Randomly, I search for locations for both aurora photos and Milky Way photos. I love getting photos over water and having reflections so I always check rivers and lakes.
Around the time we started looking at Wild River State Park to do a tent photo
I had found this spot on my app, PlanitPro, but what I hadn’t found was how to get there. Every time I asked, I was told that it wasn’t possible to get to that beach, especially at night.
April 19, Christy and I decided to go check it out. We wandered around, figured out our options and decided it was possible!
After all the warnings, I was admittedly nervous, I mean, who wants to fall in the river carrying expensive camera gear, right?
Then again… the photos I wanted to take at that location with the island in the middle plus.. just the challenge of being told it was impossible made me want to do it even more.
One of the cool things about PlanitPro is you can take a photograph of a location and then change the date and time to show where the Milky Way will show up where you want it in the planned photo.
This is near the location where I wanted to take a photo of the Milky Way. I particularly wanted to get reflections in the water.
The day trip down to the river was pretty easy. The steps were steep and the trail was thin but it was nothing like we were warned. We knew it would be a bit trickier at night but we were certain we could handle it.
Then it was time to wait for a clear night and of course, there was clouds and rain in the forecast. Not only that, but I had another planned weekend at LLCC where I got some great photos!
Finally, the forecast for the night of May 3-4 was clear. It was also a Cedar Creek Star Party weekend. I told Christy “tonight will start with a star party and go straight on till morning.” The Cedar Creek Star Party was a big hit as always.
We had thought about taking a nap but the Star Party lasted until around 10-11pm and we wanted to head out about 1am. No time to sleep. *wry grin*
Christy arrived at my place a bit before 1 and we hit the road. It was about an hour drive (slower than usual cuz we watch for deer and other critters). We got there and found the parking lot. That’s when things got dicey.
There was someone there! OMG! Okay, I mean, yeah, it happens but usually not at 2am. We could hear them but we couldn’t see them. It was a Saturday night and they were partying. Oh boy. Oh well, if neither of us was supposed to be there, we’ll just wing it.
Christy and I loaded up our gear (backpacks and tripods) and headed off.
tonight will start with a star party and go straight on till morning
Did I mention we’re both directionally challenged? Yeah. Well, we’d come during the day and planned the path but we also didn’t want to park too close to the party car, so we parked on a different edge and boy did that turn us around. When we came in the daytime, we found a quick path down but the hill was steep, and then we found an easy angled path back up. We wanted to take that down.. but we couldn’t find it! (Back in the old days, Google Timeline was great but now it’s shit and we couldn’t use that to find the path. Nor can I use it to figure out where we got lost cuz it’s shit now. Fucking Google.) First we took a right instead of a left (don’t ask) and while we trudged that way, the party car people got ready to leave (maybe.. maybe things happen for a reason, right? LOL) so we stayed back and hid from sight. (Hey it’s night time, that means all we had to do was turn off our headlamps and wait.. )
Finally the party kids left and we figured that we needed to go back the other way, basically the way they came from. We did end up taking the steep hill down because it is better marked but that wasn’t the end of the trickiness. The steep hill lead to steep, very steep stairs built into the ground. They are rocky and not completely flat (or safe). We made it down the stairs.. and then there is a tiny path between the river and some pond pooling for when the river was high. I’d say the path was probably about two feet wide. It was probably the scariest part of the entire adventure for me.
We made it through the treacherous trail and came to a small area with a tree and a still warm coals. We found the party spot! *giggle* Fortunately, we planned on going a lot further down the beach so we can get to where the Milky Way would be over the river.
Finally we reached the spot we had scouted a few weeks earlier and started setting up. After all the wandering, wrong turns, and late‑night hiking, it felt like a small victory to arrive exactly when PlanitPro said we would.
Once the gear was in place and I’d taken a few test shots, I set the intervalometer and let myself relax. I grabbed a mix of horizontal and vertical frames, then spent the rest of the time listening to the river, soaking in the night sounds, and watching the stars drift overhead. Nights like this are why I love doing this.
As the exposures rolled on, I realized the area straight down the river was much more light‑polluted than it looked in person. The reflections I wanted were fighting against a bright glow on the horizon, so I shifted my composition on‑site and knew I’d have to rethink the balance once I got home.
When the sun finally came up, we packed up and headed back. The return trip was far easier in daylight, and the whole hike felt less intimidating with the river fully visible beside us.
Back home, the editing turned into a much longer project than usual. Pulling back the light pollution without flattening the stars took patience, various stacking attempts and detailed foreground work. Ultimately, I ended up with a photo I’m genuinely proud of.
I named it
Never Say Never