On a hill far away in a rural Norse community in central Texas sits a hidden gem. The Old Rock Church, a small Lutheran church built in 1886, is commonly referred to as St. Olaf Kirke. In the fall of 2022, I attempted to get a Milky Way picture over the old church. The weather was perfect, and the celestial alignment was ideal. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize the gate was locked and had to settle for a not so great shot with my 20mm lens from outside the gate.

A Milky Way shot of the Old Rock Church from outside the gate in October 2022.

This spring we visited our host site The Sundown Valley Ranch during the new moon. Before we left on our trip, I made arrangements for the gate to be opened on Wednesday. We arrived on a Tuesday with the sun shining and partly cloudy skies. I called again to have the gate opened that night instead. When I got there at 3am, the clouds had filled the sky. I took a few shots with the glow of the ambient light and locked the gate and left disappointed.

A photo with ambient light and a cloudy sky.

Wednesday my wife and I visited the site during the day with the sun shining and took some pictures with our phones.

Front entrance.

I made arrangements for the gate to be open again. I looked forward to another attempt. That night the clouds came rolling in again. I drove out to the church without my camera around 3am and locked the gate.

On Thursday a cool front was scheduled to pass through Central Texas in the afternoon. I was hoping it would clear out all the clouds and there would be one more opportunity as this was our last night to be in the area. Around 6pm the rain had lessened, and the cloudy skies started to decrease in the west. I made arrangements for the gate to be opened one last time. I set my alarm for 3am and woke up to see stars in the sky with a few remaining clouds on the horizon in the southeast, which was the direction wherein the Milky Way would rise. I drove to the church, set up my tripod, and pointed my camera to the southeast. Using my phone application, I pointed the lens to where the Milky Way should be and pressed the shutter for a thirty second exposure. The click of the shutter revealed a beautiful Milky Way arching above the church. For the next two hours, I watched and took pictures as the core of the Milky Way started to rise vertically next to the church steeple.

Shot taken from the cemetery looking southeast.

There is something magical about being under the celestial heavens silhouetted by an old house of worship. (Deuteronomy 3:24) One’s senses are magnified by the coyotes howling, birds chirping and elk bugling on the high fence ranch across the road. Each release of the shutter created anticipation of the images I would capture.

On this night, the stars aligned and allowed me to capture images of God’s creations. This was definitely a bucket list item for me. Patience and persistence had payed off after a year of waiting. I hope you enjoy the images and video. God bless you and thanks for reading my blog!

Tim Lumpkin

If you are interested you can read more about the history of the land and church on these two websites.

https://www.stainedglasstravel.com/2019/06/st-olafs-lutheran-kirke-rock-church.html

http://rockchurch-gap.com

I left Surfside on Thursday 2-16-23 and drove to Galveston to shoot a few pics if the surf was good at the pier. To my surprise the sandbars were working and the surfers were having a good time with the strong offshore winds blowing. Here is a short video of some still shots taken that day.

Enjoy! If you see yourself and would like an edited pic you can message me on Instagram @tlump10.

Thanks for reading my blog. Visit my YouTube Channel: Legacy-Outdoors

Till next time!

Tim Lumpkin

My alarm went off at 5am. After a quick breakfast I loaded up the Tacoma and headed for Surfside. I arrived before the front hit the coastline. Wetsuit on and board waxed, I hit the water and caught some waist high fun waves. After an hour the winds went offshore as the front crossed the beach. The offshore winds were strong and cold but the waves were cleaning up for some long walls to play on. The temperature dropped into the low 60’s and the wind chill was definitely felt by everyone in the water. My last wave was a bomb caught just outside the tower in the channel and took me all the way to the beach. After a quick change I drove to Crab street and stood out of the wind on Ted’s beach house porch and snapped a few shots with my camera. It was good to see everyone. I hope you enjoy the still shots I put in the video. If you see yourself in a photo and want the original let me know. Thanks for reading and watching!

