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by Paul LeFevre
A few additions to Rashad's comments:
First, we had a great time. We got there about 2 hours before sunset, set up, and sat around talking until it got dark. Rashad is good company :)
The parking lot we set up in is HUGE. I think Rashad was being conservative with his estimate of 150 people, I honestly think we could get 250+ in there without anyone getting in anybody else's way. The knoll we used as a wind block was just high enough to cover Polaris from where we set up, but 20 feet away from it made it visible again. That is the only real obstruction at the site. There's potable water and a *single* porta-potty (very clean though), so more facilities would be needed for more people. Racoons tipped the lid off of the *single* trash can about 11:00 PM, but that was the only sign of critters all night. And some of the best news -- NO BUGS. After swatting flies/mosquitos almost all night last time at the Peak, this was a very pleasant surprise, not a single bug all night.
Using Rashad's chart, we could see 6.0-mag stars near Ursa Minor naked eye easily with the moon still up. The Milky Way was the brightest & clearest I've seen anywhere in the Bay Area. The Santa Rosa light dome extended about 10 deg. up from the horizon, and was about 25 degrees wide, in the E-SE. Not nearly as bright a dome as Salinas is from the Peak sans fog though. Excluding the slight dome in the East, everything from the zenith south, west, and north was inky black -- very nice.
The roads there are all wide, well-paved and smooth. It's freeway until about the last 8 miles. Exactly 79 miles from my home, 1.4 hour drive (compared to 126 miles to the Peak and 2.25 hours). From my work it was only 55 miles and almost exactly 1 hour, even with some light traffic in Santa Rosa.
If the gusty winds are not the norm there, this will be a great site. Rashad and I will definately be back, and I hope some of the more northern/east-bay TACos will join us.