Copper Breaks State Park is a park in the Texas State Park system, only 3 hours west of DFW. While the entire state park is beautiful, it is best known for being an International Dark Sky Site. It is a Bortle 2 scale site. Bortle was a scientist who ranked the skies across the world based on their darkness on a scale of 1 to 9, 9 being the brightest. Most cities across the world are a 9 and one can see only the brightest of objects in the night sky. Conversely, Bottle 1 and 2 are some of the darkest skies on the planet. I have been to Copper Breaks State Park before in groups. But this time around I decided to go solo and make it a stargazing trip.
These days my anxiety is at an all-time high. Even the things that were exciting earlier, seem like tasks. My brain tries to plan everything to the T, decides that there are too many variables, gets tired, and gives up even before starting. That is exactly the way I was going. I was shopping for the trip; salad bags, donuts, a fan to combat the 90-degree weather. My body was ready to go for the trip but my brain was running in the opposite direction. It’s a long drive, it’s going to be too hot, I will be scared alone and won’t have fun at all, what if an animal comes into the camp, what if Kero runs away, it’s too remote, I can’t do it. By the time I reached checkout with all of my camping supplies, my brain had given up on the idea of going.
I sat in the car and opened Insta out of habit. There was a post from one of my friends who is in her 50s and travels solo across the country. I immediately remembered my conversation with her. I had asked her how she got the courage to travel solo, is it not dangerous? She almost became defensive and asked me who are these people who are telling me it’s dangerous. I told her, everyone, friends, family, the internet etc. I told her that I wanted to do it but I was scared and not sure where to start. She softened and asked me that if I wanted to get my teeth fixed I would go to a dentist, right? If I wanted to get my house built I would go to an architect, right? If I want to do anything in life I will seek out people who have done it before, right? She gave me a piece of beautiful advice “If someone gives you advice, take that advice only if the person has some experience doing it themselves”. So I agreed and asked for her advice. She said, “Solo traveling is one of the best things to experience. It builds up your confidence, you get to do what you want to do the way you want to do it, you meet some incredible people and most importantly you learn a lot about yourself and might even learn to enjoy your own company. Of course, use your common sense, take the necessary precautions, nature is safer than cities, and if your spidey senses keep crawling up, leave”. I closed my Insta and decided it was at least worth a shot. To my anxious mind, I said, we will see. We will get to the campsite and if it doesn’t feel safe, we will be back (Also, does anyone else refer to their mind as another person?)
So started the journey. My car camping setup is simple. The back seats fold down, a yoga mat goes on top of it, and a comforter forms the bedding. I have two different fans since Kero gets hot. Reflectix for my windows to keep the sun out and for privacy, a food bag and plenty of water. Kero was very happy since he associates the car camping mode with long adventurous journeys.
The drive was 3 hours long on mostly flat land. One hour out comes a Punjabi Dhaba, two hours out comes Wichita city. The drive after that becomes very interesting (or boring depending on your observation power). You see signs on either side of the road saying fresh oil (welcome to west texas) and there is also a section in which you see windmills on both sides of the road. It’s funny to see a windmill farm intertwined with actual farms with cows and hay bails. I have always loved drives through west Texas. For miles, as far as you can see in all directions, you see, nothing. Flat land, ranches, and an unobstructed horizon. I have always thought that this is how it’s supposed to be, vast portions of untouched nature with speckles of humans in between and not the other way around. In the last half an hour of the drive, I didn’t see any other car. Only cows. Kero made sure he barked at each of them. My anxious brain started fluttering again. I calmed it by pointing out that there is range on my phone and the nearest town is only half an hour away. And so after 3 hours, I reached Copper Breaks State Park. I was excited when they said there is a ranger led astronomy program today, but I was dejected when they said dogs aren’t allowed (Why do most places not consider the existence of solo travelers with dogs?). But this was good news for my anxious brain. It meant I just had to set up camp once and be done with it.
My campsite was perfectly oriented, the boot of the car facing south. As I saw the last of the sun rays set in the west, the rest of the sky turned darker. I found my marker stars, the Big Dipper, pointing to Arcturus and Spica, and the Summer Triangle. The Sagittarius teapot and Scorpio soon became visible. This is an extremely dense portion of the sky when it comes to deep-sky objects, from open clusters to galaxies. What makes it ever so sought after is its position in the sky. It’s so close to the southern horizon that in most places it is hidden, due to light pollution, buildings, or trees. So naturally I focused all my attention on this part of the sky. The boot of my car open, Kero sleeping inside peacefully, I kept a chair right behind my car. The drink holder held my torch , phone and a pencil. Behind me in the car, I kept my binoculars and a book called “Turn Left at Orion”.
