Kevin Palmer

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  • When the lightning rod at the top of Black Mountain started buzzing, I knew I had to descend to escape the lightning danger. But I'm glad I returned afterwards, because the  sunset was incredible. Mammatus filled the sky as the storm cleared and it took on an orange color as the sun lowered. All the smoke in the air added to the surreal atmosphere. The fire lookout structure was recently closed to the public because it's fallen into disrepair.
    Lookout Above
  • Right after I arrived at the Diamond Butte Fire Lookout this stunning sunset filled the entire sky.
    Lookout Window Sunset
  • The High Park Lookout is 1 of 3 fire lookout towers in the Bighorn Mountains. I snowshoed up here to watch the sunset and the rise of the full moon.
    Boarded Up
  • Diamond Butte Fire Lookout Tower overlooks the Custer National Forest and grassland in southeast Montana. It's the only fire lookout in the eastern part of the state that's publicly accessible and available for overnight rental.
    Diamond Butte Road Sunny
  • Diamond Butte Fire Lookout Tower overlooks the Custer National Forest and grassland in southeast Montana. It's the only fire lookout in the eastern part of the state that's publicly accessible and available for overnight rental.
    Diamond Butte Road Cloudy
  • I spent the night at one of my favorite places: Diamond Butte fire lookout in southeast Montana. Once my wheels left the pavement, I drove for 100 miles without seeing another human. Open range cattle, pronghorn antelope, deer, and elk seemed to outnumber people 1,000 to 1. Here in the middle of nowhere are some of the darkest skies you'll ever see. 360° of sparkling stars over the rolling hills and grasslands makes it hard to get any sleep. After the moon set at 1AM I waited for the milky way to get into position. At 3:30 the core of the galaxy containing nebulae, dust clouds, and star clusters moved above the tower. Also visible is the bright planet Jupiter, in the middle of the Dark Horse Nebula.
    Looking Out
  • This was my second time staying the night at the Diamond Butte fire lookout tower. Last month I was locked out and had to sleep on the deck, but I was glad to be able to sleep inside this time since a storm was moving in. There was no running water or electricity, but it had a propane heater, stove, and lights.
    Light in the Dark
  • There's nothing quite like spending the night on top of a mountain. High above any haze and light pollution, the air up here is extra clear. Stars stretch from horizon to horizon. Their slow and steady movement is interrupted by the quick flashes of meteors and satellites. This time of year the milky way is up completely by the time it gets dark. Normally camping on a peak is not an option since it's too exposed to the wind and storms, plus the ground is too rocky and sloped to set up a tent. That's why I like to stay in fire lookout towers when possible. This particular one (Sheep Mountain in the Bighorns) is very popular and has to be reserved months in advance. The accommodations may be rustic but I prefer this to any hotel. You simply can't beat the views.
    Night on the Summit
  • The High Park fire lookout tower at almost 9,500 feet was the perfect place to watch the April full moon rising. It was a location I scouted out in advance on Google Earth, when I was looking for an ideal foreground to the east. The two peaks are Hesse Mountain on the left and Hazelton Pyramid on the right. If you look closely to the upper right of the moon the planet Jupiter can be seen. Winter is far from over here in the high country. The 3 feet of snow made it a challenge to find a route to the summit since I had never climbed this peak before. But it was much easier on the way down since I could simply follow my snowshoe tracks and the bright moonlight meant I didn't even need a headlamp.
    April Moonrise
  • The last light of the day covers Black Mountain in a golden glow. I was wishing I was up there for the sunset, but I had to settle for this view from below near my campsite. I would climb the mountain the next morning.
    Black Mountain Glow
  • Stars rise above Black Mountain on a cold winter night.
    Black Night
  • The lookout at the top of Cougar Peak, Montana, is lit up from the flames of a small fire. The stars of the northern milky way shine in the background.
    Cougar Peak Lookout
  • The views at sunrise were stunning from the Granite Butte fire lookout on Montana's continental divide. All the whitebark pine trees were coated with thick rime ice and fog drifted around the valleys.
    Rime Before Dawn
  • The views at sunrise were stunning from the Granite Butte fire lookout on Montana's continental divide. This is looking west where an atmospheric inversion trapped fog in the valleys.
    West of the Divide
  • Snow covers the granite summit of Black Mountain. The fire lookout can be seen perched at the top of the 9500 foot peak.
    Snowy Granite
  • The Squaw Mountain Fire Lookout Tower is just 25 miles west of Denver and has a great view of the city lights coming on. The fog and clouds quickly cleared out as it got darker.
    Denver At Twilight
  • The views at sunrise were stunning from the Granite Butte fire lookout on Montana's continental divide. All the whitebark pine trees were coated with thick rime ice and fog drifted around the valleys. I had to use my widest lens to capture all the color.
    Morning on the Divide
  • The milky way was shining brilliantly on the morning of summer solstice, the shortest night of the year. Thin clouds were making haloes around the brighter stars and the planet Saturn. A long exposure revealed colors invisible to the human eye, including green airglow and purple nebulae. There wasn't a meteor shower going on, but I captured this bright random meteor in one of the time lapse frames. On any given night there are an average of 6 sporadic meteors per hour visible under a dark sky. The skies here were very dark, with amazing views of the Bighorn Mountains in every direction. This was taken from a fire lookout tower on the 9,500' summit of Black Mountain.
    Solstice Meteor
  • The morning dawned bright and clear on top of Granite Butte. The sun doesn't make it above the horizon until after 8AM this time of year. When I arrived on the summit the evening before, visibility was limited to 50 feet. But now the freezing fog had settled into the valleys, trapped below an inversion layer. Underneath that fog is Montana's capital city of Helena. Between shooting meteors all night and keeping the wood burning stove going, I didn't get much sleep. But a sunrise like this makes it easy to wake up. The weather can be extremely harsh up here. It was at a pass 16 miles away where the coldest temperature in the US (outside of Alaska) was once measured at -70°F. While it wasn't quite that cold on this morning, I was still glad to have a fire lookout tower to stay in and escape from the nearly incessant wind.
    8:09 Sunrise
  • The views at sunrise were stunning from the Granite Butte fire lookout on Montana's continental divide. Red Mountain is the tallest peak on the left.
    Red Mountain Morning
  • A lenticular cloud hangs above Cloud Peak and Blacktooth Mountain, both exceeding 13,000 feet. These smooth, lens-shaped clouds are sometimes mistaken for UFO's. Lenticular clouds are formed when strong winds carrying moist, stable air is forced upward upon encountering an obstacle like a mountain. A series of standing waves results on the downwind side of the mountain, and a lenticular cloud will form at the crest of the waves if the temperature is below the dew point. These clouds are stationary, but they can quickly grow and shrink. This view from the 9500 foot summit of Black Mountain was not easy to reach. It involved snowshoeing 12 miles roundtrip, camping at the base, and climbing the mountain in the dark to make it in time for sunrise. I sheltered on the east side of the fire lookout to stay out of the face-stinging winds. Thankfully only the very top of the peak was exposed to the wind, and it was much calmer below at my campsite.
    Crown of Gold