In a message dated 4/22/04, Christopher Kelly writes:
> I would like to weigh in on Chews Ridge. There are a few
>Camry-accessible sites on the Tassjara Hot Springs Road about 2 miles past
>the ridge at 4000 feet.
>
> Seems very dark there, and just by the light pollution maps it has to be
>darker than FP. It gets the same benefits of Bay Area fog that FP enjoys.
>There have been several really great nights there that I have seen the
>zodiacal light off to the west. During this years's marathon, M33 was easy
>5 degres above the NW horizon with 20x80 binos.
Chew's Ridge is an excellent spot as it often enjoys superb seeing (check out
the comments at http://astro.umsystem.edu/apml/ARCHIVES/MAR98/msg01080.html )
and it's typically darker than any of the popular bay area spots. Last time
I drove down was for the Mars opposition (observing near the fire lookout
platform beyond the locked gate) but it's quite a long haul unless you live
down towards Santa Cruz or Monterey and even then, Tassajara Road is pretty
brutal in my aging minivan. Finally, as far as I know, there are no real
convenient spots on the road (or even beyond the gate to MIRA) for a large
group. Am I mistaken?
Steve
Received on Thu Apr 22 17:37:46 2004