Mid July

The bright light of Invermere compete with the Milky Way.

There was a time when we used to run up Mt. Swansea and spend the night in the fire lookout. We challenged each other when we were teenagers. Usually booze was involved, as it seemed to be in just about everything if you grew up in the valley.

That lookout could get cold. I remember one of our drunken ascents, waking up freezing in the morning. My friend had wrapped himself in a sheet of plastic he’d found. At first glance, I wondered if he had suffocated himself. Luckily, he’d left just his nose uncovered so he could breathe.

The fire lookout had a mounted scope and a large map of the entire area spread across a table in the middle of the room. If the lookout spotted a fire, they would locate it on the map and radio in the coordinates. The lookouts don’t exist anymore. Satellites, helicopters, and GPS have taken their place. The one on Swansea was dismantled long ago.

The Milky Way through the smoke rises above the Town of Windermere and Lake Windermere.

Tonight, I drove most of the way up and hiked the last section to the summit. The mountain is used primarily for mountain biking now, and I rarely go up anymore. But I figured it would be quiet in the middle of the night, and I was right. There were only rabbits and one owl that silently flew across the trail in front of me, giving me a start just the same. Willow would have taken exception to that.

At the top, I took a few photos from the spot where the lookout once stood. There are definitely more lights now than when I used to run up here. It was a young moon and had set much earlier. There was some smoke and a few low clouds, but otherwise the viewing was good. The lights washed out many of the stars, but the Milky Way could still be seen clearly.

Ready for take off. Several satellites cut through the galaxy.

This may look like a meteor near Perseus, however it is either the International Space Station or the China Space Station. The streak is the distance it moves during the 20 seconds the camera shutter is open. It started very bright then faded.

13 thoughts on “Mid July”

  3. mountaincoward's avatar

    mountaincoward

    What’s the tall column in your photo from the summit if they’ve removed the watch tower? Your friend would have been really cold in the plastic wrapping as he’d get loads of condensation so would be damp!

    Great photos! the Milky Way looks really narrow and concentrated on your photos – we don’t see a clear band here

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    1. underswansea's avatar

      underswansea

      The column is a communications tower. The Milky Way looks good because I picked a night with a new moon, so it wasn’t washed out by moonlight. The lights in the valley bottom still wash it out.

      My friend was probably freezing. I’m not sure if it was the same night or different. One of our friends was so cold he thought he would start walking back down after we drank a fair bit of booze. When he left the lookout I noticed he went the wrong way. We caught him in the dark just before he stepped over a cliff. In the morning we showed him where he just about went over. He just about shit himself.

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  4. thetravelingtaylorsofficial's avatar

    thetravelingtaylorsofficial

    There’s something quietly perfect about standing where the lookout used to be and photographing the satellites that made it unnecessary, streaking right across the galaxy. And more town lights now than when you were running up there as a teenager – the whole post is about things being replaced, without ever saying so. Your friend wrapped in plastic with only his nose out is an alarming thing to wake up to. Also grateful for the ISS clarification; I’d have said meteor with complete confidence and been wrong.

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