Looking back up at the way down
I had planned to stay only long enough to get some photographs of the arch once the stars came out, and then make my way back along the cliff edge while the way down was still somewhat fresh in my memory. I had looked back, while there was still twilight, reassuring myself that it would be a simple matter of following along the shelf just over there as it wound around the cliff edge and then finding the points where I had climbed down. But as I sat there behind the camera, with my back resting against a weathered fold in the the gently-sloping slickrock (that eventually accelerated into steeply-sloping, and then point-of-no-returning, if one wandered too far), I watched the faint band of light that was the rising Milky Way opposite the arch. As I waited for the Milky Way to rise into position behind the arch, I glanced around. The way back was now lost in darkness, as was the perilous drop which I knew still lurked far to my right. I lay back on the slickrock, with eyes to the heavens. I was surrounded by stars, more than I could ever hope to count, in every direction. It reminded me of when, as a child, I had visited a planetarium, with stars projected on the dome around me. Only this time, there was no laser pointer, no narration, and my seat, while having about the same incline, was definitely not as cushioned. But it still retained some heat from the late summer day, which felt good now in the cooler night air. And so I lay back, and marveled at the beauty that enveloped me. It was then that I promised myself that I could skip the sunrise the next morning and sleep in, just so I could stay here longer.
A chance meteor flashed across the sky and was gone. I hoped the camera had captured it - its life had been so brief, but it did seem to be in the direction the camera was pointing. It was not the first meteor I had seen on this trip - I had seen one on another night, but it was outside the camera’s field of view. While meteors can happen at any time, it is rare to see them outside of the known meteor showers. I wouldn’t find out until later that yes, it had been captured.
A chance meteor briefly streaks across the sky
There are moments that stay with me - and that was one of them. The splendor of the heavens, surrounding me, holding me, and just the sheer wonder of it all.