Milky Way Panorama Over The Trona Pinnacles

The incomparable Jack Nichols states that the period of April 30th to May 11th "is my pick to grab a panoramic Milky Way image in 2024. The moon will rise shortly behind the Milky Way early in the period, but later on the Milky Way is up the whole night, giving you ample time to shoot. Early in period moon rises shortly behind MW, but later on the MW is up the whole night without the moon. You'll need to pay attention to your foreground though!" He is a master at this, so let's use The Trona Pinnacles as our foreground!
The pinnacles are about a 2 hour drive from my home in Lancaster so MY plan is to leave Lancaster around 1PM and drive up to the area to look around and do some planning for the evening shoot. **Disperse Camping ** is allowed on the BLM land around the pinnacles (but not on pinnacles themselves!) so after a couple hours of photography I plan on taking a nap, and heading back to Lancaster early Sunday morning. Anyone who wishes to spend the Friday night at my home is welcome to do so.
NOTE - If we get a good size group of participants that are willing, I will try to get a tour of the Petroglyph Canyons from the Maturango Museum. If that happens the departure time from Lancaster will be adjusted earlier to accommodate the tour time. Click here > Petroglyphs of the Coso Canyons < for more information on the petroglyphs.