Into the Belly of the Beast

On Friday, December 12, the area was hit with one of the worst ice storms in recent memory. Today temperatures rose just above freezing, and the work crews had cleared at least the main roads in town, so I carefully ventured out to have a look around.

As I turned off Rt 20 and turned north on to Rt 12, I was pretty surprised that Huntington wasn't touched by the storm. Even South Worthington had missed the brunt of the ice. By the time I got to Worthington Center, tree limbs were down and power was out. I got stopped a couple of times, waiting for power trucks and work crews to load up cut up timbers and clear one lane to traffic.

Crystalline trees gleamed in the sunlight to create a surreal beauty... though to the local residents without power for 48 hours, I don't think they saw things quite the same way I did. Soon enough, I had reached Trouble Street. Some folks had obviously worked hard, there were branches in piles along the way, but the road was sanded and passable, even in my little Matrix.

I didn't dare do anything but back 10' up into the Arunah Hill driveway. The drive was glare ice, and I wanted to make sure I wasn't part of the problem for emergency crews. I wasn't going to risk getting stuck.

I slipped on my crampons and started up toward the hill. I keep a wary eye on the ice-encrusted power lines to the barn and beyond. Some pretty large branches cover the driveway, but nothing a crew of volunteers and a chainsaw won't make quick work of once the footing is safe. We've got some limbs on top of the power lines near where we set up the speaker's tent. VENTURE CAREFULLY if you go up to the hill in the next few days. I'm not sure what will happen to his line when power is restored!

Without crampons the walk would have been impossible, and there were still down branches to walk around, but all in all, the road is in pretty good shape. Once I got up to the clearing, it was obvious we had lucked out, all the buildings came through just fine. Some small limbs were hanging on the old tool shed, but I don't think they are a threat to the building.

Our hiking trails will need a lot of maintenance, the Scouts will be pretty busy come spring time, but I'm sure they will be up to the task. I'm not sure how our lean-to's fared, it's definitely "hardhat required" to be bushwacking out there with so much ice still up in the trees.

I'll probably call a work day as soon as it's safe to do one, but for the mean time there's no immediate needs for maintenance on the hill. We got lucky on this one.

-Ed

Winter Sets in on the Hill

I whiffed on sending out a work day reminder for December, but hardy members Ray Burk and Bob Osgood showed up anyway. Thanks! -Ed

Ray reports:

A word of warning to anyone attempting the summit: drive up VERY carefully. Both Bob and I had to make several attempts using the 4 wheel drive locks on his truck and my SUV to get past the lower regions of the hill, which were very icy. Getting down again was an interesting experience as well. As to work, we simply picked up some trash (one plastic knife and one piece of blowing paper), tested the chairs in the warming hut (they all worked just fine), killed at least 4000 flies and one yellow jacket, and left about 2:00 PM or so. Air temp outside was 26 degrees, wind about 20 knots, and inside air temp 80 degrees and wind 2 knots.

Respectfully submitted,

Ray Burk

Notchview Public Observing - 11/22/2008

The drive to Notchview began with stop at Arunah Hill to check out the recent tree clearing. I arrived in the midst of a snow squall (see home page), snow devils would come and go with the wind. When it comes to weather, there's rarely a dull moment at Arunah Hill!

On to Notchview, where I met up with John, Kevin and Tom. It was already 4:00 pm and cold, so the Visitor Center stove was stoked and scopes were set up.

By 5:30pm, we were scanning the cloudy sky for a glimpse of the ISS, with the Space Shuttle in tow. This was a 4+ minute pass that peaked at 84 degrees. Sure enough, a very bright object was spotted almost directly overhead, and Kevin was able to track it for a short while with his dob. Under better conditions, this would have been a memorable pass. Oh well, some you win...

During the best moments, we had a partly cloudy sky on a windy 18 degree night. Not ideal, but observing did take place between runs to the Visitor Center for hot chocolate and warmth.

