by Paul LeFevre
I just had to get out last night, and since by the time I was ready to go nobody else had announced firm plans, I decided to head for Coe. Actually I was thinking of going to Fremont Peak, but as I arrived at the freeway exit for Coe, I changed my mind, turned off, and drove up the hills.
The rangers were nice, and showed me where the crowd usually sets up (since I hadn't been to Coe before). I arrived about 2:30 PM, and enjoyed a few relaxing hours reading, napping, and observing the sun.
I'm sorry nobody else came up last night -- you missed a great night. The high cloud and haze layer that was blanketing San Jose and the lower valleys evaporated at about 20 deg. above the western horizon, and was just thick enough to block a good portion of the light from Morgan Hill & San Jose. Except for low on the western horizon, the sky was clear and dark, except for an occasional wispy high cloud that passed through quickly. Seeing was about 6, transparency about 7. I was set up in the big lot all alone, and except for a few campers who wandered over and got to see M31, Saturn, Jupiter, and the moon before it set, I quietly pursued my own program with no disturbances. Well, there were those two coyotes that kept playing hide-and-seek behind the big tree, but no other disturbances. :) I enjoyed a wonderful, quite, dark night out, and stayed until 2:30 AM or so. The solitude was great, though I did wish there was someone around to show things that I had found from time to time :)
Hope to see many of you at Mark's party tonight,