The heat wave has come to SoCal, we’re setting some new records. It’s also fire season and monsoon season. So where to go to watch the sky falling?
Borrego Springs or Ocotillo Wells would usually be my first choice, but it’s hot 116F that’s too hot for me! “But it’s a dry heat!”
Image from: http://strangebtrue.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-chinchorro-mummies-of-south-america.html
It’s actually cooler in Slab City and I do have some paint to donate to Salvation Mountain. Along with a trip to the mud volcanoes that would make a blog. But I really don’t want to do that walk in this heat.
Joshua Tree at 4400’ is much cooler, but is forecast with heavy clouds that stretch all the way to Flagstaff.
The smoke and haze plaguing the Eastern Sierra is reported to top out around 5600’. Pretty Ez-Pz to get higher than that.
I checked the pair of web cams that the Lone Pine Film History Museum, maintains, to get an idea what the Owens Valley is looking like. The valley is again socked with smoke this morning, but it was clear yesterday. I have decided to take my chances with the White Mountains as my destination.
Normally my first stop would be an overnight at Fossil Falls. But, I arrived too early. At 2 PM it was still 107F outside, it’s a dry heat – HA! it’s hot. But the entrance road was graded, sweet, I have not seen that in some time. So I decided to see if it was graded as far as Little Lake Overlook. Nope only as far as the quarry at Red Mountain.
I went as far as the playa for a late lunch stop. In the spring or after a good rain the this becomes a shallow pond and the road will get pretty muddy. The overlook is 4 miles from here and it did not look RV friendly.
While sitting here with the generator and AC running, a pair of Mercedes SUVs stopped by for a photo shoot. The photographers had some fancy gear but no movie cameras, so this must be local print advertising and not a commercial.
If you enlarge this picture, notice the tire ruts on the left? It took him a couple tries to get to the top of the red pumice field.
Altho it was a nice break, I decided not to waste propane on the generator and continued up 395 to Boulder Creek RV Park. This is one of the nicest parks on 395 and their prices reflect it! Still, it’s a big splurge to spend $40 for 30 amp FHU with cable and excellent WiFi.
When I arrive at Boulder Creek Mt Whitney is nearly invisible behind the haze of the smoke. But it clears in the morning. I like that Boulder Creek has a late checkout time, I take advantage of that since I don’t have far to go, and they have FREE muffins each morning, and good WiFi.
The Copper Top in Big Pine was voted Best BBQ in the USA in 2015. The tri-tip was slow roasting over the hardwood fire when I arrived. I do like good tri-tip, so I picked up a tri-tip sandwich for lunch. Is it the best in the USA? Altho it is far better, with much more flavor and leaner, than the one I had at OTL a couple weeks ago, I would not say it is the best I have ever had.
From Big Pine it’s only 20 miles, all up hill with a short 1-way road section that has no signal. Not sure how to determine if the section is in use, so I just honk my horn and cross my fingers that no one is coming the other way.
My destination is the Grandview Campground just outside of the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in the White Mountains.
The Forest Service is now asking for a $10 donation/night for a campground that was free a few years ago. When public land is taken advantage of, this can be a result.
The campsites are on the side of the mountain, where it can be tough to get level, and only a couple are big rig friendly and I'm pretty tiny. I find a nice spot where it’s 20 degrees cooler then yesterday, well it is quite a bit higher at an elevation of 8609 feet.
The campground is a loop with an open meadow in the center. The campsites on the northside would be better for my purpose of viewing the evening planets, so I left the RV and went to check them out, but alas nothing more suitable was available. I then setup in the site #11 for the next few days.
I decided to whip up a Greek salad for dinner, and since I only ate half of my sandwich for lunch I could add a little tri-tip.
Tonight’s sunset looked more like dusk, with all the smoke and haze. Altho the planets were easily visible in my little 4" Celestron the conditions did not allow a picture. To be clear I get a picture by holding the camera to the eye piece …. lame, I know. And the next night CLOUDS! Not good for sky watching, but the firefighters have to feel prayers are being answered, at least there is increased humidity, if not rain.
I took quite a few star shots hoping to catch a Perseid. The first picture has a nice early view of the Milky Way. In the second the dashed line, in the lower right, is an airplane and straight across from it is a brief tiny solid line. A Perseid? Not sure, I did not see it, but the camera did – success!
For certain there are No Bad Days (or Nights!) at Grandview Campground.
In part 2 I’ll visit some old friends, some REALLY OLD friends, and make a few stops on the way home I have not seen on other blog posts.
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