by Jay Freeman
On Friday, 24 November, I ended up at Coe for the evening, but only after driving to Pacheco / Dinosaur Point to see how things were. Things were not good -- the central valley was full of fog and low scud, and light winds from the north were lifting it up over the hills into the pass area. However, the poor conditions offered a good chance to see how our usual setup area, at the corral, fared compared to the parking area down by the boat launch ramp on the reservoir itself -- this last is Dinosaur point.
I arrived in the area at about 6:00 PM. The corral area was actually high enough to be above much of the scud, but there was plenty of it visible to the north and east, and I suspect it moved in later on, and the ground was quite wet. Wisps of fog drifted past my headlights as I continued on the paved road, heading further away from highway 152, toward the reservoir. It was only a few minutes' further drive -- a couple of miles -- but the road dropped a few hundred feet in elevation, or so I would judge. In any case, the vicinity of the reservoir was notably warmer than the corral area, and dryer as well -- the pavement was dry. There was no trace of fog at ground level there, either, but unfortunately, there was enough scud overhead to make viewing problematic, and I suspect it got worse later on.
Horizons were good to excellent all 'round. The paved parking area is huge, and the low shrubs, small trees, and gentle loom of the land aren't much of an obscuration.
The lay of the land makes it clear why there was so much improvement in conditons in such a little distance. The parking lot has hills north and west. Thus when the wind is anywhere from southwest through west, northwest, and north, the air mass is lifted over the hills -- condensing out the moisture that we are familiar with at the corral area, as it cools -- then warms as it slides downhill, reabsorbing any moisture that it did not leave on the ground higher up. I suspect that in many circumstances, it is less foggy and wet at Dinosaur Point than at the corral.
Two data points do not an analysis make. No matter, I expect that on subsequent voyages to Pacheco, I will check both areas before deciding whwere to set up (assuming the ranger is amenable to either), and I suggest that others might want to do the same.