Preliminary Schedule

 

Mornings plan to zip up your tent and let’s further consolidate so we can leave at least a couple of cars back at camp.

 

Monday:

Arrive at Oh Ridge Campground (look for my purple Toyota RAV 4). I should be there by about 3pm.

Set up scopes, camp, astrophoto gear

Optional late afternoon swim at the lake

 

Dinner: Chez Rick will cook up a delicious dish of Thai basmati rice and veges simmered  in cocoanut milk, with whole wheat wraps

Twilight lecture on comets, meteor showers, zodiacal light

Evening Astronomy: Jupiter, Mars, various. An hour or two of June Lyrid meteor shower  counts

 

 

Tuesday: 

Breakfast: My famous French crepes with fruit and yogurt

Geology Tour #1 

  1. Obsidian Dome and lecture on volcanic glasses and grain formation.
  2. Drive south to Earthquake Fault geologic site just north of Mammoth Lakes.  
  3. Hot Creek Geothermal Area.

 

   Late afternoon – free time. Go for a swim at June Lake. I plan to do my swim training there. Bring a wet suit! Nimble students may be able to grab a few crawdads… anyone for some freshwater lobster added to our dinner?

 

Evening Astronomy: Star formation around the campfire, telescopic viewing of star clusters, nebulae, the star forming regions of the Sagittarius spiral arm. Late night astrophotography and another hour of meteor counts

 

 

Wednesday

Breakfast: granola, fruit

Geology tour #2

  1. Bodie State Park – best preserved ghost town in California, north of Mono Lake. Lecture on Basin/Range tectonics and geomorphology
  2. On to Bridgeport and Buckeye Hot Springs west of Bridgeport. Lecture on hot spring formation. These are primitive hot springs on Buckeye Creek.
  3. And to Travertine Hot Springs, just southeast of Bridgeport              

 

Late afternoon R&R, lake swim, followed by pasta dinner, lecture on stellar evolution.

Evening Astronomy: this is the predicted peak of the June Lyrids. 2 hours of meteor counts, along with general viewing of globular clusters, galaxies, and other wonders.

 

 

Thursday

Breakfast: Hot whole grain cereal, oranges. Before leaving camp, bring your warm gear and anything you have to supplement dinner. We’re having a sunset dinner and evening stars at Mono Lake

Geology tour #3

  1. Follow June Lake loop to Grant Lake Scenic Overlook and brief lecture on June Lake caldera
  2. Mono Lake County Park for lunch and tufa exhibits
  3. Wilson Creek for stretch pebble conglomerate and bizarre volcanic ash layering
  4. Mono Lake Visitor Center
  5.  Pahnum Crater hike and obsidian formations, lecture on recent volcanic activity
  6. South Tufa/Navy Beach for tufa explorations, photography of Mono Lake. We’ll have a sunset dinner of refried beans, cheese, and chips
  7. Evening photography of the Milky Way and stars amid the tufa towers

 

Evening Astronomy: we’ll be getting back late. Sleeping bag session of meteor watching and  some telescope viewing for the hard party’rs.

 

 

Friday

Breakfast: hot whole grain cereal, oranges.

 

Relax at camp, free time to explore

 

Geology tour #4 – afternoon.

  1. Convict Lake; lecture on inner planet crustal processes and principles. General history of the Sierra’s and the ice ages, glaciers and study the glacial moraines at Convict Lake.
  2. On to the Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Lab to learn about their current projects and get a brief tour.
  3. Hot Creek Geothermal Area and nearby hot springs, climaxed by my famous lecture on cosmology and the origin of the universe while we soak, before they kick us out near sunset.

 

Dinner: we’ll decide later. Perhaps dinner out, in the town of June Lake?

 

Evening Astronomy: focus on galaxies. Astro club people will likely astrophotography deep into the night.

 

Saturday

The class is officially over as of Friday night. Breakfast on whatever we’ve got left, or perhaps a meal at the café in town. We’ll decide during the week what you’d like. Pack camp, optional rendezvous at Yosemite locations on the way home.