We arrived in the park at night, driving through the moonless darkness, the sky above us a sea of glittering stars. We paused at Olmstead Point, a stunning viewpoint in Yosemite which offers a view of Half Dome and the surrounding valley. For some time now, I have longed to stop here along the Tioga Pass Road, and lie down on the smooth granite domes to gaze up at the stars. This night was the perfect night. The Milky Way stretched across the entire sky.

We grabbed our warmest coats and hats and hiked a short distance up one side of a granite dome. Then we lay on the smooth, glacier-polished rock, watching meteors streak past. The sky was so dark from the utter lack of urban light pollution that I could see the Andromeda Galaxy and Lagoon Nebula with the naked eye. I brought my stargazing binoculars and took in the star-filled Double Cluster in Perseus, and clusters in Sagittarius and Scorpio. It was gorgeous.

The night was a little warmer than expected, and a breeze blew over us, bringing with it the fresh scent of mountains and pine. No traffic noise, no voices, not even a bird, made it so quiet that the blood thrummed in my ears. Only the occasional passing plane broke the stupendous silence enveloping Olmstead Point.

At last, reluctantly, we left the spot to secure a campsite for the evening.

Pictured below is Olmstead Point as it looks in the daylight.