Back from the Spring 2013 Mojave National Preserve Star Party

Drove out on Friday, and did two hikes, which I've done in the past (Barber Peak Loop and Table Top Mountain--But I'll blog with some updated info and new pics as soon as possible, though it may take a week. I took a LOT of pictures). That brings me up to 28 hikes for the year, four of which I still need to blog. Yes, I'm still well behind my intended schedule.

The star party was on Saturday night. Some time around 5pm, I set up my solar telescope. The sun was incredibly active yesterday, with a couple of HUGE prominences on the eastern limb. Even a few sunspots were visible in my h-alpha telescope, which means they were also huge. Together, they definitely conveyed the fact that the sun is not a quiet place.

After the sun went down, I replaced my Coronado 60mm with my C11. Five other telescopes were also out there for the night: Two 8-inch Celestron Schmidt-Cassegrains, one 8-inch Vixen Catadioptric (modified Maksutov-Cassegrain), one 7-inch apochromatic refractor, and one really large Dobsonian-mounted reflector (probably 14" or so).

There were quite a bit of clouds as the sun set--high cirrus, and lower, puffy cumulus clouds. That was some cause for concern. Of course, even if they did not dissipate, we would still be able to observe the planets, but that would defeat much of the purpose of having an outreach event out "in the middle of nowhere."

The main purpose for the start party, by the way, is to provide an additional incentive for volunteers contemplating a long trek out to the desert for a service trip. This weekend, it was the Mojave Desert Land Trust, doing trash collection in the Lanfair Valley. Nearly 40 volunteers came out to work that hard work. The potluck social, star party, and a good conscience are the reward.

A thin crescent moon was the first night sky object we spotted. It would have been a bit under two days old at this point. Once the sky darkened some more, the earthshine dimly illuminated the shadowed portions of the moon's earth-facing side, giving a ghostly outline of the entire disc.

About twenty minutes after that, we could make out Jupiter. At that point, we noticed the seeing was very good. Despite its low altitude, I could easily see four bands on Jupiter with my C11. The big refractor showed those bands much clearer, of course.

Maybe 15 minutes after that, most telescopes swung over to the east to observe Saturn. You know, it's only as I write this that I realize I didn't get to look at Saturn last night!

Once the sky got even darker, the stars really became visible. Each observer jumped to their favorite deep sky object. I noted the large dob spent a lot of time up towards Coma Berenices, probably looking at both the large star cluster and the many "smaller" (more distant, but obviously much larger) galaxies in the distance.

I looked at the Beehive Cluster, the Leo Trio of Galaxies (M65, M66 and NGC 3628), the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51), the Sombrero Galaxy (M104), and the globular clusters M4, M13 and Omega Centauri. I also let a couple of vistors "drive" the controls of the C11, so they could cruise along Markarian's Chain.

That's a surprisingly short list of objects for how long I was at the telescope under a dark sky. However, there were relatively few breaks in the the viewers, and I had no real observing plan mapped out ahead of time. I just wanted to make sure they saw things in my C11 that they were unlikely to be able to see as well elsewhere or before. Also, it helped illustrate the idea of why dark skies are valuable: Those small, faint fuzzy blobs in my pretty substantial telescope would in many cases be invisible from town, or much less "dramatic" than here, so this is an experience that's only possible from a dark sky location, like in Mojave National Preserve.

Of course, I have no pictures from the really dark sky observing. No flash photography at a dark site, and I don't have the time to set up a longer exposure that would be necessary under ambient light. Mine are "waiting for darkness" and observing the moon and Jupiter at twilight" shots. But I did see someone set up a camera for shooting at the pad, so I would not be surprised if I see pictures of that pad show up on someone's facebook page before too long.

Spring 2013 Mojave National Preserve Star Party, May 11, 2013

Mojave National Preserve Conservancy Star Party next week, May 11, 2013.

A heads up for those of you making plans for Mother's Day weekend that may not involve actually visiting your mother. Saturday night, May 11 is the Mojave National Preserve Conservancy's spring star party. They've been having one in the spring and one in the fall for about five years, now. I've been to all but two.

The stars in the Preserve are exceptionally dark, and the Black Canyon Equestrian/Group Campground has a fortuitously-placed concrete pad, perfect for setting up telescopes. Dark skies and big telescopes mean galaxies galore. We'll also have Jupiter after sunset and Saturn an hour or two later. We'll also have lots of star clusters and nebula to look at, so if you've always wanted to look through some very fine astronomical instruments (not professional-grade, mind you, but very nice), well, here's your chance.

I'll also be bringing my solar observing set up (the same one I brought to Utah to see the Annular Eclipse, and set up in La Canada for the Venus Transit).

