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Another one of my year-round quick-walk destinations and, on occasion, a place where I go see the stars, especially in late autumn or late winter (with a preference for the former, since it's not as cold then)...
Tonight is one of those, mostly because I thought I could use a break and also because the late afternoon clouds happened to part in exactly the right manner to make this dusk walk fit its intended purpose.
Besides, low light walks do take a completely different dimension, and the view from the top of Croaghnadownies at dusk, with vistas of Ards, Rossguill and Fanad, are known to soothe even the most cold-hearted wandered. With a day that went from bad (rear flat tyre on the bike, just one day after I fixed a flat on the front one) to worse, and where nothing of value was being accomplished, it was an easy decision to go see the stars rather than try to spend yet another hour, banging one's head against the wall, all to accomplish nothing...
And stars we did find! First to appear at our impromptu rendez-vous was Sirius, due south, winking at us in an especially scintillating way. But then again, it's not like Sirius is that far (only 9 lightyears, which is a cake walk on the cosmic scale). Turning to the the west, a bright Venus also joins, whose light effortlessly manages to pierce through these late long clouds that are so rudely trying to stand in her way. And not much longer after that, Orion, pointing its nose as the first constellation to finally reveal itself in full.
From there, things only got better, even though eastern/northern stars and constellations did happen to take longer to appear, in these dimming skies, than their southern counterparts.
Sure, it may be windy and quite chilly up there, but it's not that bad a place to be, when surrounded by such a fine crowd. Plus the climb down in darkness (no moon today) is great fun. Maybe some other day, I'll talk about the times I used to walk alone, full speed ahead and very late at night, along empty Parisian boulevards... with my eyes closed.
All this to say: walking in complete darkness is awesome!
Thus, with the isolated valley sheltering us somewhat from the light pollution, we are free to get our fill of stars long before we arrive back at the car. Maybe this day wasn't a complete waste of time after all...
Suggested Sound Track
I dunno. I could probably find something not too committal, that mentions stars...
Or, if you insist, we can go full commit, with SHA-1 and everything, and with some John Wesley.
It is true that I may relate to John's obsessive songwriting nature possibly a bit too much at times... In that case, since there's nothing more for me to say, let me hit you with:
