No evidence of civilization

I camped last night in the isolated Mesquite Campground in Death Valley National Park. It's five miles from Scotty's Castle at about 2,500 feet in the lonely northern corner of the park. You can see my campsite in the photo. Last night before I went to bed, I stepped outside to see the stars. The nearest town is 50 miles away and it's tiny. So there was no artificial light to interfere with Mother Nature. Above me were a million stars. The Milky Way actually looked milky, like a high thin cloud. There were four other RVs scattered in the campground, but, like mine, they were dark. So on this night, all I could see were stars with the exception of a few distant planes, their strobe lights blinking like pin-point-sized flash bulbs.

As my eyesight adjusted to the darkness, more stars appeared. The only sound was the wind. It was magnificent!