STORY BY KAREN BOSSICK

PHOTO BY JOHN BOYDSTON

The towering ore wagons that plied silver and ore through Idaho’s mountains are unarguably the stars of the show when it comes to the Big Hitch Parade that is the cornerstone of Ketchum’s Wagon Days celebration.

John Boydston shows what it’s like to see these stars under the stars.

“I was riding my bike past the wagons and made a mental note to come back after the moon set at 10:15 p.m. to see if I could get the shot,” he said. “The challenge was shooting around and exposing for all the street and shop lights still on.  But I knew the Milky Way was there, and the illumination kind of helped make the shot once I got the angle and the settings.”

Boydston says he likes to wonder at what settlers in covered wagons could look up and see a hundred-plus years ago.

“Drive out of town a mile or two in any direction, and you get a pretty good idea assuming there’s no moon in the sky.”