Other Sites Near Panoche Hills....The elusive Bortle 2/3

[Christopher Kelly]

On the way out about 1 am, I saw a couple from Mountain View imaging on the Panoche Access Road.  They had no clue about the area up the road but were eager to try it next time.  

I drove more slowly than when I came in, and just south of the Glycophane Ridge the right of way opened up on the right to quite a nice observing spot at 

36.664441, -120.873341.   

Looks to be a public works storage with lots of drivable space for my C-Max.

It occurred to me that much of the traffic to Mercy Hot Springs and Panoche Hills comes from I-5 to the north...this road is deserted with excellent south horizons, no Central Valley interference (I passed no cars since meeting the couple form Mountain View all  the way back to Hwy 25.  With an SQM of 21.90 or 7.01 mag this might be worth the trouble, in lieu of going to the Little Panoche Reservoir Dam.

Also worth a try, maybe a daytime side trip is to Griswold Hills.  It has the same clean restroom and shade structure deal as Panoche Hills from Stimulus 2009.  Looks to be south compromised, but then again, so is Laguna Mtn.  

Clears

Chris

[Tan usa1]

This is disheartening. I am searching for a place with some AT&T signal where I can put up my rooftop tent and image through the night. Panoche seemed like a good winter destination. Summer is even more difficult to get away from the crowds. Will give Williams hill a go too 

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[Peter Natscher]

Chris,

On your way back to 25 at night on J1 south, did you notice any light pollution emanating from the gigantic solar farm recently constructed along J1?  I'm sure it will grow in acreage. Any ideas who owns it?  Apple?

J1 Panoche CA

,

[John Pierce]

On Thu, Mar 18, 2021 at 3:45 PM Peter Natscher <nats...@redshift.com> wrote:

Chris,

On your way back to 25 at night on J1 south, did you notice any light pollution emanating from the gigantic solar farm recently constructed along J1?  I'm sure it will grow in acreage. Any ideas who owns it?  Apple?

looks like Con Edison bought it.   Its tied into Moss Landing, so it is supplying power to the Monterey Bay Area

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panoche_Valley_Solar_Farm

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-john r pierce

  recycling used bits in santa cruz

[Lumpy Darkness]

Is it lit like a car dealership?

Mark Wagner

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[John Pierce]

I wouldn't expect a photovoltaic solar farm to need much if any in the way of night lighting, I doubt they are servicing it at night.

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[Dwayne Maxwell]

I've been to Williams hill twice, it's a nice place to camp but only two sites are somewhat ok for astronomy use. if you go when the weather is good expect most if not all sites to be taken unless you show up early on say a thursday or friday by the weekend both times i was there the place was full with plenty of people coming in each night to see if any spots were open, during the daytime expect quads, dirt bikes and gun fire as most folks coming up there are coming to do one of the two or both. 

lots of site pictures i took are in this write up i did a few years ago https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UnJj0qsDLK2xO-bXy1zaTh5UIvqJoGqzwaBKL99h3EA/edit

[Julien Lecomte]

Absolutely! This way, it can generate power even at night, LOL!

- Julien

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[RBA]

[...] did you notice any light pollution emanating from the gigantic solar farm recently constructed along J1? 

I've driven by it several times the last few months, at night, and I've never seen a single light on. Not even a lonely light bulb in the entire field.

RBA

[Bill Seiler]

They use alot of water to clean the solar panels!

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.

[Tan usa1]

Thank you. If dispersed camping is allowed it may be better to setup away from the campground. I hope when prewitt ridge opens up the Williams hill crows may thin. Currently Dolan closure still seems to be in effect 

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[Christopher Kelly]

A word on disappointment.   I think I just got unlucky (or the guy got lucky that my dog didn't tear him to shreds).   If I had stayed up at the observation area, I wouldn't have run across any campers at all, and that is where I've had the best luck.   BLM sites like Williams Hill, Condon Peak and Panoche Hills in the spring are likely to pull campers from the general population which means that you might have to put up with rowdy behavior.   The difference is that at Panoche Hills, you have several miles along the P1 road to distance yourself from others, so I wouldn't write it off.   I have been back-country stargazing for 30 years in CA, and the animals I have been most afraid of are the two legged variety.  

The Dolan Fire Closure Order will be in effect until May 21, 2021.  But there are other complications:

SR 1

[IN THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AREA]
NO TRAFFIC RESTRICTIONS ARE REPORTED FOR THIS AREA.

[IN THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA AREA]
IS CLOSED FROM 4 MI NORTH OF LUCIA TO 14.4 MI SOUTH OF BIG SUR /AT LIME CREEK BRIDGE/ (MONTEREY CO) - DUE TO A SLIP-OUT - MOTORISTS ARE ADVISED TO USE AN ALTERNATE ROUTE

This could take a while to repair which means your access to Prewitt Ridge needs to be from Ft Hunter Ligget on Naciemento Road.   There are other stargazing areas on Indians Road, but they will not be open until Dolan is lifted either.   I would probably stay away from Prewitt Ridge based on the social media activity.   The area uphill from Plasket Creek on Los Burros Road is sedan driveable (My C-Max) and there seem to be lots of space up there to get away from jamming hippies.

Once it dries out a bit, there is still Tassajara Hot Springs Road (past MIRA) and also since the snowpack has been a bit light this year barring any late storms, the area east of Sonora Pass (the USMC Mountain Warfare Training Center) has excellent sedan smooth roads with lots of dispersed camping.  And also the presence of a well regulated militia (the USMC) tends to scare away the gun crazies.   USMC doesn't take kindly to weapons going off outside hunting season.  And they don't really train on weekends or in the summer as a rule.

Don't lose heart, Tanveer!

Clears

Chris

[Christopher Kelly]

More info on the area in Panoche Valley....there are about 26, 000 acres under stewardship of the Center for Natural Lands Management.  The areas around the farm, bordering BLM and much of the valley were set aside as a conservation area, sadly with no public access; enough to drive ranchers and astronomers mad!

Here is their website for Panoche Valley:

https://www.cnlm.org/portfolio_page/panoche-valley-preserve/

They do give guidance that if you want to do some wildlife peeping of the critters and plants in the preserve, you can observe them from Panoche Rd, Little Panoche Rd, or from Panoche Hills BLM or from along Yturuarte Rd.

"Public Access

Due to the vulnerability of the species and their habitat, the Preserve is not open to the public.  However, most of the species and vegetation types on the Preserve can be viewed from the public roads that cross through the Preserve lands in the Panoche Valley and Little Panoche Valley, including Panoche Road, Little Panoche Road, and Yturiarte Road.  Also, many of these same species and communities can be seen on neighboring BLM land, which provides several convenient access roads and parking areas in the Panoche Hills, Tumey Hills, and Griswold Hills."

To make a short story shorter, the valley is desolate and empty at night, particularly during later hours.  So any valid pullout in the area looks to be a good stargazing spot, surrounded by conservation lands, and you are likely not to be bothered.   Especially rowdy campers that you can get in the BLM.   Two spots that look very promising on the Little Panoche Rd are linked below:

36.664844300375016, -120.87322815306504

36.67099266261803, -120.86650444075335

Also parking on Yturuarte Rd also looks very promising (public road) with even less traffic than the Little Panoche Road.

Also promising is Norton Road, north of the Little Panoche Valley Public School and south of Yturuarte Rd which is surrounded by the conservation lands.

Hopes this helps somebody - 

Clears

Chris

[Jeff Gortatowsky]

Maybe you could talk to the owners of Mercey Hot Springs