Hi Steve, Excellent point. Which begs the question, how high above the horizon (in degrees) must a light dome extend before it becomes intolerable for southerly observations? northerly? east or west? At what distance from phoenix (in the opposite direction ) does the light dome fall below this standard? I'm fairly certain that this would produce an oblong to football shaped foot print that would answer many questions like; Is a one hour travel time even reasonable? Does it have to be further? It also answers where to look. Draw it on a topo map and see what's left. If the CSC's "light pollution map is that answer I'd say there's not a lot of "close" places left, unless you lower the "standard" of "tolerability" or choose to endure harsher weather extremes of temperature (colder and hotter). Jimmy Ray -----Original Message----- From: sac-forum-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:sac-forum-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Steve Coe Sent: Monday, December 18, 2006 8:12 PM To: sac-forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [sac-forum] Re: Flatiron and vicinity This is nothing but an opinion, but I think that the light dome of Phoenix to the SOUTH of any observing location before Cherry Road is just going to be too much to put up with. I know that I would not be willing to consistently travel to a site around Cave Creek and see that gigantic light dome eating up Sagittarius, Scorpius, Puppis, Cetus and like that. Steve Coe -----Original Message----- From: sac-forum-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:sac-forum-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jimmy Ray Sent: Monday, December 18, 2006 6:49 PM To: sac-forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [sac-forum] Re: Flatiron and vicinity Paul, The Bloody basin road branches off onto the "Great Western Trail" which goes south down to Seven Springs (not that I would go that way (very rough)). BUT, with the new freeways and such, going up behind the Cave Creek / Carefree area might be some place to go look. The Seven springs area is lower in elevation (warmer) and would put a mountain range between us and Phoenix. Jimmy Ray -----Original Message----- From: sac-forum-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:sac-forum-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Paul Dickson Sent: Monday, December 18, 2006 2:52 PM To: sac-forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [sac-forum] Re: Flatiron and vicinity On Mon, 18 Dec 2006 08:03:24 -0700, Dan Gruber wrote: > Has anybody explored up I -17 in the Black Canyon City area? PAS uses a > park up there which isn't as good as FI mostly because it's too close to > the freeway. But I remember lots of dirt roads in the area. Also, what > about west of Lake Pleasant toward Wickenburg? I'd be happy to join > somebody more familiar with the area on reconnaissance trips. Anyone know what the driving restrictions are for National Monuments? Anything like KOFA? If the Agua Fria National Monument is too restrictive, Bloody Basin Rd exits the monument after about 10 miles (east of I-17). About 1/2 mile north on FR 677 there's a large cleared area (-111.97610 34.22919) about 50 yds east of the road with access roads. http://terraserver.homeadvisor.msn.com/image.aspx?T=1&S=10&Z=12&X=2050&Y=1 8939&W=3 There's a small hill to the west (3932 ft) and a taller one to the south (just over 4080). The site might be 3910. It might be worth checking out for distance and road conditions. It's about 15 miles closer than the Cherry Rd site, but only 500 ft lower (might be still too cold for us desert rats during the winter). There's another possibility less than a mile further down Bloody Basin Rd, doubling back on FR 36 maybe a 1/10 mile. If leaving the road isn't too restrictive on the monument, we might try the road by Double Tank too, which is about 8 miles along Bloody Basin Rd. http://terraserver.homeadvisor.msn.com/image.aspx?T=2&S=11&Z=12&X=1013&Y=9 472&W=3 -Paul