What a night this was! This was the view Sunday night, September 4, from the Peyto Lake viewpoint, of the Milky Way arching overhead, on a clear night at 7,000 feet altitude near the timberline of Bow Summit.
This is one frame of 275 of a time-lapse movie I took of the stars turning over Peyto Lake. This frame catches the Moon just as it sets over Peyto Glacier at left. At this altitude the Milky Way was obvious even with the Moon still in the sky.
It was a scene of a starry night that Bill Peyto would have enjoyed. As he wrote of nearby Bow Lake (see my shot here) … “Around the fire tonight Jim [Jimmy Simpson] said that for his money this campsite was the closest one could get to Heaven on Earth and I reckon he’s not far wrong.”
— Alan, September 5, 2011 / Image © 2011 Alan Dyer
The Amazing Sky 
Jimmy Simpson is another legendary name in Banff history, the builder and founder of Num-Ti-Jah Lodge at Bow Lake, a wonderfully historic log building. I’ve stayed there and the morning view of sunrise over Bow Peak out the south facing rooms is worth the cost.
Yes, Heaven on Earth!