When I first came across a composition taken from this area, I thought it was fake. The image I saw was taken from down at the lake shore with a few rocks in the foreground with Mt Hood and the Milky Way towering above. The reason I thought it was fake was because I assumed it had been taken from Trillium Lake, which is a classic location to get a Hood/lake shot. The problem is that Trillium Lake is on the south side of the mountain, so all shots would be taken facing north, however the Milky Way appears in the southern part of the night sky. So, I thought the image had been manipulated using Sky Replacement. I thought someone had taken a photo of Mt Hood from Trillium Lake and replaced the northern sky with a southern one that included the Milky Way. On closer inspection however, I realized that there where no ski lifts in the shot or lights from the resort or Timberline Lodge.

A light went off in my head, there must be another lake on the north side of the mountain. I did further research and found it. I couldn't believe it, how could I have missed this honeypot of a location? Why weren't there many photos from here? I don't know the answer to that, but I was excited to check it out. But first I had to find out what was going on in the night sky.

I discovered this location in the midst of a high pressure system in mid-September, the skies were completely clear and the forecast was for more of the same. A quick check determined we were on the verge of a New Moon. Clear skies and no moon, so far perfect conditions for astrophotography. Now, just one more thing to check, where was the Milky Way this time of year and when was the galactic core going to make its appearance? I opened the PhotoPills app and had a look. To my delight, it seemed that the Milky Way would be rising behind Mt Hood between 8:30PM and 9:30PM and that the galactic core would be visible at that time as well. I couldn't believe my luck, and such a reasonable hour as well (the Milky Way could have easily been scheduled to rise behind Hood at 3AM, which would have sucked).
Screenshots from my planning using the PhotoPills app

The plan was to take two separate shots and combine them - one shot at blue hour so I could get a sharp detailed image of Mt Hood and the foreground, and another shot later of the night sky. I decided I wanted a grand vista shot taken from the hillside above the lake rather than a shot from the lake shore. I had 2.5 hour drive from home and a yet to be determined hike up the hillside.

Arriving at the lake at 6:30PM, I set off to find my composition. It took around 25 minutes to get to where I wanted to be. The trail was nice, but once I began to finesse the composition, I ended up scrambling through a steep, loose boulder field that was a little sketchy. Finally in position a little after 7PM, I settled in to wait for blue hour and the night skies. I had brought my stove and some beverages and made myself dinner squished awkwardly amongst the boulders.

The blue hour shots were looking fantastic. The mountain looked crisp and beautiful in the twilight, only 45 minutes to go. When night finally descended and the Milky Way started lining up behind Mt Hood, I was in awe. I started snapping photos to get all the variations of the galactic core as it slid along and behind the summit. The hike back down to the truck was a little spooky but I made it back home by midnight.

The next morning, when reviewing my shots, my heart sank. I had missed focus on the night shots. The stars where blurry. I was crushed. In my defense, I did check focus up on the hillside, but honestly it's really hard to tell. The screen on the back of my camera is pretty darn good, but it's still small and hard to really see something tiny like individual stars. But at home, on my monitor, it was readily apparent and there was no way that I could print it. This was truly an ephemeral moment and I had screwed it up. I tried what I could to fix the stars, but there was no way, the image just started to look crappy.
Close up showing the blurry sky below

Fortunately the high pressure system was still around for a couple of days, the moon nowhere to be seen, and the Milky Way galactic core alignment only a few minutes off from before. So, I headed out once again, making the 2.5 hour drive, 25 minute hike, dinner in the boulders, and re-took blue hour and the Milky Way.

In landscape photography, I'd say it's pretty well known that scenes never repeat themselves. Generally, you will never find conditions to be the same as your original shot. In this case, I got extremely lucky that I was able to replicate an ephemeral shot.

Galactic Eruption
Laurance Lake, Oregon
September 18, 2025 7:45PM - 8:45PM
Sony A1
12-24mm GM @20mm
Blue Hour: ISO 200 / f9 / 20 seconds
Night Sky: ISO 3200 / f2.8 / 20 seconds