by Jane Smith
When I arrived at IHOP late this afternoon in anticipation of some fall observing with a few astro-comrades, I didn't find any astronomers, but there was a bunch of armed deer hunter types camping at both IHOP sites. Not having anywhere near enough firepower to match theirs, I retreated for home.
Oh Rats! Shneor and I were at IHOP too. Hunters were all over the place, armed to the teeth, and sporting camouflage clothing, so we went looking for an alternative site. We left Shneor's car at IHOP in case any other astro-types showed up. We eventually found a very promising spot off Granite Springs Road, about 1/2 mile up Ice House Road. We headed back to IHOP and hung out until almost sunset, then left for the other site. We must have missed you by only a few minutes. The hunters were just heading out to shoot "bamby". We tried phoning a couple of times, but got no answer. Sorry we missed you.
We stayed at "Upper IHOP" until about 7:30pm, then gave up. The sky looked like it would eventually clear, but there was enough moisture up there to float a battleship, so we headed home. Fortunately, the night was not a total loss. We found a great new site. It's well off Ice House Road and is minimally affected by headlights. Hopefully we'll be able to give it a try next weekend. Here's directions to "Upper IHOP":
Stay on Ice House Road (IHR) past Pea Vine Ridge Rd. About 1/2 mile further, IHR makes an "S" turn. Granite Springs Road is a right turn at end of the "S" turn. GSR is paved. About 1/4 mile up GSR there's a dirt road to the right, the first right turn you come to. "Upper IHOP" is about 200 ft. down this dirt road. There's a large flat roomy area on the left side which will comfortably hold 8-10 scopes, maybe more. The southern and eastern horizons are reasonably clear, but there are a few low trees. Shneor and I both think it's far better than IHOP.
Hopefully we can try it next weekend.
Do you have a cell phone?
Posted on tac-sac Oct 29, 2005 22:20:32 PT
Converted by report.pm 1.2 Mar 15, 2006 19:27:56 PT