Longs Peak Milky Way

The best way to avoid the crowds in Rocky Mountain National Park is to visit in the offseason and at off hours. I wanted to capture the alignment of the Milky Way with Longs Peak while snow was still present so May was a good month to spend in the park under the stars. After reaching an almost empty parking lot I hiked up to my viewpoint that just managed to clear any foreground trees. I began this single long take at 10:30 pm and packed up after sunrise at 6:30 am. After the Moon set below the horizon, the Milky Way and Jupiter advanced across the night sky and provided me a good reason to skip sleeping. The bright glow at the horizon is light pollution from Boulder and Denver.