Till next time,

Tim Lumpkin

Instagram: @tlump10

YouTube: Legacy-outdoors

Blog: Legacy-outdoors.net

In 2020 we moved to Clear Lake, Texas, which is located near Ellington Field. The noise of jets flying overhead fills the air when the Wings Over Houston air show comes to town. This year I purchased a photo pit pass. I wanted to get up close to shoot some good video and pics. As luck would have it, the weather did not cooperate. The sky was cloudy, and the winds were cold on the Saturday I had tickets. The photo and video quality would not be as good as a day with sunshine and clear skies. I made the most of it. I shot all video without a tripod or gimbal. The highlight of the air show was the finale, featuring the Navy Blue Angels demonstration squadron. Their show was full of low altitude passes due to the low cloud levels. The conditions were challenging, but I thoroughly enjoyed the show. Being close to the action in the photo pit is definitely something I will do again. Keep the men and women who fly these planes and risk their lives for the sake of our freedom in your prayers!

I have a lot of other footage from the show that I will be posting. Stay tuned!

God bless you and thanks for checking out my blog and videos!

Go to Legacy-Outdoors YouTube channel and you can see the video!

This year I purchased a photo pit pass for the Wings Over Houston. My ticket was for Saturday, 10/29. Unfortunately the skies were cloudy, and the weather was cool. The conditions were not the best for shooting photos. A sunny day would have been ideal, but I made the best of the situation. I decided to shoot all video (hand held with my Sony A6600 and 70 to 350mm lens). It was a challenge, but I got a few good clips. I will share those in a video soon. On Sunday, 10/30, the sun came out and blue, partly cloudy skies made for better conditions. Without a ticket, I decided to shoot some still photos from a local park near the venue. I managed a few good shots to share with you in this short video.

Thanks for reading and watching! God bless you and enjoy the video!

Tim Lumpkin

Legacy-Outdoors.net

Instagram: @tlump10

Facebook: Tim Lumpkin

Our time was growing short on this spring vacation. We still had places to go and things to see! Our last place to stay was a place called Ten Bits Ranch. It is virtually run and looks like a scene from a Western movie. We stayed in a room labeled the General Store which was right across from the Jailhouse. We were on our best behavior so as to not end up in a jail cell. From our porch, we saw a beautiful sunset over the hills. As the stars rose in the eastern sky, we were treated to some spectacular views. One of my favorite photo opportunities that night was of the Milky Way over the rugged hill tops. You will see this image in the video.

One of our must see sights was Big Bend State Park. We traveled down Park Road 170 which parallels the Rio Grande River all the way to Presidio. We must have stopped at least 20 times to take photos and gaze at the beautiful scenery along this park road. This is a must see if you get a chance to drive it.

The next road trip on our list was a drive down the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive back in the national park. We stopped at Castolon and visited the museum and store. It is hard to believe that cotton crops flourished in the valley here. Some of the original, rusty, heavy machinery used to process it is still there. From there we drove to an overlook to get a good picture of the Mule Ears mountain peaks and then to Sotol Vista, where the Homer Wilson Ranch house is still standing. After a few pics, it was on to the Chisos Mountains where we saw one of the more iconic views Big Bend is famous for – “The Window View”. As we were walking to the restaurant to eat lunch, there was a commotion in the parking lot as a black bear was stripping a native plant of its leaves and chewing on the tasty snack. The Chisos Mountains have seen a come back of the black bears that once lived in this region. The Park Rangers and personnel do a great job of teaching the public how to coexist with them. During our lunch, the same bear came back down the hill and made a pass by our lunch table near an open door. I grabbed my camera and seized the video opportunity as he slowly lumbered around to the back of the building.

An acquaintance we met in the park shot a really good picture of the bear and sent it to me when we got back home. I included his pic in the video below. His YouTube channel is Kaylor Adventure. He also has a really cool video featuring his hike to Balanced Rock. Check out his YouTube channel if you get a chance.

Before we made the drive back to the Midland airport, we took some shots of the Terlingua Cemetery. It is a famous landmark still being used today. I don’t think we ever went by the cemetery that there was not some one taking pictures of the unusual head stones and burial sites. As we drove back, we went through Alpine and made a pledge to come back and see the town along with the town of Marfa and the McDonald Observatory in Fort Davis.

Needless to say, we had a blast visiting this amazing part of the country. Texas is truly a fantastic state with so much to see and do. Thanks for coming along on our journey, and we hope you get to go experience some of God’s wonderful creations in Big Bend and beyond.

God bless you, and thanks for reading my blog. Enjoy the video!

