[Image] Hi, are you taking Desert Survivor's Get-Out-And-Camp Challenge? If you missed the post, click on the link to learn a few details of the name-how-many nights you want to camp and then just-go-and-do-it challenge.

We decided we would camp out 12 nights this year, and last weekend we added nights 7 and 8. They were great, at Cave Lake State Park near Ely. The kids love it because it's close to the lake. I love it because they have hot showers! I also had some fun with night photography.

[Image] Reflections in the lake [Image] Night sky over the campsite [Image] UFOs  Actually, stranger than the UFOs were the numerous lights along the lake edge. What were people doing? I decided to investigate.
[Image]
What I found is that a bunch of teenagers were crawdading. They could easily see the crawdads with their flashlights close to shore, and then they netted them. One group had a bucketful!
[Image]
The next night they were out again (under the Milky Way--what a blessing to have such dark skies!). We decided to join them. [Image]
The kids caught a few all on their own (I was busy taking photos). So when Desert Boy told me he was soaked up to mid-chest, I gave a big sigh and expected to run back to the tent. Nope, he wanted to keep catching more. I think there's something very strong in our genetic code to keep hunting and gathering!
[Image]

Here's some of their catch:
[Image]
Since I had no intention to cook any, we gave them to the teenagers (who I believe were planning on eating them.)
 Staying out to crawdad meant that the skies had darkened quite a bit, and the Milky Way really popped.
[Image]
One of the trickiest parts of photographing the night sky are all the airplanes and the resulting airplane trails they leave. I'm starting to learn how to remove them in post-processing, as well as some other tricks, but it's a steep learning curve.
[Image]
Nevertheless, it's fun experimenting with some different photographic techniques. And it's fun to go unplugged and just enjoy the scenery around us.
[Image]
So there you have it, go out and camp! There's still plenty of time to begin and finish the challenge. Fall camping features cooler nights and gorgeous changing colors.