[AZ-Observing] Re: Coconino National Forest closes due to fire danger

Lynn and others -

I'm not seeing much in the way of replies about where to observe in 
northern Arizona, and I suspect that's because those of us are up here are 
stumped ourselves about where to go.  Having the Coconino National Forest 
completely closed for the first time (as of today) is the big problem, as 
pretty much all of the sites that I have used and know of are in that 
forest somewhere.  This includes Anderson Mesa, Beaver Creek Trailhead, 
Slate Mountain, and also the site we've been using quite a bit of late, 
the Doney Mountain picnic area near Wupatki National Monument.

Off list Tom Polakis suggested that there must be some BLM land somewhere 
up there that could be used, but I'm not aware of any relatively close to 
Flagstaff.  There are of course vast BLM holdings north of the Grand 
Canyon, some of which are now also National Monuments, but that's a good 
drive from here, and more so from central AZ.

Some other options I can think of are:

- Navaho and Hopi reservation land, and private ranch land.  But in these 
cases I would think one would want to get permission somewhere for 
anything other than a short observing session.  The (undeveloped) area 
around Grand Falls on the Navaho reservation might for example be an 
excellent site, as would be the ranch land near SP Crater off US 89 (on 
the other side of US 89 from Wupatki).

- There are "no overnight parking" signs at the Sunset Crater Monument 
lots, but it's not clear if this would eliminate parking for observing 
sessions.  A check with rangers there might be best.  The Wupatki parking 
lots are definitely off-limits at night as they are always concerned about 
security for the ruins within the Monument.  (The Doney Mountain parking 
lot is beside Wupatki, but in the Coconino Forest, so normally observing 
is okay there.)  Anyway, the main Sunset Crater parking lot and the Cinder 
Hills Overlook parking lot would both make for good observing sites if it 
were possible to use them.  There is a bit of a glow there though from 
Flagstaff to the southwest (although blocked from the Overlook by the 
volcano itself).

- Certainly one area that could be used is Grand Canyon National Park 
itself.  All areas of the park remain open, so setting up for observing at 
one of the overlooks (south or even north rim) is obviously an option. 
With advance notice, it also might be easy to still get campground 
reservations nearby.  Light pollution from Tusayan in the south is 
noticeable from areas right around Grand Canyon Village, but still the 
skies overall are pretty good.

- Finally, the one area that we have used for observing that is still 
apparently open is the Willard Springs transfer station off I-17 south of 
Flagstaff.  This is county land that is still apparently open, although 
adjacent to National Forest land.  Directions (from the CAS website at 
http://www.lowell.edu/cas/) are: "Take the I17 Willard Springs Exit (#326) 
and [going west] follow the paved road for about a mile. Once clear of the 
trees, the road turns sharply to the right but continues through as a dirt 
road. Set up is about 100 yds on the dirt road near the cinder pile."

As to camping, again, all of the Coconino and most of the Kaibab is 
closed, so camping in undeveloped areas is no longer an option and the 
developed campsites have also been closed or are being closed.  There are 
however many commercial campgrounds in Flagstaff, as was as a county one 
at the Fort Tuthill Fairgrounds just south of Flagstaff, and these should 
all be open.  I don't know of any available campsites though where one 
could also observe from.

Anyway, hope this helps out with options.  If the weather holds (which we 
hope it doesn't, considering how much we need the rain!), you'll likely 
see more posts from folks "up here" if we do plan to go out observing.

- Brent Archinal





"Lynn blackburn" <LynnRB@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent by: az-observing-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
06/27/2002 05:39 PM
Please respond to az-observing

 
        To:     <az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
        cc: 
        Subject:        [AZ-Observing] Re: Coconino National Forest closes due 
to fire danger


To Flagstaff observers
I'm looking for a cooler observing site not affected by the forest 
closures.
This would be for the weekend of 7-6&7-7, next weekend? Any suggestions 
will
be appreciated. Need a break from the Phoenix heat! A site with camping
would be a plus.
Lynn Blackburn
Sagauro Astronomy Club
----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul Dickson" <dickson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "AZ Observing" <az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, June 26, 2002 12:17 AM
Subject: [AZ-Observing] Coconino National Forest closes due to fire danger


>
> Starting Friday, the entire Coconino National Forest will be closed for
> the first time due to fire danger.  So reports azcentral.com...
>
> -Paul
>
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> messages.  Thanks.
>
>

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--
This message is from the AZ-Observing mailing list.  See this message's
header if you want info about unsubscribing or the list's archive.

This is a discussion list.  Please send personal inquiries directly to
the message author.  In other words, do not use "reply" for personal
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