Lighthawk
Weekend warrior
Our Memorial Day holiday was initially oriented on chasing a touted meteor shower that never appeared. But any excuse to get out into the backcountry will do, and better yet we had compatriots with Ski3pin & Lady.
I had requested a dark sky and hot spring location, and Ski knew where it was. I had a pretty good idea myself. We decided to join forces and meet in Fallon, NV at 6pm on Friday. A succinct plan, until I spotted a taquerria betweenn Fernley and Fallon and went for a platillo de tacos pollo. SR ordered her usual horachata. We pressed on to the meeting spot, refueled in both truck and body.
A happy reconnection, and we were off!
Open range country
Racing the light
Time to walk the road
The women folk
We found a way to slide the trucks along the tracks, until reaching the end of the road. It was ideal for two rigs with a spring to soak in. Only problem was the temperature was 130F (with 184F source) and the fill tube had been left in the pool.
We set up camp on a grassy knoll with a view towards the playa
A suspected gopher hole turned out to be a smallish spring hole, which I covered with a plywood plank.
When I flipped the plywood over later, the bottom was wet and steamy. A headlamp revealed water a foot down in the small hole.
The evening was superb. We commented at the lack of bugs. Later on we were serenaded by coyotes, and Callie pricked her ears.
We stood around watching the sky between bands of clouds. It had been a 50/50 proposition whether the sky would even be visible. One early flash of a meteor had Ski and I excited, but alas the evening was a bust. I persevered and set up a camera to shoot a series of exposures, each 30 sec long, spaced only 1 sec apart.
Rising Moon
http://youtu.be/QgORJXDPsSA
Looking South
http://youtu.be/48Urge-kvsU
It took six hours for the cattle tank tub to cool before I could jump in. It was hot.
The reward
I had requested a dark sky and hot spring location, and Ski knew where it was. I had a pretty good idea myself. We decided to join forces and meet in Fallon, NV at 6pm on Friday. A succinct plan, until I spotted a taquerria betweenn Fernley and Fallon and went for a platillo de tacos pollo. SR ordered her usual horachata. We pressed on to the meeting spot, refueled in both truck and body.
A happy reconnection, and we were off!
Open range country
Racing the light
Time to walk the road
The women folk
We found a way to slide the trucks along the tracks, until reaching the end of the road. It was ideal for two rigs with a spring to soak in. Only problem was the temperature was 130F (with 184F source) and the fill tube had been left in the pool.
We set up camp on a grassy knoll with a view towards the playa
A suspected gopher hole turned out to be a smallish spring hole, which I covered with a plywood plank.
When I flipped the plywood over later, the bottom was wet and steamy. A headlamp revealed water a foot down in the small hole.
The evening was superb. We commented at the lack of bugs. Later on we were serenaded by coyotes, and Callie pricked her ears.
We stood around watching the sky between bands of clouds. It had been a 50/50 proposition whether the sky would even be visible. One early flash of a meteor had Ski and I excited, but alas the evening was a bust. I persevered and set up a camera to shoot a series of exposures, each 30 sec long, spaced only 1 sec apart.
Rising Moon
http://youtu.be/QgORJXDPsSA
Looking South
http://youtu.be/48Urge-kvsU
It took six hours for the cattle tank tub to cool before I could jump in. It was hot.
The reward