OI Pinnacles Wednesday night the 8th, west side visitors lot

[Jamie Dillon, DDK]

I'll be there if you get the yen. Will be at the lot right inside the west park entrance.

And remember the gate is working now, you want to get there before 8 pm.

Moonrise will be after 1 am, friendly enough.

[Peter Natscher]

I'm coming tonight. Will arrive by 7pm.

[Jamie Dillon, DDK]

Cool, Peter. I got cookies

[Peter Natscher]

Jamie D and I had a great night of observing last night at PinnWest. We got a good marine layer covering the Salinas Valley so it nice and dark inside the park, SQM-L 21.44 overhead in Lyra by midnight. Stayed dry and temp didn't fall below 55°F. Wind and seeing forecast didn't occure. No wind and seeing ~1.0 arc-sec as seen in the epsilon Lyrae double-double. I observed with my 6" refractor and Jamie a 13" Dob. We packed up by 12:30am. I stayed over night down the hill from PinnWest at the Motel 6 in Soledad. Highly recommended!

On Wednesday, July 8, 2026 at 3:44:27 PM UTC-7 Jamie Dillon, DDK wrote:

Cool, Peter. I got cookies

[Peter Natscher]

The staff at the office at PinnWest left the WiFi running last Wednesday night so maybe it's now on 24/7. This allows phone connections via WiFi when you get close to the office building to get a good connection. I got a very clear phone call with the WiFi connection.

I noted the gate at PinnWest was in a tied-open position as I exited the park at 1am Thursday. Not sure if this is permanent.

[Francesco Meschia]

I’m at the West Visitor Center right now, waiting for nightfall. The center is closed, but the wifi is on and fast.

Francesco 

Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 10, 2026, at 14:01, 'Peter Natscher' via The Astronomy Connection (TAC) <sf-ba...@googlegroups.com> wrote:



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[Francesco Meschia]

I made a point of checking the gate as I was driving out at 6AM this morning. It was just as you said, Peter: tied open. Yet, we had no overnight visitors, which is usually a good thing.

Just past the park boundary, I was treated to this gorgeous view of the Salinas valley filled with fog:

Fortunately, the higher elevation and thermal inversion kept Pinnacles West very dry (30-35% RH) all night.

Francesco