Sometimes you just happen to be in the right place in the right time.

Yesterday I hiked into the Hooker Valley in Mt Cook/Aoraki National Park to shoot sunset. It was a beautiful day, and a beautiful hike. The ice on Lake Hooker was mostly broken up and the few clouds that had threatened to come over the divide held off. In fact, I would have liked a few more clouds for sunset! Once the sun finished lighting up the massive face of Mt Cook the moon lit up the valley and gave the icebergs an eery glow. I hadn’t really been paying any attention to the moon phases (although I usually do), so I was stoked to see the almost full moon, and decided to stay a little longer to let some stars come out before starting the 1.5 hour hike back to the trail head and dinner.

This turned out to be the best decision of the night, as shortly afterwards the International Space Station floated directly over top of Mt Cook! Once again, I hadn’t payed any attention to the visible passes of the ISS over New Zealand, but a quick check with my ISS Tracker app confirmed what the super bright spec in the sky was. I snapped off a couple quick photos before it disappeared behind the towering peaks.

Very fortunate timing (and admittedly, lots of luck), and all in all a fantastic evening. To top it off the moon was bright enough to illuminate the trail back to the car!

Image specs: Canon 5Dmk3, Canon 16-35 f/2.8L II @ 35mm. f/4.5, ISO 400, 25 s.