The event was well publicized and approx. twenty people braved the elements, including a large scout troop. The scouts decended upon the Visitor Center from their tent site on the hill. When resolve and endurance peetered out, we packed up and convoyed back toward Northampton.

This concludes our 2008 program at Notchview. We were able to conduct three of six planned events, for over sixty people that came from the hill towns, as well as Pittsfield, Northampton and Springfield. Thanks go out to Ray Burk, Ed Faits (and family), John Klinkowski, Kevin Phillips and Tom Walker for helping me with these events. Over the winter, I'll be working with the Notchview folks to set dates for 2009. Stay warm!

djc

Youth Trumps Weather

A contingent of 28 dedicated young people from Worcester Polytechnic Institute made an incredible contribution to the hill today, despite a steady rain that soaked everyone thoroughly. Among the tasks they completed:

• Hauling a huge pile of brush off the south end of the top of the clearing. We now have a much lower southern horizon from the parking area, after Joe Z and his dad did some major chainsaw work.
• Help pull timber snags out of the east side of the clearing
• Pile dirt around the telescope pads so now hopefully no one will fall off that pads in the dark.
• Re-stack the "log cabin" that's been slowly decaying at the bottom of the clearing. The re-stack should buy us time to use the wood for something come spring, maybe a shelter on the south summit.
• Cleared out the entrance to the trail from the clearing to the Piliated Lean-to.

I apologize that our attempts to feed them were hampered by running out of Coleman fuel. They put up with rain, wind, lukewarm Bolide Stew and some warm but not quite hot bratwursts, all without complaint. They seemed to enjoy the work. Thanks to a great group of young people. A special thanks to Dan Herzberg for organizing this. I promise if you guys come back in the spring time well have a building project!

-Ed

See all the pictures

Incredible Day... and Night

The November 1, 2008 work day proved to be a winner on many levels. It started bright and early, with Joe Zuraw and his amazing father working the chain saws to free up some snags just east of the top of the clearing. Mr Z is somewhere in his mid '80s I think, and still out-works most of us on the hill.

Sometime mid-morning the high thin clouds thickened, but it wasn't an unpleasant day... no wind, and temperatures near 50.

The recent Star Watch grads were well represented and did an amazing amount of work... Matt Payne and Kevin Collins cleared brush and did some creative mouse-proofing of the telescope shed. Steel wool, foam, and a bit of pine sealed the place up nice and tight.

Steve Herzberg and his crew cleared some brush on the east end below the pavilion. Chevy and his son Ben moved many wheel barrows of dirt out around the upper pad, so it's now not such a drastic step-off in any direction.

Tom Walker swings a strong axe and split a cord of wood or so in front of the clubhouse. We should be set with firewood for a while.

Regulars Dan Carnevale, Ray Burk, and John Davis also did there usual fine work. Barry Hervieux had his chain saw roaring 'til sunset. It was also great to see Bob Osgood up on the hill on a rare Saturday off and got involved in brush clearing and cleaning up the telescope shed. Peter Scherff stopped by to review the proceedings, take care of some official paperwork, and also lent a hand to the activities.

Sunset brought a great community foil dinner, and skies cleared out nicely.

Jupiter was razor-sharp in twilight, as Io peaked out from behind the gas giant and gave us a nice shadow transit. I moments of good seeing in Dan's wonderful refractor I was making out detail in the bands.

As twilight deepened and the milky way emerged, we all knew we had a terrific night coming on. Highlights for me was the double cluster in Dan and Matt's scopes, and an awesome M-13 in Barry's scope. We had a nice collection of glass and knowledgeable folks that knew how to use it. M-13 was definately a naked eye object once the sky got fully dark.

After a quick binocular tour of the milky way and some wide field views of the Andromedia galaxy, I had to turn in relatively early (despite getting my "lost hour" back as daylight savings time ended), so I look forward to reports from those that stayed later!