As a bonus, it's in the Mojave Preserve, so you can do hiking on your own the day before or day after the star party. I've got blogs of several Mojave Preserve and area hikes elsewhere on the blog, so feel free to search them out.

Hike 2013.024 -- Lost Horse Mine Loop, Joshua Tree National Park

Hiked Saturday, April 13. Over two weeks ago. My hiking has struck another lull, but I still haven't had the time to write-up the old ones!

Lost Hose Mine Loop is on the road towards Keys View. From Park Blvd (the main road, that runs from between the West and North Entrances), turn south on the road towards Keys View, and travel about two miles. The dirt signed road to Lost Horse Mine will be on your left. The pavement is only at the intersection. It's dirt the rest of the way (about 1/2 mile), but passenger vehicles will have no difficulty, provided you go relatively slow and watch for oncoming traffic.

At the parking area is a vault toilet and room for about a 15 cars. It's a loop trail, so you can leave either from the south end of the lot ("forward," in the direction you were driving) or the north end of the lot. Most people head south, so I headed north. The sign above is the one I saw when I started on the trail.

Almost immediately, this trail curves to the west. With a bit of a rise, you've got an easy view of the paved road, 1/2 mile behind you, crossing to from north to south, on its way to Keys View.

Several volcanic remnants are around you as you start, but none of them are Lost Horse Peak. Joshua Tree are also common, though their blooms are somewhat pale. Far less common but much more dramatic were the reds of the Mojave mound cactus, which I had also seen on my Ryan Mountain hike, from the previous week.

Much of the outbound hike is in a wash, so the going is somewhat slow. I kept waiting for the point where my southerly path would turn to the east, then back to the north, signaling that I was on my way back.

When that finally happened, I had a slight altitude gain to make. Then, not long after that, the remains of a chimney. It, along with the springs of a bed, were the last artifacts of a home that once stood here.

But that was not the Lost Horse Mine. I passed several excavation sites, here, and over the next mile, which also were not the Lost Horse Mine. Some nice views to the south and east were had, however.

Finally, the trail crested another ridge, and I could see the structures that topped the Lost Horse Mine, off in the distance. That's it, three shots up from here.

Fire obviously swept though here within the past few years, and there were lots of tree and Joshua Tree skeletons. Fire damage is also sad, but it's particularly sad in a desert, where you know recovery may be scores of years in the future, if at all.

Finally got back to the parking lot as the sun began to sink towards the horizon. 6.2 miles for the loop.

Most folks do the loop clockwise, so I passed lots of hikers coming the other way. Nearly all asked how far to the end, as they apparently had little idea of the path or the distance or how far they had traveled. I'm sure my estimates are often off, too. But the trail is well-defined, so getting lost should not be a problem. Having sufficient water on a hotter day would be an issue, however. So, if you go, know the distance, and have enough to drink. If you're not sure if you can handle the full 6.2 mile loop, it's only 4 miles out and back to the mine, if you leave from the south end of the lot.

Hike 2013.020 -- Hike to Henninger Flats

Hiked Sunday, April 7. Over two weeks ago, I hiked Henninger Flats. It was my first time up there this year, which seems just completely amazing, since it's usually among my most frequently-hiked paths. But I'm just not getting as much time for hiking as I have in past years, and I've been doing a larger proportion of the hikes I do take further afield than usual.

Plenty of descriptions on how to get here elsewhere, so I won't bother with any description, except to say it's about a 100 minute roundtrip hike if I'm just walking, and closer to two hours if I stop for lots of pictures. On this day, it was closer to two hours.

The two-hour mark is important, because if you park on Pinecrest on a weekday, you're limited to two hours parking. You can't park there at all on weekends. At least you can't park legally, although the last time I was there, there were about five illegally parked cars right near the gate, and none of them had tickets. So how rigorously is this parking restriction enforce? I have no idea. And I don't tempt fate.

Not a lot of flowers along the trail, because it's been a dry winter and spring. The one exception was the trees within a U-shaped bow in the trail. Another was near the top, where the wall held many lupine, and fair amounts of chia, sunflowers, vetch, and assorted other flowers. They were quite dense there compared to elsewhere.

It's about 5.5 miles roundtrip from Pinecrest, with a pretty substantial altitude gain. The whole way is either paved (the first 1/8 mile, until you cross the bridge) or a dirt road, as wide as a two-lane road.

There's one small area with a bunch of daisies. I'm pretty sure they were planted there after the road was reopened following a multi-year closure. The daisies are slowly expanding each year.

Canterbury bell are common.

Sage, too, of course.

Don't recognize this flower.

Lupine, of course.

