by Albert Highe
I left Redwood City at 6:40PM and the traffic was lighter than I normally see when I leave early afternoon. Driving was a breeze down to Gilroy. At a mile before the turnoff to HWY 152 East, traffic on HWY 101 came to a grinding halt. Not a problem, I took the Leavesly Rd exit, tanked up, and continued this back way to cut off a good portion of the traffic. After I met the traffic on HWY 152, it was stop and go until HWY 152 expands into four lanes. After that, traffic was at (and over) the speed limit, 65mph. I figured the congestion added only 20 minutes to my trip.
I arrived while there was still enough light to set up. There were no boaters, but the ranger did come by while I was setting up. I hadn't seen this ranger before, and he came up with headlights and spot light blazing. He was pleasant and wished me a good evening. No one else showed up.
The sky was mostly clear when I arrived, but as I set up, patchy clouds inched their way across the sky. By the time it was dark enough to observe, about 3/4 of the sky was filled with the patchy clouds. I could still make out the brighter stars of constellations, but it was thick enough to not observe much through it. I worked the Eastern sky and some double stars until about 10PM, when the entire sky was effectively covered. I decided to wait.
Just before 11PM, as the Moon was finally setting, a big hole appeared, opening up all of Leo to Corvus. Lots of stuff to view here. By the time I left, the hole slowly expanded eastward, exposing more and more sky. It was quite dark. Considering the clouds, seeing was above average. For example, I had no problem splitting epsilon Bootes at 265X. It was warm and very dry: low 70's and high 30's RH. I was in my shirtsleeves the entire time.
A pleasant, relaxing night. I would have stayed later if I had some company.