[AZ-Observing] Grand Canyon Star Party-Kaibab Lodge
- From: Steve D. <fester00@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: AZ Observing <az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 1 Apr 2010 10:25:43 -0700
Hello everyone,
As coordinator of the North Rim event, I became aware of a somewhat
impromptu, sporadic star party held at the Kaibab Lodge, outside the Grand
Canyon Park, sometimes during the north and south rim events. Sometimes John
Dobson would show up, sometimes Jane Huston Jones and sometimes no one at all.
It occurred to me that this may be a good opportunity to expand this event
and make it a stable, regular event in conjunction with the rim events. It
could give volunteers a venue if they were unable to get space at the north rim
and still wanted to enjoy the skies at altitude. The lodge is located about
halfway between Jacob Lake and the north rim, set up on a ridge overlooking a
beautiful meadow at about 8500 ft. (The north rim veranda is at just under
8000 ft.)
We held an "experimental" event last year, with a couple volunteers
throughout the week, just to gauge interest and support from the lodge. The
lodge was supportive, (not as much as I'd like, but more on that later), and
the volunteers did a great job, even though the weather was bad. I came away
with the impression that it could work, with a couple minor tweaks.
Well, I got the tweaks worked out as far as lodge participation. First and
foremost, they have agreed to supply one cabin for the week for free for our
volunteers! It comes with two double beds. I figure, it shouldn't take more
than two or three volunteers to cover the party, at least at first, so if you
are a single, or a married couple that each have scopes, it could work out
perfectly. Next, they've agreed to post and pass out fliers for the event at
the main desk, entry door and at the gas station across the highway. (The
station/store is a separate owner, but they got on board last year.) Also, the
Demotte Campground is enthusiastic. The camp hosts made their own sign for the
event, informed everyone there about us as they went around for fees and such
and sent people our way in the evening. Demotte has a venue with projector for
evening talks if we need one, but that's not a priority yet.
This is all pretty exciting to me, so what I'm looking for are a couple
people that would like to stay at the Kaibab Lodge for free, set up a telescope
or two in the evening, maybe do some solar viewing during the day to promote
the night-time event and pretty much just relax the rest of the time. Unlike
the complimentary camping at either rim, you won't have to stay the entire
week. You could stay just a couple or three nights and move on, as long as I
can schedule when you stay. I could easily rotate 3 or 4 couples for the week,
as I have volunteers from the Las Vegas Astronomical Society already slated for
the last Thursday, Friday and Saturday. (They may be using their own lodging
and not the cabin, but that's not final yet.)
Please email me off list if you're interested as soon as possible so I don't
have to scramble at the end, or worse, have to cancel it.
You won't regret it!
Steve Dodder
Chairman, SAC Novice Group
Coordinator, Grand Canyon Star Party, North Rim
Director, Stone Haven Observatory
fester00@xxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.stonehavenobservatory.com
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