In front of me the constellations of Sagittarius and Scorpio in all their glory. I know a lot of people say that Orion is their favorite constellation, for me it’s Scorpio. When you see it in its entirety from a dark sky, it’s a constellation that comes closest to its name. You see the claws of a Scorpio, a long body, and a beautifully curving tail. At the heart of Scorpio is a bright red giant star called Antares. The region around Scorpio is nestled with many star clusters and galaxies. I sat there, sipping my Diet Coke (alcohol doesn’t agree with a post-30 body much ) as I enjoyed the show put on by the beautiful constellations in what felt like my personal backyard.
My Seestar was now set on Trifid Nebula in Sagittarius. Within a couple of minutes, a beautiful nebula with tinges of green and blue popped up on the screen. My “ Ohh my” gasp was so loud that it startled Kero. I let the smart telescope do its job, as I just looked at the stars. A passing meteor made me turn my gaze towards the zenith. While I was busy looking at Scorpio and Sagittarius, the summer triangle was looking at me from exactly overhead. It took me time to find Vega, Altair, and Deneb since all the other stars were so bright as well. From the city, you can only see the 3 bright stars of the Summer Triangle so it’s not difficult spotting it at all. But here, there were a million more stars than what my brain is used to. As my eyes adjusted a bit, I could see it, staring right at me, the Milky Way!! Millions of stars shining bright, so densely packed and giving out such luminosity, that I could just stare. It was so bright that it almost felt like it was descending on earth. It was so bright, that I had to check around for a full moon. There was none, this brightness was from the Milky Way galaxy itself. What is that white, is it thin clouds? , no it’s still the brightness from the Milky Way Galaxy. I visited Peru last year; the Inca people see the Amazon River and the Milky Way as a reflection of each other. One is called the river on earth and the other is called the river in the sky. As I marveled at this bright white river in the sky made of millions of shining diamonds I could see why. I also realized that this is the natural night sky. This is what it’s supposed to look like. This magical marvel is what all of us should have access to everyday(or night) for free. And we don’t, thanks to the rampant light pollution, most people don’t know what a real sky looks like.
By now, almost four hours had passed by. My Seetsar was stacking one galaxy after another. Multiple bugs had bitten me and then stopped because they got used to my presence and me to theirs. It was quiet and dark and a cool breeze was blowing. The only sound I could hear was Kero’s snoring. But that changed, I could hear some rustling and I immediately flashed my light towards the bushes. I couldn’t see anything. Maybe a rabbit or a small animal is what I thought and got back to the sky. A few minutes later, I heard coyotes, howling. Kero woke up at the sound of his ancestors. Since he was up I gave him a midnight snack and some water. After a few minutes, I heard the coyotes again this time much closer. I decided to call it a night. I could leave my Seestar outside and still control it from inside the car. As I was settling in, Kero had already finished his nap and was very involved in the process of prepping the car for the night with me. I put on all the refletix on the windows and held them with tapes. Whatever pillows I could steal from Kero were in position now. I kept the car keys in my hand and a few items of self-defense next to me. I blasted the fan on full, asked the Seestar to image the pillars of creation, and went to sleep. Or so I thought.
The mind is good at creating its own stories when you are alone and it’s dark outside. Even a simple rustle can make you think of worst-case scenarios. When one of the tapes of the reflectix came off I was sure that there was someone on the outside who had managed to pry open the window, managing it without my car making any sound, and was now trying to take off window coverings to see who was inside. As I got up to investigate and saw that it was only one of the tapes that had given away I chuckled at the imagination of my own mind and fixed the reflectix. I changed the object on the Seestar to Swan nebula, reasoned with my mind, and explained to it again , all the precautions that we have taken and then attempted to sleep again.
This time around, I was able to sleep. I woke up to Kero intently looking at my face, demanding to open the windows. It was already bright outside and there was condensation on all my windows. I quickly changed my car from camping mode to driving mode and coffee’d my way back into civilization.
I feel immensely grateful that just 3 hours away from home, I have access to some of the darkest skies on the planet. I am well aware that as we as a civilization “progress” these places are going to dwindle and become less accessible. Any human, no matter how rich, if hasn’t seen the Milky Way and been blown away by it, I would argue, is poor. And if you are wondering if you should go do that thing you are scared to do but really want to do , go do it! It will be more worth it than you think. For now, turn that light off, if you don’t need it. Wishing you clear skies!!!