Thanks to all who helped today, it was a terrific day and fun night on Arunah Hill!

-Ed

Up in the Clouds

I made a quick stop up on the hill this morning, to do a little mice eradication. Just a quick stop, but it was interesting to drive up the hill into a fairly dense fog and mist. Trouble street wasn't foggy at all, but the top of the hill was in the cloud.

Anyway, I opened two packages of De-Con and put them in the telescope shed. If anyone is up there and notices all of the De-Con has been eaten by the nice, I've got two more packages on the self in the shed, ready to go.

-Ed

Star Watch 2008

Congratulations to Steve Herzberg, Dan Herzberg, Tom Walker, M.P. Chevrette, Mike Kozicki, Matt Payne, and Kevin Collins, the Star Watch class of 2008. Pictures coming soon!

Thanks also to Bruce B, Joe Z, John D, Dan C, Rich V, Mike O, and the rest of the crew for putting on another great weekend of leadership training.

-Ed

New Species Discovered on Arunah Hill

Gashopper discovered by Barry Hervieux

Boy Scouts on the Grill.

I think that was MY omelette on the grill.

-Ed

Arunah Hill Days 2008

Just a quick recap and a picture or two...

Well, Thursday night was good observing, Sunday night was GREAT, and Barlow Bob showed off the sun in both HAlpha and through a spectrometer on Saturday before the clouds socked in. Unfortunately, other than a quick peek at the slender crescent moon and Jupiter on Friday night, no night time stargazing took place during AH Days'08, compliments of the remnents of Tropical Storm Hanna.

Still, I think all that attended had a great time. Kelly Beatty gave a great talk in the pavilion on Friday, and the rocket launches on Saturday were the best ever. Thanks to Ranger Gary and Jim Downing for their leadership and never ending patience with balky ingiters and changes in wind direction.

The scouts did their usual fine job with hamburgers and eggs to order.

Many of us cleared out just as the first rain drops hit, with an estimated 4 inches of rain falling on the hill between 6PM Saturday and 6 AM Sunday.

Bird ID

The bird in the photo is likely a Cedar Waxwing. See:

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Cedar_Waxwing.html

for a better photo. If this is the bird mentioned, that's what they are. I've seen them on the hill among the trees, and heard them frequently.

Perfect Night

Sunday, Labor Day weekend 2008, the last day of August. A late summer cold front blew through and left us with perfect skies... dark, transparent, and steady! A group of at least 10 folks and 5 telescopes where on Arunah Hill to enjoy the conditions. Not only were the skies great, but it was just sweatshirt cool and not a bug was flying! Even the earth shadow was a terrific sight.

The Jup razer sharp in the Gaertner in the late twilight, especially considered the eyepiece was that cheap "dust cap" Kellner we plug it with. Just a bit later the Milky Way emerged from the twilight. We were soon picking off M objects in Sag in my ancient and battered 13" Coulter.

After a while we took a break at the top of the hill and were treated to some music from the beautiful soprano voice of Jenny Markens. Not only can Jenny sing, she can pick out some terrific country blues. When I told her the only song I knew was "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" she even improvised that tune. No Ben, the words don't say "root, root, root,
for the Yankees"!

John from Rhode Island then treated us to some "Goto" astronomy in his wonderful mostly home built 8" reflector. The Wild Duck and the Swan and the Dumbbell delighted some first time astronomers.

By then Andromeda had cleared the trees, and was quite a site naked eye or in any of the glass. My favorite was in the Fuginon 7x50 binoculars.

Too soon it was approaching midnight, time to get home for some sleep, with dreams of these kind of skies of Arunah Hill Days...

PS... Joe had the tractor out doing it's thing, the hill is now mostly mowed and ready for AH Days!. Thanks to ALL who helped mow ... John, Barry, Steve, Dan C, and many I've missed.

-Ed

One Week to AH Days

Barry, Steve and I did a little mowing, but hopefully the tractor gets in gear tomorrow. Meanwhile, some pictures.

