International Dark Sky Park #7
Rappahannock County Park 🌌

If the weather cooperates in the evening, I will shoot at all of Virginia’s dark sky parks by the end of my trip. But that’s a big “if.” The mountains are tempestuous, already thwarting my first evening of camping. Though I am not proud of being in this motel room while the tent is in my trunk, the afternoon and early evening had torrential downpours, booming thunder, lightening bolts–that sort of thing. And this room was less than $20 more than reserving a campsite, sooooo… I’ll try again tomorrow. But tonight!

Rappahannock County Park is one of the few county parks with dark sky certification from IDA. Very close to Shenandoah National Park off route 211, if you blink you may miss it. I stopped in before spending the day at Shenandoah and was not very impressed. It’s small and there are many obstructions of the sky, like big power lines, a very tall fenced court, trees… And the General Rules state you aren’t even allowed there after dusk! Finally, there is a private residence on the property–in gun-toting Trump country no less. Soooooo… I was curious how things would go in the evening.

This is where the sky seemed best. And it is exactly where I wound up shooting…

Flash forward through back and forth white-knuckle trips to and from Rappahannock County Park and Luray, Virginia, my home for the evening, and I am very pleased with my pictures despite a lot of cloud cover. If I were to offer advice to interested parties, plan to not have to drive through Route 211 (through Shenandoah) when visiting. The sharp bobbing curves, altitude changes, deep darkness, two-way traffic, a lot of deer activity, etc made for a very stressful beginning and end. The private residence was no issue but I was mindful to not sing to myself as I sometimes do… But there was much to sing about! For one, the noise deters wild animals, which I was fearful of–night noises and being alone within them sometimes can get me uneasy. For two, the Milky Way! Here’s what I shot:

I always like to show my first shot. Do you see it hiding under a gauzy layer of clouds?

Oh yeah.

The stars were bright and the skies dark, but the flashes of lightening (mountain issues) would illuminate the sky randomly.

Waiting for the cloud cover to pass and taking shadow selfies

See what I did there? ❤️

Had the camera pointing totally vertical for many of these.

The light from the pavilion–oddly with white light! I think I need to be a field person for IDA to make sure these parks are following guidelines.

Show me the galactic core please!

Cloud cover getting playful

Just when I was getting great shots, I decided I should probably get back. I woke up at the crack of dawn to leave New York and needed to hit the hay.

Success at #7!