Hey Mark - that is the coolest trip + OR. All that 4WD + astrocamping
rules.
I have been doing my astrocamping from further north, mainly Pickel Meadow
(Sonora Pass), Barker Pass (SW of Homewood in Tahoe), some Big Meadow in th=
e
Sequoia NF (off the Buck Rock Lookout jeep trail) and also near Groveland.
Last new moon I re-discovered a site on the Stanislaus NF 5N09 road, and
spent the night on "Windy Ridge" on the 5N01 road (east of Pinecrest).
But I have yet to concentrate further south, and find as good sites as you
did. I'll be sure to check out them out!
Chris
On Wed, Aug 20, 2008 at 11:19 AM, Mark Wagner <mark.wagner@No-Spam=
m
> wrote:
>
>
> AstroCamping Travelogue Western Sierra Aug 2008
>
>
>
> Introduction
>
>
>
> My son and I recently completed a week of enjoyable
> astrocamping in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
>
> Planning
>
>
>
> I had done some pre-trip research, asking both the Sierra
> and Sequoia National
> Forest rangers about good astrocamping locations.
>
>
>
> The websites below were useful in scouring for likely
> candidates:
>
> California
> Forest Fire Lookouts -
> http://www.peakbagging.com/Peak%20Lists/CA_Lookout1.htmlThe
> sites linked from the SJAA weather page -
> http://www.sjaa.net/weather/Benchmark
> California Road and
> Recreation Atlas - www.benchmarkmaps.comDelorme
> Northern, Southern and Central Atlases and Gazetteers -
> www.delorme.com
>
> .
>
> Ultimately, the "boots on the ground"
> recommendations of the rangers were the most valuable.
>
>
>
> I decided to navigate a section of the western Sierra
> Nevada from north to south, starting near Yosemite
> National Park, and ending at The
> Needles in the Sequoia National
> Forest.
>
> Packing
>
>
>
> I threw all our usual gear in the back of the RAV4, but in
> my haste forgot my orange programmable Photon-III microlight. Frak!
>
>
>
> First Night Stopover
>
>
>
> We began with an overnight at the Madera Valley Inn (
> www.maderavalleyinn.com), a
> journeyman establishment near the mountains, which allows us an extra day
> in
> the beautiful high country.
>
>
>
> Pablo's Plateau
>
>
>
> Our first night of astrocamping was a great location in the Sierra
> National Forest at approximately
> 7500'. The site, named for the diligence of its discoverer, is off Beasor=
e
> Road near Bass
> Lake. It is also hidden deep down
> logging roads, leading my 17-year-old son to remark, "How the heck did he
> find this spot anyway?!"
>
>
>
> Because it was logged recently, the landscape is open for
> astronomical viewing, and provides enough cover under which to pitch a te=
nt
> for
> morning shade. It does not have that spectacular Lord of the Rings feel
> provided by old-growth sections of Yosemite
> and Sequoia National
> Parks.
>
>
>
> That night, as I was tired, I spent most of the night
> viewing face-on galaxies with my customized Orion Premium Deep Space
> Explorer
> 12.5" (Swayze mirror). I have found that face-on galaxies are more elusiv=
e
> when dimmed by light pollution.
>
>
>
> The air was perfectly dry, the night incredibly dark.
>
>
>
> I saw more meteors that night than I ever have before, both due
> to the proximity of the Perseids and the fine location, which had no
> visible
> light domes. In fact, I saw a meteor
> every time I glanced up from the scope!
>
>
>
> But perfect
> astronomy nights, where all factors
> are in accordance are elusive. So I had a couple of large mosquitoes pest=
er
> me,
> but it was a small price to pay for such an excellent night!
>
>
>
> Almost Stuck
>
>
>
> As I had previously received favorable recommendations for
> both Green Mountain
> (8,602') and Cattle Mountain
> (7946'), we headed to them the following morning. Both mountains require
> travel
> first on improved dirt roads, then on 4WD roads.
>
>
>
> I had not noticed the tiny blue lines crossing the road on
> the Benchmark Atlas, which denote creek crossings.
>
>
>
> Upon reaching the first crossing, I said "No problem!" since
> I had crossed many creeks on my recently-deceased Toyota
> 4Runner. The creek's water was no more than a foot deep, and my RAV4 has
> 4WD.
> But my RAV4 does not have good mud and snow tires.
>
>
>
> Several feet into the creek, we began losing traction as
> large cobbles dislodged, then smacked into the bottom of the SUV with lou=
d
> bangs. We were digging ourselves in deeper!
>
>
>
> After discussing the humiliation we'd certainly feel if we
> had to be towed from the creek, and the consequential loss of time, we
> reluctantly backed out of the creek bed, and kissed off Green and Cattle
> Mountains for this trip.
>
>
>
> White Bark Vista (33 miles by Jeep Trail)
>
>
>
> After our near-inundation caused a day's schedule advance,
> we headed south, dropping then regaining 7000' vertical feet of altitude.
>
>
>
> We attempted to climb Musick
> Mountain (6807'), only to be
> stopped by a locked gate. We eventually found superb astrocamping at 9237=
'
> near
> the White Bark Vista trailhead by Huntington
> Lake.
>
>
>
> We hiked up to one of the summits of 10,648' Mt Givens,
> climbing the beginning of the Dusy Ershim OHV "road" to Courtright
> Reservoir, which is 33 miles distant.