Can anyone identify the mystery birds that have been enjoying the Gaertner building? I'm guessing barn swallows, but I'm no birder...

Two Weeks to AH DAYS

Thanks to Dan C for doing lots of mowing. I did a little also. This picture was snapped on Saturday just down the hill at the blueberry field just down Cole St. It tells it all... late August ripe blueberries and a waning moon. AH Days can't be long now!

August Work Day... Whoops...

Well, some days just don't work out as planned. After making a few gravel runs with the tractor to fix the washout up the hill, Steve returned to retrieve more gravel and ... POW! The right main bearing for the bucket loader snapped!

That effectively ended work for the day, as Steve, Joe Z, Barry and I wrestled with hydraulic lines and stuck fittings to get the bucket off the tractor. It will be sent to the repair shop this week, and hopefully, with some skillful welding, will be back in service soon.

Barry did a bit of chainsawing, and I mowed, but rains quickly moved in and ended a short and unpleasant work day on the hill. Now less than 5 weeks until Arunah Hill Days! We'll schedule a big mowing day for later in the month.

-Ed

Friday, Aug 1, Notchview Public night

A small but enthusiastic group attended the August public viewing at Notchview, just down the road from Arunah. With green laser, a 6" refractor, and a 13" Dob, visitors were treated to a tour of a beautiful and mostly clear summer sky. Jupiter, the Milky Way, and a pass of the ISS were highlights.

Thanks to Dan Carnevale for his dedication in setting up this public outreach at a wonderful location. Also thanks Tyler and Cathy Faits for both putting up with me and for sharing their knowledge of the night sky with the public.

Thanks much to one of the attendees who gave Arunah Hill a very generous donation to for Arunah Hill Days and our young rocketeers.

-Ed

Skies Alive and the Next Generation Comes Up Big

Saturday July 26 was our pad pouring day for the second pad, the one just below the telescope storage shed. I came up just before sunset on Friday, did a bit of mowing and prep work, then set my old 13" Coulter dob up on the Gaertner Pad. I was rewarded with some pretty good skies and a vivid view of the Milky Way. I picked off all of the old favorites from Sag and Scorpio on up past Cygnus. The night wasn't exactly a 10, but was the best skies I've seen since last fall. The clusters still look great in my battered old 'scope, but I just couldn't get a real sharp focus on Jupiter. We're still a couple of weeks from the Persieds, but the sky was alive with lots of meteors and many satellites.

I had my watch set for a brilliant Iridium flare, spectacular at -7 magnitude just to the southwest of Arcturus. I was well dark adapted and Arcturus looked brilliant, but it wasn't even close once the flare maxed.

I turned in before moonrise, but was awakened about 1 AM when my son Tyler and his buddies showed up. They did a bit of stargazing, then turned in. They knew a long work day awaited them, but I suspect they didn't know how long and hard a day.

Steve Pielock showed up at 8 AM and we began to get everything ready for the pad pouring. My son Tyler, about to go back to Atlanta for his junior year at Emory as a biology and chemistry major, and his friend James, a physics and engineering major home for the weekend from Fordam, woke up and got right to work laying out the rebar and reinforcing mesh.

Since we didn't have use of the tractor, Steve and James made a "sled" out of an old pallet and some rope, and we hauled gravel, bags of cement, and water on sled dragged by Steve's SUV.

After a quick breakfast and two pulls on the generator, we were pouring cement on a warm, sunny morning. After a few hours Steve commented about what good progress we were making and that we were 1/2 done. Within 10 minutes the cement mixer motor conked out, and we were reduced to turning the mixer by hand. We let the motor cool off, and it did come back to life, but for the rest of the day were were dealing with a flaky motor. By 2 PM when we were all wearing out (OK, at least I was!), Tyler's buddies Myles Gordon and Myles' girlfriend Lina showed up as reinforcement's. Myles and Lina were quickly put to work shoveling gravel. and dragging water. Lina even found time to shoot a few pictures (to be posted here soon! Thanks Lina).