Tim Lumpkin

Legacy-outdoors.net

Instagram:@Tlump10

Facebook:Tim Lumpkin

Welcome to another day of exploration in an amazing National Park. On this day, we decided to hike to see the Balanced Rock, a 2.2 round trip hike with an 80 foot elevation gain. After four-wheel driving six miles down Grapevine Hills Road, we arrived at the base of the Grapevine Hills Trail. The surrounding Grapevine Hills are called a laccolith formed by magma that welled up near the Earth’s surface into a dome-shape roughly 27-38 million years ago. The magma cooled underground, and has become exposed by erosion over time. This info was unbeknownst to me until I read about it on the park’s educational plaque at the trailhead. The X-factor on this hike was the 102 degree heat. We began our excursion carrying only one bottle of water each as opposed to the recommended 3 liters per person stated on the trailhead plaque. We were unprepared. The last .25 mile was a steep uphill, boulder-littered climb, but the view at the top was worth it for two 64-year old senior citizens. It is bewildering to me that a large boulder is supported by two vertical, equally large, rock formations that balance it, forming a window to the Chihuahuan Desert below. And how long have they been there like that? With plenty of stops in the sometimes breezy shade of boulders along the way, we managed to complete our journey with red satisfied faces.

Our next adventure would take us four-wheeling 12.6 miles down Old Maverick Road. This is a slow, unpaved adventure through the Terlingua Creek Badlands. It was a gradual downslope to Santa Elena Canyon and the Rio Grande River. On the way, we stopped at Luna’s Jacal. It is a very primitive house made using rock, dirt and plant fiber. Gilberto Luna built it and raised his family here. He farmed with irrigation from the Alamo Creek until 1947. Luna was a centenarian who lived to be 108 years old. When you step into the structure, the first thing you notice is the 20+ degree cooler change in temperature. Jacal structure is sometimes called “wattle and daub”. Luna applied mud plaster to latticework walls of cane grass and ocotillo to weatherproof the structure. Again, the park provided the information for us to appreciate the preservation of this house out in the middle of this vast, isolated part of the world. I can only imagine the harsh living conditions in this Terlingua desert environment.

As we continued down Old Maverick Road, we could see the large split in the canyon wall created by the Rio Grande and thousands of years of erosion. When we arrived at the base of the Santa Elena Canyon, we were taken aback by the steep walls of the narrow canyon. I cannot begin to imagine the force of the water it took to form the canyon. The water level of the Rio Grande was very low because of the drought conditions in the Big Bend area this spring. The whole week we were there, the park had record temps over 100 degrees every day. The water levels were so low, we waded into the water to stand on the Mexico side of the river where someone had written in the sand, “Welcome To Mexico”. I also captured some more unique pics of the canyon walls from mid-river vantage point. Though the temperature was unusually hot for April, it was moderated by a cooling wind whipping through the shaded canyon walls. Flying over this structure and then wading between its walls left us in awe of God’s magnificent creation for us to enjoy. You cannot help but feel closer to God when you stand among his beautifully designed handiwork.

Revelation 4:11 says, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have being.”

Thanks for joining me on this journey to Big Bend National Park and stay tuned for one more entry into this breathtaking piece of real estate. God bless you and enjoy the video.

Tim Lumpkin

Legacy-outdoors.net

Instagram: @tlump10

Facebook: Tim Lumpkin

After a restful night’s sleep at the Lajitas Golf Resort and Spa, we planned to see Big Bend Park in a different way. What is the best way to get a geographic understanding of such a large national park? How about flying over it. Marcos Paredes, of Rio Aviation in Terlingua, took us on an hour long flight over the park. The conditions were excellent except for the fact that there was a controlled burn taking place in the Chisos mountains. The winds pushed the smoky haze across portions of the park, but the views were still magnificent. Marcos has a vast knowledge of the region and pointed out many interesting features. The desert outcroppings were littered with old abandoned cinnabar mine roads and supply roads from decades past. There are still remnants of the wagon supply trail going all the way to Marfa. Cinnabar ore is the source of mercury, which was in high demand until after World War II. Limited production continued until around 1973. We flew over a lot of ghost towns left by the collapse of the mining industry. Carlos explained some of the many geological features of the many different types of volcanic rock formations, including the white volcanic ash scattered among the rugged terrain. Throughout the rugged terrain the green cotton wood trees lined the many spring fed creeks and the Rio Grande River. If you get a chance, we highly recommend seeing the view of the park from above. It adds a whole new perspective of God’s amazing world. [Exodus 20:11]

