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Red Rocks Sept, 2001
We
set up at site 2, the same site that we usually camp at. Unlike our
trip in August it was a lot less windy. We went up the weekend after
the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. We expected that we would be the only
people up there and that most of the US would be at home glued to their
tv. To our surprise the campground was quite full. We only
talked to one other couple that stopped by the campground so we don't know
why there were so many people there that weekend. Perhaps people
need to take a break from the constant stream of bad news, perhaps some
people were afraid of attacks on Los Angeles. It felt good to get
away. Red Rocks was very tranquil, a sharp contrast to the previous
days
After
we got set up I climbed up some of the hills and took pictures of the campground
and the rest of the park. The hills are pretty easy to climb, but
you have to be careful because it is like climbing dried mud. None
of the hills are solid or stable so a piece of rock that you are standing
on could easily break off. The pictures take from about show how
barren the campground is.
I
took some pictures of Sally exploring the rocks while we waited for night
fall. The hills have a lot of cave like openings that are fun
for kids to play in.
The
night was much calmer that the previous time we had been stargazing.
There was a little bit of wind, but not much. Unfortunately the air
was unsteady which doesn't make for good viewing. Looking at the
planets was particularly disappointing. During the early evening
the air was very unsteady which made it almost impossible to get a could
view of Mars. Even though the seeing wasn't that great I still got
Uranus and Neptune in my scope. Both of those planets are so distant
that they appear very small in the scope and there is little detail that
can be seen on even the best nights. I had more luck later closer
to dawn. Objects close to the horizon suffered the worse from the
unsteady air, but by 3am Saturn had risen high enough in the sky that I
was able to get a good view of it. Jupiter, on the other hand, was
low enough that the best I could do was make out a few zones and bands.
More Pictures
Click here to see pictures from July
Trip to RedRocks