The Return to the Tetons....

Prelude to the ascent of Static Peak.

Even going up Static early in the season requires an ice axe (or a degree of gusto) in places. Fortunately this was late in the season. Still a damn long way up there though!

Wednesday 26th slept till noon, then shook off the drowsyness and headed down to Jackson. Enroute my AC convertor that gives me 120v from the 12v of the car burnt out, and all of a sudden, within a day, I had gone from having 3 of these devices to only one (a robust one, but one that could only handle 80W (almost nothing). Processed deep sky images, and processed and uploaded Tyrell. Spent some time working out why my lights were fixed on highbeam. In the end turns out it was a loose wire. Rolled out to Gros Ventre in the evening. Headed down to the amphitheatre where I told the ranger I would be setting up the scope for outreach. They finished just in time to see the moon before it went behind some trees leading to many a gush. The crowd slowly thinned (this is of course the problem with lots of people and only one scope). Many stayed to take a look at Jupiter. The last family had a fairly smart kid which led to the exchange of the evening.
I had just shown the mother M13, a bright globular cluster. She was initially saying she couldnt see anything, to which I told her, she would know when she saw it, then there was that characteristic silence of one struck dumb with awe followed by inept vocalizations. M13 is an impressive sight even in a modest scope, and in an 11in scope it leaves little to the imaginations. Its a glowing ball that almost one instantly resolves as being composed of millions of stars. Its nice to see people experience unexpected and jaw dropping wonder such as this.
However her next line brought home the limit of her knowledge. She asked if this was being lit up by the Sun, or something else. Not being the sort of guy who would berate someone for an honest, if childish question (he (or she) who asks a question is a fool for a minute, he who doesnt is a fool for a lifetime!), and I had no intention of dampening the spirits of someone whose mind had obviously been kindled with the thirst for knowledge. I told here that they were other stars, which she didnt really seem to know were like our Sun. The kid (who seemed fairly with it) then butted in that this was the sort of thing they did in 5th grade, to which the Dad had the snappy answer that he hadnt been in 5th grade for a LONG time! Everyone laughed it was a pleasant moment.
After the last people left, I got the scope on andromeda and recorded maybe 2hrs on it with the scope tracking well. It was getting progressively cold. I then packed up the scope (while recording an hour or so of dark frames) and moved out of the park to the east where I settled down for the night in a quiet siding (about 3ish).

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Tetons
• National
• Park
• USA
• travelling
• amazing
• granite
• mountains
• moraines
• signal
• mountain
• time
• lapse
• timelapse

[shawnsonium]

That's an inappropriately shaped pond.

[therealbabo]

is it me or does the lake at 3:34 look incredibly phallic?

[MrWajax]

You've truly captured some amazing scenery during your trips across the continent. Thank you so much for taking the time to make these videos and sharing them with everyone. Thumbs up & favorite.

[TonyBtheEG]

Thanks for sharing.

[squirrly001]

stunning views...felt like a mini-vacation without the hassle of climbing etc. :D thanks

[Kelrash]

If I met a person with just as much jaw-dropping ignorance as that, I would flinch.

[ToyyMachine]

yup, it sure does :P

[woggins]

contact me on your next trip to the Tetons, I live in Wilson. :-)

[Pulseczar1]

How does one find any music?

Delerium / Sarah McLachlan - Silence, if anyone's wondering.

[NathanWubs]

Google is your friend!

[FishApprentice]

how do you find the music you use for time lapse?