With our gravel and Portland cement quickly running out, we finally finished pouring. MUCH THANKS to Tyler, James, Myles, and Lina for all of your hard work. It's great to get young people involved with the hill, and I look forward to your coming back up to enjoy the starry nights over the hill.

Special thanks to Arunah neighbor and our newest member, Laurel for supplying Steve and I with much needed food and drink while the cement curing. Thanks much to Ernie Zuraw, for applying his skills to finishing the surface of our pad.

Now we have two pads ready to go, and we're just 6 weeks from Arunah Hill Days.

Persistence Pays Off

Finally I got some clear skies for some observing Saturday night (July 12/13). After moonset at 1:00 the sky darkened up nicely and the high clouds disappeared. I was able to observe until morning twilight. A breeze kept the bugs and dew away.
Barry

Mowin' in the Rain...

The weather forecast for the July 5th workday wasn't great to begin with, but what we got was even worse. A big rain cloud seemed to stall over the hill, and the "partly cloud /scattered showers" turned out to be steady cool drizzle interrupted by light showers.

That didn't stop us from getting in a lot of mowing. Dan Carnevale took care of the Barn area, Barry H mowed the top parking lot and the area around the observatory, club house, and pavilion, and I got the fire pit / picnic area at the top.

Ray Burk gave a tour to some visitors up from Woburn, MA. Thanks to all for coming up, and I hope Barry's camp out gets rewarded with at least a little starlight.

-Ed

June Work Day: Mowers All Around

With our tractor drivers Joe and Steve otherwise committed, pad pour was postponed and mowing became the task for the day. Dan Carnevale mowed around the barn, and Ray Burk, Bob Osgood, and I took turns with 2 cranky mowers and managed to clear an area around the new pad, Gaertner, Clubhouse, and carve paths up to the Telescope Shed and the Pavilion.

Bob showed us spectacular photos from his Alaska trip.

Barry H was planning on showing up with his chain saw for some tree work, but I had already melted in the heat and missed him. It's hard to believe that less than 50 days ago the hill was still snow covered. Today was warm and humid, temps must have been in the mid 80's on the hill and probably hit 90 in the valley.

Thanks to all those who worked today. Now let's get some clear nights for the summer Milky Way!

-Ed

Memorial Weekend Feast

Saturday night was one of those special nights on the hill. About a dozen of gathered for a feast: Bolide Stew, Star-q-que chicken, sausage & ziti, potato salad, cakes and more around a campfire. Mostly cloudy skies turned clear enough for a "bulls-eye" overhead pass from the ISS. By the end of twilight, the skies cleared out for some fine stargazing... Leo and Saturn already setting in the west, the summer triangle peaking up over the Eastern horizon.

It was an exceptionally cool night for late May, well down into the 40's, which made the campfire inviting. With Joe and Bruce providing the music, and the night sky providing the scenery, it was a pleasant evening.

-Ed

Black Flies and 50 Cubic Feet of Concrete

After a long hard day on the hill, we've got one fine 10 ft square pad finished! The day started with Steve Pielock and I making a run to Friendly Fred's for a little diesel fuel for the tractor. We got a bit of sticker shock, $4.75 per gallon! Just a couple of years ago that would have been the price for 4 gallons.

A quick fix of a tractor tire leak, and we were in business. First step: Move some of the load of Bank Run gravel blocking the road past the barn, then back fill some low spots in the road so cars can make it to the top of the hill. Thirty minutes later, Dan Carnevale, Ray Burk, Barry Hervieux, and John Davis were at the summit unloading supplies and prepping the pad across from the Gaertner when Joe Zuraw showed up with the cement mixer in tow. Just as we got the forms and the rebar in place for pad one, Peter Scherff showed up with the generator. Now that's good timing! I made a quick trip up to the rain barrel at the pavilion for water, and with help from Steve on the tractor, we had all of are supplies marshaled.

