Hi Wade,

On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 14:37:29 -0800, "Wade A. Hilmo" wrote:

The weather as Table Mountain is not particularly reliable

We have held star parties in the Shigletown / Mt. Lassen area for over ten years
now. Like any place, there are variances, but overall we've had very good
success with the weather, and particularly earlier in the year to avoid fire
season (August) as much as possible. This year we are in mid-June, and hope
that will cool some of our temps. We had a once-in-century heat wave two years
ago - so hot I'm hesitant to post the numbers, but that was extremely unusual.
Last year temps were in the mid 90's during the day, and shirtsleeve pretty much
all night. We're hoping for mid-80's this year.

Oregon is a 400 mile drive, and it's really dusty, but the skies are spectacular, so I usually look
forward to OSP a bit more than TMSP.

What are the skies like at Shingletown? Is the weather usually favorable?

I went to OPS for my first time last year. 13 hour drive from the SF bay area.
It was a bad year for OSP as there were clouds and smoke. But one night we had
some very good skies. I think OSP may have darker skies than Shingletown, but
not a lot. I think there's more to a big star party than simply the darkest
skies (especially when we're talking tenths of a magnitude). Look at the Clear
Sky Clocks for both sites if you can, and compare the light pollution maps.

http://66.78.6.237/~cleardar/c/ShingleCAkey.html
http://cleardarksky.com/c/OrgnSpORkey.html?1

When we used to hold the Lassen Star Party, we'd go to 8250 feet at Bumpass Hell
parking lot in the National Park. I have good eyes, and was at about mag 7.1
naked eye doing star counts in Bootes/CoronaB. At Shingletown, I'm at 7.0. We
like Shingletown - it is at almost 4,000 feet - which, believe me, makes a
difference in your stamina.

We moved to Shingletown three years ago after outgrowing the observing sites in
Lassen Park, and it is of course nice to be able to leave equipment set up
during the day at SSP, which was not allowed at Lassen. And there good
conveniences at Shingletown.

Also nice about Shingletown is that we have a hard surface to set equipment up
on - it is an airport runway - 7/10ths fo a mile long. Plenty of room. We
have a successful dust control program - with a water truck coming through
several times a day and we've spread hay over the dirt off the tarmac a few
weeks before the event - it is very good at keeping dust to a minimum. At RTMC
and OSP I found the dust very annoying, and the surface not to my liking, but I
had a great time at both events.

The other nice thing at Shingletown is that there are ameneties within 2 to 3
miles of the observing site - restaurants, grocery stores, gas stations, and 30
miles downhill is Reddig, where you can get whatever you want.

17 miles uphill is Mt. Lassen Volcanic National Park, the most southern of the
Cascades. It is a beautiful park and the geology is amazing.

Hat Creek, nearby, is one of America's great trout streams. There's plenty to
do *outside* of the star party during the day, or you can comfortably hang out
with other amateur astronomers on-site too.

Is it motorhome-friendly

Yes.

If you have other question, post here, or e-mail me.

Regards

Mark Wagner
Shingletown Star Party 2004 http://www.shingletownstarparty.org