Coyote Lake observing site - closed Mon-Fri

by Kevin Schuerman

I, too, found the road to the boat ramp closed last night. I spoke to the ranger; he told me I was welcome to observe from the picnic area near the Lakeview Campground. When I got there, it seemed as though the usual car access points to the picnic area were narrowed down with fencing so that only foot traffic could pass. I set up in the parking lot next to the picnic area (which is fine by me, since the picnic area is full of gopher holes anyway.) Denny W. joined me at about 9:00PM.

We had a great evening -- it was calm and clear with temps in the mid-50's and humidity in the high-30's. I was chasing NGC objects in Perseus and Auriga most of the night. It was also pretty quiet. A few cars drove into the campground next door, but no cars came into the parking lot we were in, and I never got blasted with any white lights. The impression that I got from the ranger is that we were welcome to use that site for observing until the road to the boat ramp is re-opened. Except for the dirt surface and a little bit of light from the restrooms, it seems as good a spot as the boat ramp.