A chilly and overcast morning turned comfortably warm (60's) and sunny. If it weren't for the massive swarms of black flies, it would have been a great day to work on the hill. Steve wondered by we were all waving to him every time he brought up another tractor load of gravel... we swatted constantly all day.

With a couple a pulls on the starter rope, we were ready to pour cement. We got in a steady routine: Me, John and Ray loading gravel, Barry wrestling with the mixer, Dan and Peter on rakes and shovels spreading cement, with Joe supervising the mix and doing whatever else needed to be done. Ten shovelfuls of gravel, two of cement, half a bucket of water... mix for a couple minutes, dump the load, spread... repeat... for about 4 hours.

Finally, we had what looked like a pad. We cleaned up and put things away. Bags of cement that early in the day were no problem for me to pick up now were a struggle for Dan and I to lift together. Hands ached and cramped up. Backs were sore. Time for Advil and cold drinks. Joe, Dan and Barry stuck around and did some finish work after the pad set up for a while. Dan and Barry were going to stay for observing. I hope they did, it seemed like a pretty clear night.

I had hoped we would be able to get 2 pads poured, but I woefully underestimated the effort. Our June effort will now be focused on pouring the pad up by the telescope storage shed. Maybe two pads is all we'll do this year.

Thanks to all the participated in this effort. This was hard work and the black flies made things miserable at times. No one complained, everyone pulled together, and we got the work done. I think the pad will be a great addition for our star parties. The pad is plenty big to set up a very large dob and still have room for an observing ladder.

We also worked in the annual meeting, and had a nice surprise visit from a big group of tourists from Miami, Florida. More on both in my next posting, hopefully in a few days. Look for news on Arunah Hill Days, upcoming events, and maybe even an exciting new product to add to the Arunah Hill line of clothing and accessories.

Fog, Rain, and Gravel... and More Gravel

The Saturday May 3 work day started off with the hill covered by thick fog and some steady moderate rain. From the top of the hill I couldn't see the Gaertner building. Slowly things improved, and Joe Zuraw, Dan Carnevale, Ray Burk, John Davis, Barry Hervieux, and Peter Scherff assembled to work on getting the telescope pad foundations layed out. For the rest of the day we seemed to have off and on drizzle, with the temperature struggling to hit 50. The night's view session at Notchview was obviously not going to happen, but credit Dan for optimism. He brought a scope up "just in case".

First step was to decide where to locate the pads. The four locations are:

1. Just across the road from the Gaertner (be careful driving around there in the dark!)
2. Just down from the ramp of the telescope storage shed
3. Below the upper parking lot
4. Half way between the clubhouse and the upper parking lot.

The next step was to scrape down the soil for the pads, then level the area with a good foundation of gravel. Sounds simple. Well, one truism on the hill is that nothing is level, and when you are on the hill what looks level to your eye probably isn't. Leveling pad #1 near the Gaertner proved to be a challenge... just one more tractor load of gravel turned into more than a dozen. While Joe drove the tractor the rest of us worked with shovels, rakes, and hoes to spread things out and try to level things off. With a couple of hours of hard work and lots to measuring with the level, we got things about ready. By this time it became pretty clear we weren't going to have the time, energy, and gravel to prep all four pads.

Next up was pad #2, by the telescope shed. We had what looked like a fairly level spot of exposed bedrock a starting point... surely this wasn't going to take very long to grade out with gravel.... about 20 tractor loads later, with the southeast side now raised up 2 or 3 feet, we had things more or less level and ready for concrete.

By now it was after 3PM, time for most of us to call it a day and brave the mud around the barn. Barry and Ray stayed on a while longer to do some tree work.

Thanks to all the helped out. I hope for an even larger crowd next week for the cement mixing and the annual meeting.