Common vetch. Sometimes, they're kinda purple. Sometimes, they're kinda red.

Sunflower, but they also call the petals a corona, I think. See how that ties into astronomy?

Hike 2013.023 -- 49 Palms Oasis, Joshua Tree National Park

Hiked Saturday, April 20. Man, my hike posts are getting way out of order! Just realized I haven't blogged my Henniger Flats hike from two weeks ago. I'll have to try to get that one done, too.

This was my second time on the 49 Palms Oasis trail. My last visit was almost exactly two years previous. But the difference was quite dramatic: This hike was on a busy weekend, after a dry spring. Unlike last time, I saw essentially no lizards along the way, and very few flowers.

The trailhead is south, off of US 62, in the western part of the town of 29 Palms. If you're coming from the west, you'd turn on Canyon Road, right in front of the big blue sign of a VCA Animal Hospital.


Follow this road on up until it deadends, and 1 1/2 miles later, in a fairly large parking area. There's a pit toilet there, but no running water, so if you're hiking, make sure you filled your canteen or water bottle before you left 29 Palms.

The trail heads off to the southwest, climbing rather swiftly and giving a view back down on the parking lot, with 29 Palms in the distance. After about 1/2 mile, you've reached the first crest, and may be able to see the tops of palm trees in the distance. They're in a "V" where two drainages meet. The picture above is a crop of the one above that one, and shows the tree tops.

From that view, your path takes you a bit to the west of your target, then back east as it descends into a wash. I guess nearly every trail in Joshua Tree eventually descends into a wash.

I passed some dried remnants of flowers, so it's possible there was a modest bloom a few weeks before I got there. Almost everything was dry by mid-April, though.

Once at the oasis, I boulder-hopped to where I could see some scummy pond water. The grasses were thick, there. I heard no toads this time, unlike my last visit.

From the oasis, I looked up the ravine at a very large drainage. Then I returned the way I came. Three miles roundtrip. Easy, provided it's not too hot and you've got something to drink. Undoubtedly tougher in the heat of summer.

Hike 2013.019A -- Keys View, Joshua Tree National Park

This one doesn't count as a hike by itself, since it's only about 1/2 mile - 3/4 mile roundtrip. However, it, along with the little Bajada Nature Trail, were enough to add to my other structured hikes of the day to make me feel I did six miles for the day, or two separate "hikes," total. That's my arbitrary 3-mile rule for a hike to count towards my annual total.

Keys View itself is pretty much a drive-up, with a concrete walkway to take you to the overlook.

After walking around the overlook, I then hiked up a use trail to the rise just north of Keys View. It's definitely quieter here.

Sad to see evidence of a somewhat recent fire here. It's distressing how much of the Mojave you see evidence of wildfires, which didn't used to happen.

Snapped a few shots there before others came up the use trail, and my private revelry ended.

After this, I drove on down to a flat area and planned to set up my telescope. However, I inadvertently left a vital part of my mount at home, so I did no astronomy on this day.

Thankfully, the many hikes of the day made the trip worthwhile, even without any telescope observing

Hike 2013.019 -- Ryan Mountain, Joshua Tree National Park

Hiked Saturday, April 6. Yep, I'm again two weeks behind in my blogging. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view), I didn't get any hikes in since last week, so I'm not falling any further behind, but I sure would like to go hiking, again!

Ryan Mountain is roughly equidistant from either the North or West Entrance. Both entrances are access from US 62. The West Entrance hits US 62 in the town of Joshua Tree, while the North Entrance hits US 62 in the town of 29 Palms. From the West Entrance, follow Park Blvd south out of town, enter the park (paying a $15 entry fee, or showing your America the Beautiful Pass), and stay on the road you're on, avoiding all turns. About a mile after passing Ryan Campground, the parking area for the Ryan Mountain trail will be on your right. There's a pit toilet there.

Ryan Mountain itself is not visible from the trailhead. Your trail takes you almost due south, up into the hills. Looking back, you'll see the parking lot for quite some distance.

Finally, the trail bears to the west, and you'll see some dramatic rocks. They make Ryan Mountain an easy place to spot from other high points to the west (including the Lost Horse Mine loop).

In several spots, dark igneous rocks stand in your foreground, with cinder cones in the distance. One to the east (which you don't see until you cross over to the east side of Ryan Mountain, a mile or so into the hike) looks an awful lot like Amboy Crater, but minus the crater.

Great views in all directions from the top. Mount San Jacinto, on the other side of the Salton Sink, is easy if the sky is moderately clear.

It's listed as a three mile roundtrip, though it may be a bit less. Steep in parts, and definitely dry. If you're hiking when the weather is even moderately warm, be sure to bring something to drink.