After the flight, we drove back to Lajitas with a day of relaxation in mind. My wife had a massage at the spa and shopped while I played the #1 ranked public golf course in the state of Texas. I can not begin to describe the natural beauty of each hole as you wind your way through the rocky Rio Grande River valley course. I included a few images of the course in the video so you can see the many vistas and elevation changes throughout. My tee time was at 1:30, and the temperature was expected to reach 102 degrees that day. With the light breeze and the lack of humidity, I was actually very comfortable riding through the beautiful course with a cart roof over my head. On the second hole, a road runner approached me close enough to touch. I think some of the locals might be offering them a small morsel to eat. The 2,000 foot plus elevation, dry climate and a slight breeze at my back sent my ball farther than I have ever hit it before. I was enjoying the extra distance I achieved with little effort. You know you are playing in a rural environment when a bobcat runs in front of you, stops on the 15th tee box and turns to look at you. I reached for my phone to get a picture, and as soon as I was bringing the phone up to get a shot, he bounded his large muscular frame down into the tall reeds of the river bottom. Wow, I thought. Who is going to believe what I just saw? Interestingly enough, that would not be the last wild animal encounter of our trip.

Speaking of animals, the town of Lajitas, small in population, has a third generation mayor named Clay Henry. Yes, you guessed it. He is a goat who loves carrots and Modelo beer according to the locals. We did feed him a carrot but he seemed more interested in the hay that was in his feeding trough.

That evening we went to a restaurant with a cool history and delicious food. The Starlight Theatre in the middle of the ghost town of Terlingua was once a central gathering place for the miners in the Terlingua area. After it’s decline to almost nothing, it was restored to it’s original condition and now serves a delicious menu with live entertainment. Get there early and get in line outside as it is a very popular spot. After a great meal we headed back to Lajitas and set our alarm for some early morning star pictures in the darkest region of the lower 48. One shot in the video was taken off Hwy 170 at the Contraband Trail entrance, while the others were taken with a little light behind the resort looking towards the mountains of Mexico.

It was a very enjoyable Day 2 even though we never officially entered the park. Day 3 was spent four-wheeling to a hiking spot and climbing to some scenic spots that were a bit of a challenge in the heat of the Chihuahua desert. Stay tuned… and thanks for reading my blog. God bless you and enjoy the video.

Tim Lumpkin

Legacy-Outdoors.net

Instagram: @tlump10

Facebook: Tim Lumpkin

DAY 1:

After an easy flight to Midland, Texas, we rented a Tacoma 4-wheel drive and drove to Marathon to spend the night at the Gage Hotel. The Los Portales courtyard outside our room was full of the sounds of spring, and the rustic room decor added to the western experience. We ate supper at the highly recommended White Buffalo Saloon. Beware: the brisket nachos are a 2 lb. concoction piled on one plate and quite pleasing to the palate. We walked to the hotel gardens across the railroad tracks and saw a vermillion flycatcher. It is a colorful red bird that I have never seen before. I was unable to get a good picture with a 20mm wide angle lens. Here is a stock photo of the male flycatcher.

After a good night’s sleep, we ate breakfast at the V6 Coffee Bar and were out for our first adventure at Big Bend. The park entrance was 39 miles away on Hwy 385. We were soon in the park as we passed the Persimmon Gap Entrance station. The presence of vast desert conditions followed by large uprisings of the volcanic Rosillos Mountains were a distinct contrast of images. As we drove through the Tornillo Flats, we saw a sign that directed us to a Fossil Bone Exhibit which we would explore later in the week. The actual bones of several dinosaurs were dug at that location. The exhibit there is totally open-air and well worth a stop. We soon came to one of the park headquarters at Panther Junction where we purchased a Senior National Parks Pass for $20. That’s the best deal I have had in a long time. After visiting with the park ranger and getting acquainted with the park map, we decided to explore the south eastern section of the park. We started our drive to Rio Grande Village. As we drove to the village, we went through an old railroad tunnel on our descent into the valley. That was something I was not expecting. Once at the village, we pulled into a campground and hiked a short trail to an overlook of the river and campgrounds. The view of the mountains in Mexico from the trail were an amazing sight. Our next point of interest was only a few miles away as we headed more east to the port of entry to the U.S. at the small Mexican town of Boquillas Del Carmen. The park ranger was kind enough to to let us go through the gates and down to the river to get a few pictures. We had to promise not to go across the river since we did not have a passport. Once the locals saw us coming down the hill to the river, an elderly man started rowing his boat over to meet us. We did not want to tease him so we just stopped where we were and took a few pics of the horses and donkeys they let you ride into the town and then went back up the hill. This crossing had some significance as my wife crossed the border here with the Baptist River Ministries some 40 years ago as a translator. They provided medical services to the villages up and down the river.

