours. It's a railroad train. About half an hour later the train will go through Sand Pass. It will appear on the embankment above and behind the buildings and trees in the fourth image above. From Sand pass you can see a stand of trees on the right (west) side of the playa. That is Bonham ranch. There's nothing there but the hot springs now. The hot springs are on the west side of the road. There's a pond on the east side of the road but that the flow from the springs. The hot springs are on the opposite side of the road behind the trees.The road (Surprise Valley road) goes all the way up to highway 447 and comes out about 10 miles west of Gerlach. From Warrior Point for maybe 5 or 10 miles the road is rather rough washboard but after that it's pretty smooth. I've seen UPS delivery trucks running 40-50mph up there. Keep and eye out. I've seen wild horses, wild burros, and pronghorn all along the road there so you might get some wildlife pics. I haven't found any way to get to the north side of Pyramid Lake. There is one road a couple of miles above Washington rock that goes out to the Needles but it's closed to the public. I've also thought of shooting south over the Needles but there's no way out there. The east side of the lake used to be open to the public but that was closed several years ago after some lowlife(s) damaged the petroglyphs out there. Good luck! I hope you get some clear skies.

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07-21-2015, 05:07 PM	#12
uday029 Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2014 Posts: 505 Original Poster	Originally posted by gifthorse Thanks for the info! I've been to the fort during the day but haven't made the trip at night yet. I didn't know that the road circled the fort. A couple of other places for dark skies are Washington rock at Pyramid lake. It's a short distance from the Needles and has some nice tufa formations for the foreground. About twenty miles further up the road on the south end of the Smoke creek desert is Sand Pass. It's pretty isolated so you don't get as much traffic to interrupt your shooting. about five miles further on is Bonham ranch. It's maybe 60 miles from Reno so there's virtually no lights to degrade the images and the low hills give a nice fov of the skies. And there's a nice hot spring there for a midnight soak. Closer to Reno, maybe twenty miles, I like the 'Moon Rocks'. In the summer there are often people camping or kids partying but in the winter, say for the Geminids meteor shower, it's a pretty good place. (Although it's possible to get the glow from Reno if you aim in the wrong direction. Again, thanks for the info! WOW! Those are some great shots. I might go out to these places this weekend. Do you need high clearance vehicle to get to Sand Pass? Also, do you know if you can get to north or east coast of Pyramid Lake? I wanted to always try to shoot south from the northern end with milky way raising from the lake. Last edited by uday029; 07-21-2015 at 05:16 PM.

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07-20-2015, 03:23 PM	#2
Aaron28 Pentaxian Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Huntsville, Al Posts: 7,131	looks great! wish I could find skies that dark!

07-20-2015, 03:36 PM	#3
uday029 Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2014 Posts: 505 Original Poster	Originally posted by Aaron28 looks great! wish I could find skies that dark! Yeah. Some of the darkest skies are within 3 to 4 hours drive from Reno. I finally found one reason to be happy about living in a place like Reno.

07-20-2015, 03:40 PM	#4
Aaron28 Pentaxian Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Huntsville, Al Posts: 7,131	hahaha! that's great.....my drives outta town are usually under an hour.....gonna be trying a place about 2 hours out......hopefully its a nice campsite

07-20-2015, 03:40 PM	#5
Janse Inactive Account Join Date: Feb 2015 Posts: 4,460	A very nice one!

07-20-2015, 07:14 PM	#6
gifthorse Pentaxian Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Nevada Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,945	Nice! I have to get out there. How do you get into the park? (No how do you get to the park) Do you park at the campground and walk in or can you just drive up the the ranger station and park there? Do any of the park workers question your being out there in the dark? Have you tried the cemetery there after dark? And when did you find clear skies with the strange weather lately? I know the fort is a popular place for night photography, I just haven't got out there yet. Maybe I'll give it a try during one of the upcoming meteor showers. Anyway, very nice image you have there.

