Blue Canyon

by William Blakeslee

Well, after a long day of running around trying to get things done, and fighting traffic in the bay area, I had just about given up on the idea of going out at all last night. But, then I thought if I didn't go up to BC, I would be letting the day get the best of me. So, late tho I was, I headed out to this much discussed site which I hadn't seen in almost four years.

After finding the guys who were up there, and getting directions into the place, I headed in. In my strong desire to come in using little or no light, and in spite of all the illumination from the towering red lights, immediately proceded to get my car stuck on a rock under the right side. This proved no problem for the group of astro titans up there. They all broke away from their eyepieces, and came over to the car. After surveying the situation we just got around the floundered vehicle and lifted it enough to move the rock a little.

Problem met and conquered.

I want to thank all of you guys again.

As to the observing, it was fun, I got to show off the binoscope to a couple of folks, and see a few of the showpieces of the winter sky. I know that those who came there after the really DEEP sky were somewhat disappointed due to rather poor conditions. It was not a night for the faintest of fuzzies, even in the 30".

I, however, am glad I decided to make the trip because I got to mingle with a nice group of guys for a while, and take my mind off of work, even if only for a few hours. And that's one of my main reasons for doing this in the first place.