by Matt Tarlach
From my immediate neighborhood I drove about 5 mi down Mace Blvd to Grasslands park, but it is posted as closed at dusk and there was some kind of activity going on at the house or clubhouse there.
Next I drove East on Chiles Road, where I found the gate to the Yolo Basin refuge HQ was locked....but 1/4 mile further down Chiles I came to Road 1050 and turned right. This road extends past some soccer fields and ends maybe a 1/2 mile south of Chiles and I-80. The road simply ends at some farm fields, with an unlit parking lot for heavy equipment on the left. There were no lights in the vicinity, and by parking my truck across the end of the road I was able to set up on the asphalt, screened from most of the headlights on 80. The rest really didn't bother me, being seen on the perpendicular. It was a far cry from IHOP or Fiddletown, but OTOH really pretty dark for the 'burbs. Anyplace I can resolve Orion's head and shield with direct vision, I call dark enough to be worthwhile. Exposed to wind, and perhaps passersby, though I don't know who would drive past the "Road Ends 500 ft Ahead" sign other than nutty stargazers.
From there I crossed 80 and headed north, to the vicinity of the Yolo County landfill. On Road 29 about 1/2 mile east of the landfill entrance I found a ramp to access the levee road that parallels 29. Driving perhaps 200 yds down the well-graded gravel levee road, to get away from possible headlights on 29, I set up and found sky conditions similar to those at Road 1050. As a bonus I was serenaded by jillions of crickets and bullfrogs in the nearby slough. I was not bothered by insects, and there was surprisingly no detectable odor from the nearby dump. But if I return I'll bring the Off! anyway, especially later in the season and with West Nile around.
After observing about 30 minutes in each good spot (I'd forgotten to pack a chair, an omission which fed my wanderlust) I scouted several other sites I'd meant to try, including the Yolo County airport, the parking lot at Three Palms nursery on West Russell Blvd, and the West end of the Arboretum. The Arboretum was pleasant and might be a nice place to bring the wife and a couple of lawnchairs for the next meteor shower, but was neither dark nor convenient enough to warrant setting up the scope. The other sites were all flawed one way or another.
Well, that's how I spent my evening....not much of an observing report but maybe someone will find the info useful.
Posted on tac-sac Mar 14, 2005 16:20:40 PT
Converted by report.pm 1.2 Mar 14, 2005 19:40:02 PT