>
>
>
> I did not attempt to drive the famous 33 mile-long trail,
> which is one of the toughest in the Sierra, with my small RAV4. But my so=
n
> and
> I did enjoy the solitude and grandeur of the view from the summit of Mt.
> Givens.
>
>
>
>
>
> Back at our campsite that night, we chatted about life (and
> girls) while our scopes cooled. The viewing was superb when the monsoonal
> clouds parted, despite the Fresno
> lights twinkling in the distance. I was happy that the observing was grea=
t
> in
> any direction but southwest, which directly faced the city lights.
>
>
>
> The next morning when two National Forest field biologists
> appeared, we discussed their fisher hair and footprint trapping program. =
My
> son
> and I then continued south to the Sequoia / King's Canyon area.
>
>
>
> "Ursa Minor"
>
>
>
> We left the solitude of solo mountain astrocamping joining
> the crowds of sightseeing tourists in Sequoia
> National Park.
>
> The largest trees on this planet were awesome.
>
>
>
> Later that afternoon my son and I left the European tourists
> behind to climb the Trail of the Sequoias.
>
> Just as the image of pink, yellow, and black polyester
> short-shorts had faded from memory, I heard my son say: "Bear".
>
> "What"?
>
> "Bear."
>
> "What"?
>
> "There's a bear right over there!" he whispered
> urgently.
>
>
>
> Perhaps 200 feet ahead on the trail was a tawny brown bear,
> tearing into a tree stump for insects.
>
>
>
> He was close enough to have heard us, and we were upwind of
> him, so he smelled us as well, so we stood quietly watching him for awhil=
e.
>
>
>
> We had food in our packs, and I was sipping an open energy
> drink (darn caffeine addiction!). I suddenly felt very Cro-Magnon when we
> both
> picked up large tree branches to wield above our heads, in case Mr. Bear
> decided to check us out closely.
>
>
>
> After several minutes the bear ambled off to go about his
> business, as bears naturally should.
>
>
>
> Big Meadows
>
>
>
> We pitched our tents that night in dispersed camping by Big Meadows,
> in the Sequoia National
> Forest, just outside the national park
> boundaries. I'd be lying if I said that thoughts of the day's encounter
> with
> the bear didn't play upon my mind as I observed alone.
>
>
>
> As it turns out those two nights at around 7650' altitude
> were among the finest astronomy nights I've experienced.
>
> There was some moisture in the air due to the closeness of
> Big Meadow, so I followed my 'dew protocol' of keeping the optical finder
> capped when not in use, ensuring its utility throughout the night. My
> instruments were my 12.5" Dobsonian and my amazed eyes. The transparency
> was excellent, as was the seeing, which provided superb views of a Jovian
> shadow and moon egress at 254x.
>
>
>
> I observed mostly face-on spirals again that first night,
> while my son slept peacefully in his tent, and a great horned owl hooted =
in
> the
> distance.
>
>
>
>
>
> I got a good night's sleep, and then we hiked the next day.
>
>
>
>
>
> For our second night at Big Meadows, since I had gotten
> plenty of sleep, I was well-supplied with the mental energy required for
> star
> hopping. Although I have no encoders on my telescope, I've found that I c=
an
> observe a good number of objects with slow and steady diligence.
>
>
>
> I observed 4 of the companions of NGC 7331 for the first
> time: NGC's 7335, 7337, 7340, and 7775.
>
> The Veil Loop was superb unfiltered at 109x.
>
> NGC 7538 was a bright comet-like nebula around 2 stars.
>
> V Aql was a bright, lovely red-orange, and 15 Aql was a
> beautiful yellow pair.
>
> M33 was a very difficult naked eye object for my astigmatic
> eyes, but I eventually spotted it.
>
>
>
> Tree frogs chirped in the nearby meadow, punctuated once by
> the howl of a coyote pack.
>
>
>
> Other objects I had never seen before, but saw that night,
> include:
>
>
>
> NGC
> 7380 - cluster with nebulosity NGC
> 925 - beautiful edge-on galaxy NGC
> 1491 - dim oval nebula under dim star. NGC
> 6605 - diffuse like a small shuttlecock, on 2 stars IC 342
> - Star-hopping to an IC galaxy (albeit a bright one at magnitude 9.2)
> in
> Camelopardalis was easy from this dark site. How pleasant to have
> superb skies
> to my north!
>
>
>
>
>
> I perturbed a large bat when I moved or used my red
> flashlight. He would start chirping, as if to admonish me to go to bed!
> Luckily
> there were no ursine or feline visitors…
>
>
>
> I saved the best object of the night, and of this trip, for
> last. At the zenith, the galaxy M31 looked like bright white paint crosse=
d
> with
> two ink black dust lanes. I thought I saw hints of a third dust lane, but
> it
> was not clearly delineated, but looked like diffuse dusty threads. I saw
> the most detail ever in M31's smaller
> companion M32 which I initially mistook for M110!
>
>
>
> Packing up that night at 4:30am,
> I did not want to return to the boredom of everyday life. I recall
> thinking,
> "I could do this every night..." I also had that elusive feeling, which
> I've only experienced a few times, embodied by the word freedom.
>
> ---
>
> TAC mailing list - join or leave here:
> http://seds.org/mailman/listinfo/sf-bay-tac
>
---
CalStar - Sept 25-27, BYO Party! http://www.sjaa.net/calstar/
TAC mailing list - join or leave here: http://seds.org/mailman/listinfo/sf-bay-tac
Received on Sat Aug 23 13:30:27 2008
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