Block, IL Star Trails

Went out for another night of star trails on Saturday night. I wasn't sure where I wanted to go once I got in the car, but getting outside of town I decided to visit an old favorite spot of mine. Southeast of Champaign by about 15 miles there is a tiny unincorporated town (6 hours or so) called Block. Just south of there is a neat rail road crossing down in a valley that was left by the glaciers. There is a nice area of small hills in that area called moraines. Back in high school I used to frequent this spot.

The place has always given me a weird vibe, I'm not sure what there is to that. I have never been bothered being alone in the middle of nowhere taking photos at night, and in fact enjoy it quite a bit. However, just as it did in the past, I was unable to keep from looking all around myself the entire time I shot this exposure. It was the most still night I can remember experiencing. Not a thing was moving, and it felt like I could hear someone talking to me from 10 miles away if they tried. There wasn't a single hint of movement all around me, but I couldn't help but feel like I was being watched the entire time. This has never happened to me, and after about an hour out there both the cold and my head got to me. Just weird, since normally I love that kind of night. Something just felt off.

Either way, here is what I came away with. That streak above the horizon is a helicopter that left Champaign, and did a complete circle around me before returning to Champaign.

I spotted a couple of other spots that I used to frequent on my drive back that I'll probably hit up for star trails this week as well if skies cooperate.