Flying by the Seat of Our Plans

It happened again.  The forecast had been calling for nothing but clouds, but then it changed late at night.  I walked out on the porch and saw the clouds parting.  I asked Laura if it was okay for me to head out since Lucy was in bed. She, of course, supported my compulsion.  It was too late to call friends, so I went solo.  I thought about going somewhere about an hour away but decided to stay a bit closer just in case it clouded up and also so I'd have more time to shoot.  So, I took off towards Landreth Road and the Little Cedar Spillway. I had pre-planned a shot of the Milky Way over the spillway for around 3am, but got down there around midnight just in case.  Landreth Road was a muddy, rutted mess on the drive in, so I was glad I had brought the truck instead of the hybrid this time.  I donned my hip waders and started walking down the two-track trail, seeing stars through the trees during the whole slip-and-slide hike down. Some bats a...

Micah and I had been discussing going to shoot the Milky Way since early April.  It would be his first time trying to do astrophotography and I was looking forward to nerding out teaching him all the techniques that I have learned in the last two years.   I got out on a nice night in April near the house at Crab Orchard Lake , but May wasn't coming together like we had planned.  Every night near the new moon was forecasted to be cloudy and we canceled the two nights that we had hoped to get out.  But, a few nights later, I was looking at the weather forecast and it said that it was clearing up THAT NIGHT! I had just gotten home from a 9-mile walk with Lucy at Tunnel Hill, so Laura was kind enough to go outside and verify that the clouds were dissipating as I laid on the living room floor.  The next few hours were a back-and-forth, wishy-washy mess that resulted in Micah, another friend, Keoni, and I deciding to give it a shot at Kinkaid Lake spillway.  W...

Well, that didn't take long.  Only a couple days after my last trip, Laura caught up in the Rec Your Quarantine challenge, so it was time to cover some ground with Lucy again.  We headed to the Tunnel Hill trail again, but this time at the Barkhausen Cache River Wetland Center. I noticed signage as we pulled in that the entrance to the parking lot is closed and locked at 4:30pm daily, which I hadn't anticipated.  We went just a bit back up the highway and parked at an access to the wetlands just west of the road.  We had to walk a short way down Hwy 37, which was stressful with a stroller, to say the least, but were quickly off the road and on the trail. Lucy really enjoyed watching the water flowing on the Cache from this bridge just outside the visitor center grounds We hit the Junction for Karnak and then headed north on the trail a bit further until we hit another bridge over the Cache River.  The river dumps into a diversion canal her...

I was falling behind Laura in the Rec Your Quarantine challenge and needed to put on some miles so that I don't lose the bet.  It has been a bit warm for hiking with Lucy in the Ergo pouch, and she's not quite ready for the backpack, so we headed back to Tunnel Hill trail where I could push her in the stroller.  We had made it to the Breeden Trestle bridge last time, but I was hoping to go further this time and also came prepared with the cameras this time. Soon after leaving the parking lot, we passed through the namesake tunnel. I was impressed by how much more vibrant green the vegetation along the rock walls was after all of our recent spring rains. We didn't make it far from the tunnel before Lucy got hungry and demanded that we stop to sit on a rock for a bit.  While she was laying across my lap, I was delighted to notice the reflection of the tree canopy in her eyes as she stared at the leaves. I could hear water rushing just beyond ...