Milky Way over Mount Rainier

Gary Peltz captured the image above at around 2 a.m. on July 29, 2017. The lights in the sky are stars, of course, but Gary said the lights strings on the mountain are from climbers (“More than I’ve ever seen! Over 50 of them I’d guess”) who mostly start their trek up the mountain around midnight. That way, he explained, they get back down before the surface warms up too much and the ice turns slushy, making it hard to maneuver. Gary also provided these details about his photo:

Equipment Details:
Nikon D810
Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8

Post-processing Details:
10 exposures each at:
10 seconds
f2.8
ISO 12,800
Stacked in Photoshop CC 2017, final edit in Lightroom 6.1

The U.S. National Park Service provided more details about Mount Rainier:

Ascending to 14,410 feet above sea level, Mount Rainier stands as an icon in the Washington landscape. An active volcano, Mount Rainier is the most glaciated peak in the contiguous U.S.A., spawning six major rivers.

Visit Mount Rainier National Park