Star Vortex, photo by Harold Davis. View this image larger.

This is a very long time exposure taken from the top of Half Dome. It was around 1AM. I pointed the camera straight up towards the sky facing north. Here’s what I wrote in my diary:

I am taking photos after midnight, the camera on tripod open for half an hour at a shot. It is cold. Not so much my torso, but my legs and feet. I look around and see mosaics in the rock of Half Dome. This cannot be true. Looking close by flashlight, taking care not to disturb the sky exposure, I see the “mosaic” is made of lines of frost, the moisture gathered out of the air.

It is so cold I can’t sit or lie down. I must pace, it seems forever. I have a small, flat area I know it is safe to pace. Like Gandalf on the top of Orthanc. When my batteries are gone, photography is over.

For the story of how and why I was on Half Dome at night, see Yosemite Valley from Half Dome, Moon Shadow of Half Dome, Snakes and Ladders, Half Dome by Starlight, and Midnight Rambles.