-Ed

Public Observing at Notchview - 5/3

IF Mother Nature cooperates, Arunah Hill's first outreach event for 2008 will take place at Notchview (Windsor, MA) on Saturday, May 3.

Notchview is a great site for public observing -- it's right off Route 9, has an excellent Visitor's Center, and the staff is very accommodating.

More information on the facility is posted to the Internet.

djc

Springtime at Arunah Hill

Warm weather has cleared away the snow. Barry visited Arunah on 4/22 and found dry ground, cleared roads and NO washouts.

djc

Winter in April

It might have been 50 degrees and sunny down in the valley, but it was still definitely winter up on the hill. I parked by the mailbox, I didn't dare test the driveway. Dan Carnevale was able to drive up past the barn, but had his 4 wheel drive pickup pretty well covered in mud and slush by the time he had parked.
Dan and I walked part of the property (following in some of Ray Burk's footsteps). The roadway was a mix of 2 foot ice ruts, slush, and a bit of mud and some flowing water. A robust flow of water seemed to be under much of the roadway.

The picture at right tells the story... Dan was walking along the road just fine when one step burst through the snow crust and suddenly put him knee deep in heavy snow.

After walking less than half way up the hill both of us decided it wasn't worth risking our creaking knees, and we turned around. No work to be done on the top of the hill today anyway.

Dan and I strategized about the upcoming work days of pouring the telescope pads, then called it a day. With luck and some sunshine we'll have the pads ready to pour on the May workday.

-Ed

Almost Spring?!

It's a azure blue afternoon, on what's officially the second day of Spring, March 22, 2008. The sky is crisp, clear, and spectacular, and promises to be very transparent for the near full moon rise later tonight.I'm just taking an afternoon to see how

the hill wintered and take a few pictures. First observation is that the driveway didn't look like something my old van was up to, so I just parked on Trouble Street and walked in. The snow looks to be 3 feet deep in parts of the driveway. The hill must have had a pretty good ice storm recently, the trees on the west end of the clearing glittered with thick ice.

The clearing was a solid blanket of deep snow with a granular crust, with only a few tiny animal footprints to mar the scene before my size eleven's tamped up the place. Even though temperatures were in the mid '40's down in the valley today, not much melting took place on the hill. The quiet beauty of the place was overpowering. A lonely hawk circled past, the only other living thing I saw for the couple of hours I stayed on the hill.

I walked out to the lean-to on the Pilated Path, then hiked up to Scout Heaven to check on everything. It's amazing how well these structures are holding up through years of stormy winters and humid summers. The Zuraw's and friends build solid!

The snow mostly supported my weight, but every once in a while gave way to reveal hip-deep powder! But it won't be long now before the ever rising sun starts to melt the snowpack, and the hill is again abuzz with members setting up telescoopes, scout groups camping out., and not even too long to the Volent's Memorial Day feast.

But for today the hill was sublime in its solitude.

-Ed

February Work Day - Slip Sliding the Day

After a bit of snow and ice the night before, the roads around AH weren't in great shape, but with an OK forecast I still had hopes for a Winter Star Party.

Alas... the ice and clouds both proved persistent. Steve Pielock and I made run into "downtown" Cummington for a load of sand, and after spreading a few hundred pounds of the stuff, my van still couldn't make it to the barn! Steve's 4-wheel drive had not problems reaching the lower parking lot. Ray Burk and Glenn Benscotter also had 4-wheel drive vehicles, they ended up spending part of the morning pushing my minivan up and out of low spots.

Anyway, the clear skies in the forecast never materialized, but at least we got some sand down. If anyone wants to do some winter observing at AH, I'd strongly recommend you come in groups and have 4-wheel drive.

The 4 of us spend time cleaning out the barn. The mice had really made a mess of things. We filled up a 30 gallon trash bag, but I'm not sure that made much of a dent in things.

We'll see what March brings... maybe a Messier Marathon! If the weather cooperates...

Thanks to the hearty crew that showed up on a frigid icy February.