Outdoor Adventure USA

Early check in request.
Thanks.
WD6USA
JEff

Early check in please

For about the last 10 years I've gone on a snow camp each winter with the boyscouts, we've had a couple years there wasn't enough snow and a couple years the snow conditions weren't right, but for the most part we have camped in snow caves every winter.
The location has always been on Mt. Hood about 50 miles east of Portland Oregon, there's always snow at Timberline Lodge, but there's also always lots of people. When there is enough snow we've camped in a few other spots at lower elevations on the east side of Mt. Hood.

Special considerations for camping in the snow are tools for digging, insulation and waterproofing for day and night.

This isn't for a specific location but for a type of event that takes place in many, mostly remote, areas monthly. If you have any interest in amateur astronomy you might want to consider attending a public star party. They are most often held on the weekend of the first new moon (no moon) in the summer months. Some go on every month while others are held only once a year and everything in between.

Most national parks have monthly star parties in the summer month or at minimum one or two big star parties during the year. The best way to find specific information for a particular park is to search on the park name and "star party".

As cities grow many National Parks are working to preserve their dark skys so people can enjoy the views of the evening sky like our forebears. Here are some links for dark sky locations -

https://www.outsideonline.com/1924396/darkest-parks-us

https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nightskies/index.htm

Here are links to some Southern California star parties that are held in or near areas we are familiar with for off roading activities -

http://abdnha.org/borregodarksky/skycalendar.htm

http://www.oasisatdeathvalley.com/activities/stargazing+

https://www.npca.org/events/170-mojave- ... star-party


More information on star party locations can be found on these links -

http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essential ... -workshops

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronom ... ng-events/

http://www.go-astronomy.com/star-parties.htm

A special even occurred this year at the Oregon Star Party (OSP) which is held east of Prineville, Oregon annually in the Ochocho National Forest. This event has been held annually for the last 30 years and the venue happened to be in the path of totality for the Great American Eclipse of 2017 on August 21st. I attended with a group of friends including Jim Mettler, a fellow Pinzgauer owner.

Here is a link to a video which was done on Jim and his astronomical endeavors -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6V_TtM0daKU

Here is a time lapse video I took as the eclipse neared totality and some afterwards -

https://www.facebook.com/bruce.berger.1 ... 896332499/

We planned to arrive at the OSP venue on the Wednesday before the eclipse. We knew there was another event which would be using the same 2 lane access road that was expecting 70,000 people. That event was scheduled to start on Thursday so we didn't expect huge traffic backups. There were 8,000 early entry tickets for this other event sold which allows entry on Wednesday. Unfortunately, the logistics for handling even that traffic were not well thought out and apparently detailed inspections were being performed on all vehicles entering the event greatly slowing down the entrance process.

Needless to say we were stuck in traffic for about 7 hours trying to get to our much smaller event.


Fortunately, we had the teardrop trailer so we opened up the back and had a place to make lunch.

Here is another view of the traffic backup -
We finally made it to camp with just about enough daylight to get enough of our gear setup so we'd have places to sleep that night. Normally, there is little or no traffic encountered on the way to this event.

Here is a picture of our camp -
This area is known as the Oregon Scablands. There is dense forest with open rocky areas with little or no vegetation. This is definitely a trade off as you want open skys for astronomical viewing but shade is at a premium during the day. We had to get by with a combination of vehicle awnings, tarps, and camo netting to create a space for cooking and relaxing -
Here is a time lapse video I took as the eclipse neared totality and some afterwards -

https://www.facebook.com/bruce.berger.1 ... 896332499/

Please check in KN6VL, John and KD6GCO Bruce

Please give me an early check .
James kg5pmn

Please check me in. Thanks.

Path of Totality


Yellowstone Bear World camping area with center of path of totality


Off-grid power


Mormon humor at a park in Rexburg


Entering totality
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tpv6h2ge2tn59 ... 2.mov?dl=0

Exiting totality
https://www.dropbox.com/s/1tsiswkn4wv0a ... 5.mov?dl=0

Afternoon after eclipse Grand Teton National Park camping availability


Final accommodations at Atherton Creek Campground (nearby national forest)


Teton Range


Big find at Fossil Safari, Kemmerer, WY
https://www.dropbox.com/s/mycru58rjudfv ... 3.mov?dl=0


Ivanpah

Dave and Tom
I will be unable to participate on the Net tonight
Please give me a courtesy check in. Thank you
Kevin
KK6DGL

Get aways here will be out of the question for the near term.

Great NET tonight...Thanks!! Fantastic ideas and some really good places to visit!