Wednesday June 29
Only slightly hungover from the Rush concert the previous night we got up early, hitched up the GRUB, loaded the truck and were on the road by 7:30AM. We set off south on I-5 and then headed east on 58 to hook up with 97 south. From there it was into Klamath Falls and across the border into California. The site is near the small town of Adin. We covered 393 miles in seven and a half hours. Not too bad.
The clouds had been threatening all day but the night looked semi-promising. We set up camp including our new Coleman shelter and then set up the scopes. The weather was quite pleasant but the clouds were still hanging around.
The sun finally set and we got to the scopes
. The area of the sky directly overhead was beautiful but the clouds were forming in a circle around the horizon. What we could see was awesome but it was quickly losing to the cloud cover. By 11:30PM it was completely socked in so we called it a night.
A note to those who have never been to a star party or hung out with the astronomy crowd: Astronomers are extremely averse to white light as it ruins your night vision. It can take 30 minutes to regain one's night vision after being blinded by a flashlight or similar lighting. So everyone uses red lights whether it is their flashlight or whatever.
Anyway, just before bed I headed to the restroom and on the way back I go so disoriented that I could not find our trailer. Because of the cloud cover it was so frigging dark that the red flashlight was no help to me. I ended up going back to the bathrooms and retracing my steps to make sure I could find it. I still overshot but was able to finally find the GRUB. I was soooo embarrassed that the remainder of the trip I made damn sure of my landmark car/tent at the end of our row so I would not repeat my blunder.
Thursday June 30
What a glorious day! High temps in the mid-70s and a very light wind. A very cloudy morning yielded to clear skies in the afternoon. We had a yummy dinner of grilled chicken and the stargazing was absolutely amazing. The skies were so dark and clear--everything the sky around Portland isn't. Geoff retired around midnight and I stayed up looking at the sky until probably 1:30AM. After Geoff headed to bed the coyotes could be heard yipping and howling. After I went to bed they woke me up around 3:30 and I would have sworn they were in our camp, even though I knew it was only a matter of how the sound travels. I don't know how Geoff slept through it, but he managed.
Friday July 1
No clouds at all this day. The temps climbed into the mid-80s and there was no wind until later in the evening. It was very hot in the sun so we spent a lot of time in the shelter avoiding it. The neighboring cows were vocal and this was, apparently, the first time Geoff had heard cows live. Fourteen years old? Wow, we've deprived him.
At sunset we saw a very peculiar cloud formation to the north. One of the other astronomers caught this picture of the "noctilucent clouds". Credit for this image and more info can be found HERE.
We had the Star
Party BBQ meal for dinner (yum!) and this night's stargazing was equal to the night before. Once again G
eoff went to bed before I did--I think I was up until about 2AM.
Saturday July 2
Ok, this day was just plain HOT. 91 degrees and no wind. Even in the shelter the heat was cloying. The day was spent hiding from the sun (just like Gollum) and exerting little energy. We had the Star Party Hamburger meal for dinner (No cheese? Seriously?) which was good but not as good as the chicken the previous two nights.
The sunset
was gorgeous and after I took the picture (with Mt. Shasta on the left) I returned to our scopes to find a 4 foot bull snake in Geoff's equipment box. We escorted him to the borders of the camp--not sure if he was into astronomy or not but we kind of doubt it.
Anyway, I don't know what the deal was with the sky but there was a definite haze around the horizon and the skies were not as crisp as the previous two nights. It was still better than Portland!
Sunday July 3
We got up and packed everything early so we could be done before the heat set in as the forecast was calling for highs near 90 again. We were on the road by 8:30 and were home by 4:30.
Overall a great trip. Both Geoff and I are looking forward to next year!
