Hollister Hills SVRA and Perseids

[Brad Templeton]

With Fremont Peak closed for a bit, I did some investigating into Holister Hills.    It is a similar driving distance to Fremont Peak, with similar light pollution; dark to the East/South, not as high, slight hills around to block some of the light.      That makes it about 15 minutes more driving one way than Coe or Dinosaur, half an hour less than Pinnacles, much less than Guac or Tranquility.

There are two group camp sites there.  They cost $250/night plus $100 permit, which would beat LSA if you had more than 7 people for 1 night, though of course not as dark.   Requires advanced booking but they said they could probably make exceptions -- I asked about Aug 12 with new moon and Perseids.

Of the two camp sites, 'Area 5" is probably too close to the road, which is annoying as it has flush toilets, showers etc.   The other site, the GR Track, is set back a fair bit and probably has better horizon, but has only pit toilets.  Both have BBQ areas, picnic tables etc.

Has anybody observed there?  Obviously with 30 minutes more driving you can get better skies, and if you are camping that may not matter.  If you are doing an evening-only stay, 30 minutes each way is worth saving.

Another option to be explored is just doing temporary setups in the hills.   Recreation is not allowed at night, but driving to your campsite is.  Campsites there are $10/night, no reservations.  Don't know if they fill up.  If they don't it could be a reasonable place for an OI with the bonus that those who wish to camp could grab a site, but not observe there.   Some of the campsites could be used for observing but the neighbours would not stay dark for you.   This park is a bit too close to Hollister to get the true darkness we like.

Otherwise, I presume OIs are in order for the new moon/meteors of Aug 12.   Ever since I saw the Leonids in 2001 with 5,000-10,000 meteors/hour at peak, the Persieds have never quite done it for me, but they are a nice background for a new moon night.

[Chris In Felton]

I remember that meteor storm.

I observed it from Mount Madonna County Park. It was my go to semi local for a while cuz you could just drive in. There were several trails that appeared corkscrewed I recall, and about 20 seen on the drive from San Jose to Mt Madonna.

https://groups.google.com/g/sf-bay-tac/c/B0cUi9oBFc4

Chris in Felton

[Mark Wagner]

That meteor storm was one of my most amazing astronomy event.  Its peak was insane.  Like Asimov's Nightfall insane.

-- 
Mark

[4b...@templetons.com]

Hmm.  Issue is that the 2001 storm was not visible in North America.  I know. I flew to Japan to see it.  Perhaps you mean the smaller 2002 storm which I did see at Fremont peak observatory, but it was not only much smaller, it also had the moon up.  It was still a lot more than a regular meteor shower, but not the 2001 storm.  The 2001 storm, though. was small compared to the 1966 storm and other historical Leonids.    Sadly, a 2033 storm is not predicted, though a 2066 era storm should happen for those still alive.

--
Sent from my Android phone with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

[Steve Gottlieb]

The 2001 Leonid storm was certainly visible here, which I observed with a few others (including Jim Webster) from the Sierra foothills. Over a three-hour peak from 1:00 AM to 4:00 AM, there seemed to be a sustained rate of a 1000-2000 per hour with a peak of perhaps 4000/hr (for 45 minutes or so) highlighted by several five-second bursts of ten to a dozen meteors in a bunch, which gave the feel of even a much higher rate. Then we would have a few seconds of calm punctuated by another burst of activity. Although there were clearly some sporadic meteors that seemed oddly out of place, heading at the wrong speed and direction, the shower seemed remarkably collimated over the entire sky with the radiant of these speedsters clearly pointing right back to Leo. Truly a memorable night, even if not up to the 1966 storm. I wrote up a long report — this is a small excerpt.

Steve

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[Mark]

There are a large number of 2001 Perseid Storm reports here:

https://old.observers.org/reports/2001/rep_2001.shtml

Henry Coe was a gridlock with law enforcement forcibly clearing parked vehicles off the road.  People were screaming in amazement at the storm's peak.  The dimmer meteors were so abundant the entire sky seemed alive in motion.

