STORY BEHIND THE IMPRESSION
"sitting here on this night, under this glowing milky way, i feel so utterly lost in silence...and at the same time, i'm found, knowing my meaning is written somewhere into all those billions of stars above me" ― bodhinku, written somewhere
captured in the late evening hours of may 21, 2020, this is "sky rock" in the eastern sierra mountains in the vicinity of bishop, california...it is a massive volcanic rock facing upwards towards the sky covered with hundreds of native american symbols, called petroglyphs, carved into its surface by the ancient paiutes who inhabited this area hundreds of years ago...
to stand before sky rock is astounding...i am always in awe and feel blessed to visit this spiritual place that has been here for so long...
but to really be mystified, to stand before sky rock under the stars, is nothing short of breathless...
i often come to this spot not to take a single image, but instead to meditate and find myself again spiritually...the aura of this place seems to refocus and realign me...and to share its mystique to others dear to my heart, i've even introduced the magic of sky rock personally to close friends, one who even proposed to his wife at this very spot...and the look on a person's face, the first time they witness and realize the beautiful magnitude they are beholding before them, is amazing in itself...
if you have not been following my work for very long, you might not know that i had photographed this location last about 8 years ago, and was able to capture some glowing red lenticular clouds over top of sky rock at sunset (my composition, "up" can be seen here: "up" by bodhi smith)...this image was dedicated to the memory of the late galen rowell of bishop, ca...i was always inspired by his ability to find a mixture of extreme adventure, adrenaline, nature, and beauty in his photography. then, after capturing my "up" impression in april of 2013 (only about 6 months after galen and his wife passed away), a friend pointed out to me that galen had captured a similar picture to mine, 25 years prior called "sky rock" by galen rowell which was unknown to me at the time i captured my impression of sky rock...
for years now, i have always had a vision of creating an impression of sky rock under the full milky way, but for many reasons, i just never was able to capture it...and like i said above, on many of my visits, i did not even bring my camera along, just visited sky rock for my peace of mind...
now, with the current situation we find ourselves in, there are nice side effects to be found to our advantage as a photographer (if you look closely)...one is less pollution as less people are driving about and many industries have shut down or cut back on their operations, making the air cleaner, and photographic images clearer and sharper. another is less obvious, and that is the fact there are less lights being used...less car lights, street lights, house lights, business lights, etc...this creates less light pollution and when combined with less air pollution in the atmosphere, makes our skies darker at night, and more brightly lit with stars, more vivid and beautiful...
and last week, i decided to shoot the stars over sky rock finally, as the conditions are perfect and might never be the same again...and i decided to add some adventure: i was going to find the 4×4 track that would allow me to car camp close behind sky rock, instead of having to hike up from down by the owen's river in the light, stay half the night, and climb back down and out in the dark... spending most of the night on cold rocks instead of on top of my cozy futon in the back of my jeep...
so, me and my aussie shepherd hopped in the new 2020 jeep grand cherokee 4×4 to really break it in on some tough tracks, and made our way early in the morning...
i found two ways to go, so i decided to explore both, one way in and then the other way out, and return back to sky rock later in the afternoon via the easiest and safest route...
neither route was a picnic...but the first way i chose was much shorter, and as it turned out, it was also just crazy dangerous. having driven it once now, i have no need or the desire to ever drive it again. it was mostly an easy drive, taking it slow to avoid vehicle damage from rocks, especially sharp ones that can shred a good tire...but basically insanely hazardous all only because of one crux: a short downhill portion that descended a cliff with one turn that was steep, rocky, and crumbling...
in hind sight, at the crux i should have gotten out of my grand cherokee. then walked the track down to the bottom first, and i would have seen how dangerous it was by getting a better feeling underfoot. then walked back up the track on the cliff, got back in my vehicle, and then should have promptly turned my vehicle around to go the long way back and try the other route...
instead, i just got out and observed it from above and decided to go forward since i was so close to sky rock (classic mistake!) and i was confident in my knowledge of my vehicle and in my 4×4 driving skills...
once i dropped down onto the steep and crumbling slope of the track, there was no way of going back, reverse was not an option at all unless i wanted to flip my jeep off the cliff...
and i needed all of the clearance i had in my jeep grand cherokee, and even scraped bottom once (no damage done thankfully) as the ugly turn on the steep, rocky, crumbling, and slanting track pushed me towards the edge of an ugly drop-off...
my jeep was dangerously bounding off rock tops, not because of speed (i was not even going 1/2 mph) but because of gravity. and this was pushing my jeep dangerously out of control, too close to the unstable sheer edge of the cliff...
and i do not know if i was just lucky, or skilled, or both, but fortunately i made it down unscathed, knowing it could have been really really bad, and knowing i never want to try it again, up or down, neither...
rest of the drive was slow and easy to sky rock, and in euphoria i finally made it with my vehicle for the first time in so many years of visiting...
so, now test the other route...i just hoped for nothing worse than the way in, or i would have to navigate that nasty crux section upward this time, and i was not so sure i could make it safely...
the second route turned out to be much longer, and because i could not go faster than 4-5mph due to rocks, for the track was really just two tire trails circumnavigating a giant rock pile for over 4 miles...but this way had no crux, and was relatively free of danger, just the occasional sharp tire puncturing rock to avoid here and there...a fact that makes me never want to drive this jeep track in the dark either...
made it out safely, went into town for some supplies, and slowly drove back out to sky rock via the second route with no incidents...
later that night, alone with my doggie, we were treated with the starry sky in the eastern sierra being one of the clearest, and cleanest i have ever seen. i swear i could see the colors in the core of the milky way with my own eyes instead of having to rely on my camera lens to pick it up. and i truly believe that my eyes and photo you see here got the benefit from this...i was blessed to finally get to see and capture such an amazing night sky over sky rock...
this area is a virtually an unspoiled place in california, especially at night when the world disappears and everything goes to sleep. the commitment of noise falls to zero, and the silent peace of sky rock and the milky way rise to perfection...when you visit here, under these conditions, you will truly know how this was all "written in the stars"...
MEANING OF SKY ROCK PETROGLYPHS
"if the fate that lies in front of us is truly written above in the stars, then the path to the stars is truly written inside each of us, we just need to look inward and see that for ourselves..." ― bodhinku, inside each of us