07-20-2015, 07:40 PM	#7
uday029 Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2014 Posts: 505 Original Poster	Originally posted by gifthorse Nice! I have to get out there. How do you get into the park? (No how do you get to the park) Do you park at the campground and walk in or can you just drive up the the ranger station and park there? Do any of the park workers question your being out there in the dark? Have you tried the cemetery there after dark? And when did you find clear skies with the strange weather lately? I know the fort is a popular place for night photography, I just haven't got out there yet. Maybe I'll give it a try during one of the upcoming meteor showers. Anyway, very nice image you have there. If you look at aerial view in google earth, you can see a road encircling all the fort buildings. There are couple of parking lots on the road. You simply park there and walk to the buildings. Its not a long walk at all. Some of the buildings are about 3-4 minutes walk from the parking lot. We reached the park just before sunset (8 PM) and there was NO ONE there. You are supposed to pay $5 at the entrance (honor system) and then enter the park. I did not see any rangers in the park. I don't think there are any restrictions on being inside the park post sunset. It is a pretty popular spot for night photography. You are supposed to stay on the trail, from where you can see most of the buildings. But I think people wander off the trail all the time. All the photos I see on flickr and other websites are taken from locations outside the path and I saw people go inside the buildings for some light painting. We were lucky to have a cloud free sky last weekend. From what I heard from other photographers, the sky gets clear most of the time by midnight or so. It sure is a great spot for night photography.

07-21-2015, 10:06 AM	#8
plantej Veteran Member Join Date: May 2015 Location: Pacific Northwest USA Photos: Albums Posts: 583	Very cool photo!

07-21-2015, 10:11 AM	#9
luftfluss Site Supporter Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: NJ Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 11,619	Gorgeous! A beautiful, haunting composition.

07-21-2015, 12:30 PM - 1 Like	#10
gifthorse Pentaxian Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Nevada Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,945	Thanks for the info! I've been to the fort during the day but haven't made the trip at night yet. I didn't know that the road circled the fort. A couple of other places for dark skies are Washington rock at Pyramid lake. It's a short distance from the Needles and has some nice tufa formations for the foreground. About twenty miles further up the road on the south end of the Smoke creek desert is Sand Pass. It's pretty isolated so you don't get as much traffic to interrupt your shooting. about five miles further on is Bonham ranch. It's maybe 60 miles from Reno so there's virtually no lights to degrade the images and the low hills give a nice fov of the skies. And there's a nice hot spring there for a midnight soak. Closer to Reno, maybe twenty miles, I like the 'Moon Rocks'. In the summer there are often people camping or kids partying but in the winter, say for the Geminids meteor shower, it's a pretty good place. (Although it's possible to get the glow from Reno if you aim in the wrong direction. Again, thanks for the info!

07-21-2015, 02:39 PM	#11
Aaron28 Pentaxian Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Huntsville, Al Posts: 7,131	nice set

07-21-2015, 08:10 PM	#13
gifthorse Pentaxian Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Nevada Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,945	High clearance isn't needed but you should have good tires. The buildings at Sand Pass are abandoned and falling down so be careful about going in. I think it's on reservation land so you might want to pick up a use pass at Crosby's lodge in Sutcliff. ($10) for overnight.) Take some water/drinks and snacks. From Sand Pass you can shoot south over the buildings or frame north for star trails over the Smoke Creek desert. On the east side of the playa (the right side in the third image) a light will appear every few hours. It's a railroad train. About half an hour later the train will go through Sand Pass. It will appear on the embankment above and behind the buildings and trees in the fourth image above. From Sand pass you can see a stand of trees on the right (west) side of the playa. That is Bonham ranch. There's nothing there but the hot springs now. The hot springs are on the west side of the road. There's a pond on the east side of the road but that the flow from the springs. The hot springs are on the opposite side of the road behind the trees.The road (Surprise Valley road) goes all the way up to highway 447 and comes out about 10 miles west of Gerlach. From Warrior Point for maybe 5 or 10 miles the road is rather rough washboard but after that it's pretty smooth. I've seen UPS delivery trucks running 40-50mph up there. Keep and eye out. I've seen wild horses, wild burros, and pronghorn all along the road there so you might get some wildlife pics. I haven't found any way to get to the north side of Pyramid Lake. There is one road a couple of miles above Washington rock that goes out to the Needles but it's closed to the public. I've also thought of shooting south over the Needles but there's no way out there. The east side of the lake used to be open to the public but that was closed several years ago after some lowlife(s) damaged the petroglyphs out there. Good luck! I hope you get some clear skies.