[Steve Gottlieb]

Just to avoid any confusion - 2001 LEONIDS

-- Steve

On Aug 1, 2026, at 3:34 PM, Mark <itsmar...@gmail.com> wrote:

There are a large number of 2001 Perseid Storm reports here:

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sf-bay-tac/57544123-e81c-45fa-b755-003f5900ea07n%40googlegroups.com.

[Mark Wagner]

Ah!  Right, it was Leonids.  November.

[4b...@templetons.com]

There was a peak in the USA, though I never saw estimates of 4,000 there and the photos agree, though I presume it was still good.   So I shouldn't say people didn't see a storm in California, but they did not, from what I can tell, see the main storm, with some counts up to 10,000/hr.  I saw bursts of 20 simultaneous meteors and other cool stuff.  The 1966 peak is estimated over 50,000 ...  A friend compared it to driving in a snowstorm.  Which is why I flew to Japan.  ( It was not long after 9/11 so return trips were under $400).  Finding dark skies in Japan is challenging but we did it.

On August 1, 2026 3:02:10 PM PDT, Steve Gottlieb <astrog...@gmail.com> wrote:

The 2001 Leonid storm was certainly visible here, which I observed with a few others (including Jim Webster) from the Sierra foothills. Over a three-hour peak from 1:00 AM to 4:00 AM, there seemed to be a sustained rate of a 1000-2000 per hour with a peak of perhaps 4000/hr (for 45 minutes or so) highlighted by several five-second bursts of ten to a dozen meteors in a bunch, which gave the feel of even a much higher rate. Then we would have a few seconds of calm punctuated by another burst of activity. Although there were clearly some sporadic meteors that seemed oddly out of place, heading at the wrong speed and direction, the shower seemed remarkably collimated over the entire sky with the radiant of these speedsters clearly pointing right back to Leo.  Truly a memorable night, even if not up to the 1966 storm.  I wrote up a long report — this is a small excerpt.

Steve

On Aug 1, 2026, at 2:22 PM, 4b...@templetons.com wrote:

Hmm.  Issue is that the 2001 storm was not visible in North America.  I know. I flew to Japan to see it.  Perhaps you mean the smaller 2002 storm which I did see at Fremont peak observatory, but it was not only much smaller, it also had the moon up.  It was still a lot more than a regular meteor shower, but not the 2001 storm.  The 2001 storm, though. was small compared to the 1966 storm and other historical Leonids.    Sadly, a 2033 storm is not predicted, though a 2066 era storm should happen for those still alive.


On August 1, 2026 1:58:08 PM PDT, Chris In Felton <tyg...@gmail.com> wrote:
I remember that meteor storm.

I observed it from Mount Madonna County Park.  It was my go to semi local for a while cuz you could just drive in.   There were several trails that appeared corkscrewed I recall, and about 20 seen on the drive from San Jose to Mt Madonna.

https://groups.google.com/g/sf-bay-tac/c/B0cUi9oBFc4

Chris in Felton

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[Brad Templeton]

Anyway, leaving aside the Leonids, which next week's Perseids will not compare to, is there any interest in exploration of Hollister Hills SVRA?    The crickets here suggest there isn't, though I thought a location a touch darker than Coe and not much further with the ability for group camping could be valuable, particularly with Fremont Peak closed this month.     However, Doe Flat at Fremont peak is much cheaper when it's open.

[Richard Navarrete]

I’ve never been to Doe Flat. Is it open sky for good observing ? 

Richard

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[Brad Templeton]

I have not been to it specifically but it's pretty close to the observatory up there and looks good.    It's $100/night, which would be a good deal for a group -- individual campsites are $25 -- but looking, it seems to be booked solid until October which suggests it is not great as a short-notice OI place.   If you're going to plan months in advance and going to camp, LSA may remain the winner.  But always curious about new potential sites and looking for where to go for the upcoming new moon/meteor night.     Presumably groups will be at Coe and even Monte Bello OSP.   And even the remote locations like LSA, Pinnacles, Guacamole and Tranquility, though I find those too far to go for one night's observing.      I have an experimental site I've been thinking of exploring near Pacines but I don't know if it is safe and stays traffic free.  (It's technically private property but I doubt we would be bothered.)