Based on some pretty spectacular pictures I had seen taken from the location, I chose to spend my first night in the Northeast Kingdom at the famous Lewis Pond Overlook. This is a very remote spot near the Kingdom State Forest in far northeastern Vermont; it's only a few miles from Island Pond as the crow flies, but getting there requires a drive of over 30 minutes each way on rather rough dirt roads.
It had been cloudy and drizzly all day despite forecasts that the skies would clear by late afternoon. I arrived at the overlook hoping to take star trail pictures, but it was not only still cloudy, it was raining. I caught a few hours' sleep and by 5 am, the sky was beginning to clear, and the moon, setting to my west, lit up the mountains and valleys to the east. This was my first image of what turned out to be a spectacular early morning of photography, featuring wonderful celestial objects, a great sunrise, and amazing fall foliage. The bright "star" top center here is Venus.
It had been cloudy and drizzly all day despite forecasts that the skies would clear by late afternoon. I arrived at the overlook hoping to take star trail pictures, but it was not only still cloudy, it was raining. I caught a few hours' sleep and by 5 am, the sky was beginning to clear, and the moon, setting to my west, lit up the mountains and valleys to the east.
This was my first image of what turned out to be a spectacular early morning of photography, featuring wonderful celestial objects, a great sunrise, and amazing fall foliage. The bright "star" top center here is Venus.