[AZ-Observing] Re: Mt. Ord
- From: "Dawn Schur" <dschur@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:09:28 -0700
The only time I have seen the gate locked is during the winter or when there
has been fire danger high. Right now they are doing control burns on the top
and around the top of mount Ord will have to see if they have locked the gate
again for fire control. Each night you can see major flames and smoke up
there. From what I can see from the top of the saddle is open spaces but the
road runs up the spine to the top of the hill.. Doesn't look like there are too
many open areas up there.
-----Original Message-----
From: az-observing-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:az-observing-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Gene A Lucas
Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 6:35 PM
To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [AZ-Observing] Re: Mt. Ord
Additional notes on Mt. Ord and observing sites along the Beeline Highway:
I can see Mt. Ord (and of course, Four Peaks) on the horizon from my
north-facing balcony in Fountain Hills.
I drove up the Beeline Highway (AZ 87) north of Fountain Hills recently,
and turned around at the road that leads to the top of Mt. Ord. This is
about 15 miles north of the intersection of Shea Blvd. and the Beeline
Highway (AZ 87, the road to Payson), after the road begins to climb,
past Sunflower.
There appeared to be a locked gate on the Mt. Ord access road right at
the bottom, next to the Beeline. (Which would not be surprising after
9/11, considering all the communication towers on the top of the
mountain.) I have never driven up to the top, however. Likely one
would need to contact someone in authority, possibly the Tonto National
Forest (or some other agency) to gain access. There is no room for cars
at the foot of the mountain next to the Beeline Highway to set up.
The closest dark places (to the south along the Beeline) for astronomy
are near the Sunflower exit, or the next exit north. Randy Peterson has
set up there to observe a recent asteroid occultation.
Further south, there are also places to set up east of the Beeline along
the Four Peaks Road - Forest Road FR143, which is the exit just north of
the Saguaro Lake exit (which connects to the Bush Highway leading back
to Mesa.) This is about 10 miles north of the Shea Blvd. intersection
(past the Ft. McDowell casino). The GPS coordinates at the FR143 exit are:
33d 40m 08.6 s -111d 29m 04.1 s, 2676 ft elevation (816 m).
There is a large turnoff area on the south side of the Four Peaks Road,
about 2-1/2 miles in, past "The Rolls", which is another parking area
for RVers and horse trailers, with public toilets. Leaving the Beeline,
the Four Peaks Road is well graded dirt, and has little traffic -- after
dark. Daytimes there are plenty of those four-wheel cyclists tearing
along, stirring up dust on the road. Many of the former turnouts have
been fenced off, to limit use by off-roaders tearing things up. The
road is incredibly rough farther east, as it turns and climbs up the
north ridge leading to the top of Four Peaks, where there are
campgrounds. (I can sometimes see headlights descending along the ridge
from Four Peaks during camping season from my house in FH...)
These details are all shown on the Tonto Forest map, which BTW has NOT
been updated since the Beeline Highway (AZ87) was four-laned.
While moderately dark, all of these places have almost unobstructed
views of the lights in the Valley to the south, however...
The SQM meter reading at the site along Four Peaks Rd. was similar to a
reading off my balcony at Fountain Hills, ca. 19.5 ...
FYI, here is another web resource listing most of the mountain peaks in
Arizona:
http://ontarget.mesavarsity.org/Arizona%20On%20Target%20Peak%20List.pdf
Gene Lucas
(17250)
Tom Polakis wrote:
> Mount Ord is the 7000-foot peak that is visible from Phoenix about 15 degrees
> of azimuth to the north of Four Peaks. As Stan states, it is between Payson
> and Mesa. You can access it from the Beeline Highway. North of Sunflower,
> the highway continues to climb to a saddle that is at the astronomically
> familiar elevation of 4565 feet.
>
> A good dirt road leads all the way to the summit. There are not many flat
> areas to set up scopes, though, so I wonder where they were.
>
> I don't think it would be a wise choice for an observing site. After a lot
> of driving on mountainous roads, you would be only 50 miles from downtown
> Phoenix (closer than Picketpost Mountain), and north of the lights of the
> east Valley. If you lived on the east side, you'd do better at gaining
> elevation and distance from Phoenix by continuing east of Globe to Griffith
> Ranch.
>
> http://www.eastvalleyastronomy.org/sp-alt.htm
>
> Tom
>
>
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