Swiftcurrent Moonset

In front of the Many Glacier Hotel is Lake Josephine, a candidate for my quest for reflected startrails. On the night I was here however, so was the moon. I waited for it to set, a long wait til it fell below the horizon, but not long at all for it to be eclipsed by looming Grinell Point. Although the moon was now no longer directly visible, it still lit the sky. Film is cheap (I keep telling myself) and I never know if the sky will stay clear, so I made several exposures during its gradual hidden descent. The wind was calm and the lake became smooth. I hoped the conditions would hold.

I dared only leave the shutter open for 30 minutes though, because the sky would wash out if exposed longer. During this time the moon drifted down behind Grinell Point, leaving a trailing glow. Also during this time, I looked around at the scene, wondering what would be captured on film.

The lake had become so calm and the water was so clear that I could see bottom! At first I was intrigued by the array of fallen trees and rocks and other natural lake bottom material. Then I took a larger view and found it a bit distracting, I wondered if the film would be able to see star reflections at all. How is it that I could see this debris anyway? The moon wasn't bright enough to light the scene in this way.

The Many Glacier Hotel is an old rennovated lodge-like building. A combination of rustic log construction and swiss chalet trim makes it a novel structure at the edge of the lake. Its five stories make it seem unnaturally tall, even in an environment of tall lodgepole pines. Each floor has a lakeside balcony, each balcony connects with an outdoor stairway, each staircase with an access door from the hotel illuminated by floodlights. Here was the source of my unwanted lighting.

I proceeded up the stairway, stopping at each door, and with gloves normally intended for cold-protection, unscrewed each overhanging floodlamp bulb until the entire end of the hotel became dark. It was a clandestine act, but in the name of fighting local light pollution I committed the deed.

The moon was still setting, now behind the distant peak of Swiftcurrent Mountain. Wisps of clouds were coming in, the air frequently breaking the glass surface of the lake, but I made a one-hour exposure, this time without the distraction of the foreground lake bottom.

The two pictures are superposed above. Move your cursor over the image to see the other.