After leaving the Boquillas Crossing we drove a short while to an overlook for Boquillas Canyon. Here we found a lot of hand made goods brought up the steep hill to the overlook by the people of Boquillas. In the video you will see woven hats, walking sticks, jewelry, purses, pottery and many other souvenirs laying at the edge of the overlook. Everything is priced with a piece of tape on it. You are on the honor system to put your money in one of the jars nearest the groups of items for sale. I bought a nice straw hat for $15 which came in very handy during the 100 degree weather all week. After some pics and the purchase, we got back into our truck and started the long drive to our next overnight stay in Lajitas, Texas. We retraced our drive to Panther Junction and headed west to the town of Study Butte on Highway 118. We took a left on Highway 170 and drove through the ghost town of Terlingua and on to Lajitas Golf Resort and Spa for two nights. I know you are probably getting bored, so I will stop writing and let you watch the video of the beautiful scenery we experienced on our first day. I will share some more amazing experiences, photos and video next week in another blog installment.

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Enjoy the video and God bless you!

Tim Lumpkin

Big Bend National Park was declared an International Dark Sky Park as of 2012. The park has the darkest night sky of any national park in the lower 48 states. I got to experience the dark skies on a recent trip to Big Bend National Park. The enormity of the park and the lack of populated areas within and around the park contribute to the dark skies at night. I have never experienced the solitude and the darkness of a night in Big Bend until recently. It was almost spooky or supernatural how dark the sky was. The quietness and darkness in the park at night amplifies all your senses. Every little sound heightens your awareness as you peer into the darkness.

Being by myself at night in the middle of Big Bend was a spiritual experience as I gazed up at God’s creation. I grew up in the Christian church and during the service there was a time where the congregation would stand up and sing the Doxology in praise of our mighty God. I stood there staring at the sky, and the memory of that song started going through my mind. Doxology: “Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures here below. Praise Him above the Heavenly host. Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.” I carried that song in my mind the rest of the night as I drove out of the park and put my head on my pillow.

Being in a place this dark gave me an excellent opportunity to shoot some pictures of the Milky Way. I had my tripod and Sony A6600 with me along with my Sky Guide app on my phone. This enabled me to determine what time and what direction the Milky Way would appear in the sky. I only had a small window between 2 and 4 a.m. to get some shots before the moon came up and washed out the darker sky. This was my first attempt at shooting the Milky Way. I had some good conversation with my brother about settings and methods since he has a lot of experience with astrophotography. I took a head lamp that had a red light so my eyes would adjust easily. I set my camera to shoot raw images and used manual focus. I turned off my long exposure noise reduction and disabled my image stabilization. I focused on the brightest star in a group and let the star come into focus almost to the infinity setting. I enabled live view mode to see the image easier on the tripod. My white balance was set on the daylight setting, and I used a two second Shutter delay to reduce the chance of camera shake. The lens I used was a Sony 20mm wide angle lens with a 2.8 F-stop. I experimented with ISO settings anywhere from 3200 to 128000. My shutter speed was in between 10 to 30 seconds.

With such a long shutter speed, it was somewhat exciting to see what kind of image you would get after the shot was finished. It was amazing to me the images I would get that were not visible with the naked eye. My wife and I sat on the porch of two of the places we stayed and took pics and identified stars and formations such as Scorpius, Cygnus and Orion. Some of the shots from the porches where we stayed include the lights of Terlingua and Lajitas. I think the town lights added an interesting element, but the darker skies with a mountain horizon are my favorite shots. Needless to say, we are both ready to explore some more dark sky sites in our great state of Texas and beyond.

I also took a lot of daytime photos which I will share in later posts. If you have not been to Big Bend, put it on your bucket list. Spring and fall are the best times to avoid the heat of the Chihuahua Desert. God’s handy work is amazing in this park.

God bless you and thanks for reading my blog. Enjoy the video.

Tim Lumpkin

Legacy-Outdoors.net

Instagram:@tlump10

Facebook: Tim Lumpkin