High Country and High Sierra Camps

Some of my favorite places in Yosemite are on the High Sierra Loop trip through the High Sierra camps: Tuolumne, Glen Aulin, May Lake, Sunrise, Merced Lake, and Vogelsang. Here's a brief photo tour of some of the sights from the camps and trails along the way in the order of the seven day loop trip.

The moon between Saggitarius and Scorpius over Vogelsang HSC. Copyright © 2004 James McGrew.<br />
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I often give astronomy presentations when I'm at Vogelsang because the high elevation (about 10,200 ft above sea level) means less atmosphere between our eyes and the stars. Coupled with little or no light pollution, we can view so many stars that on a moonless night, somebody not acquainted with the constellations easily gets confused by the myriad of stars that fill the sky. However, when the moon shines, it obscures all but the brightest stars, making constellations clearly visible as seen in this image. Scorpius on the right is seen with its head in the upper right corner of the image, and the tail extending down behind the trees, and the stinger curving up below and to the right of the moon. Antares (a red supergiant) serves as the heart of the scorpion. The position of the moon, near Saggitarius in this image also happens to lie approximately in the path of view directly to the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.

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The moon between Saggitarius and Scorpius over Vogelsang HSC. Copyright © 2004 James McGrew.

I often give astronomy presentations when I'm at Vogelsang because the high elevation (about 10,200 ft above sea level) means less atmosphere between our eyes and the stars. Coupled with little or no light pollution, we can view so many stars that on a moonless night, somebody not acquainted with the constellations easily gets confused by the myriad of stars that fill the sky. However, when the moon shines, it obscures all but the brightest stars, making constellations clearly visible as seen in this image. Scorpius on the right is seen with its head in the upper right corner of the image, and the tail extending down behind the trees, and the stinger curving up below and to the right of the moon. Antares (a red supergiant) serves as the heart of the scorpion. The position of the moon, near Saggitarius in this image also happens to lie approximately in the path of view directly to the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.

vogelsang high camp full moon saggitarius scorpius stars high sierra vogelsang