[AZ-Observing] Vekol Road is dangerous? (was Vekol Rd--A Night to Remember)
- From: Joe Larkin <joeclarkin@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, evac@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 10 Oct 2004 17:04:44 -0700 (PDT)
This long message is being sent to EVAC and az-oberserving lists as
it discusses some issues with the popular Vekol Road observing site.
This is in response to a message from Frank Kraljic, the relevant
part of his mail is at the bottom.
I am the Joe (Larkin, not Goss)that observed next to Frank. Frank
didn't mention that two trucks went south with lights off at midnight
or so. I figured that they were border patrol. They hadn't come back
north before I left.
When I left at 3 am there were two sheriff's cars at the end of the
paved portion of Vekol Road.
They didn't make me stop, the stop sign did (ie. no flashing lights,
I wasn't cut off or told to pull over). I could have driven past them
after stopping for the sign, but I figured they would possibly have
pulled me over if I had not chosen to wait for them to walk over. I
told them I returning from observing. When they asked me what was in
my small trailer, I volunteered to show them. At no point where they
confrontational. They were courteous and professional. They didn't
ask for any identification or vehicle registration.
They were very surprised to find out that we astronomers used that
spot at night. One of them said he had been out many times on Vekol
Road for several years yet had never known of us. I told them exactly
where we set up so they would not be surprised if they spotted
astronomers in the cleared area 1 mile south of the paved road.
They certainly tried to put a scare in me about illegal users of the
road. They said it was a major smuggling route for drugs and
immigrants with many armed people both driving and on foot. They made
it clear that our use of the site was legal, but they felt it unwise.
I mentioned that this spot had been used for many years with no
incidents except for the recent accident (someone, presumably up to
no good, fell out of a truck on Vekol and had to be brought to a
hospital, no astronomers were involved except as onlookers). I've
been going to Vekol fairly regularly since 1997 and have never seen
anything more than vehicular traffic and never had any interaction
with any non.
Too be honest, the rattlesnakes scare me about as much as the "other
users" of Vekol Road. And even the snakes don't scare me much, though
I was rattled at and rattled by several snakes last night. But I
think that it may be good if someone contacted the Law Enforcement
agencies in the area to let them know that there are legitimate users
of the site.
And if anyone has any personal negative experiences with illegal
users of the area, it would be good to share them so people can make
an informed decision about the site. My anectdotal information isn't
adequate to evaluate the true safety of the site.
An alternative site near the existing site might be needed. I wonder
if the illegal traffic uses I-8 and doesn't go North of it on Vekol
Road. This might mean that a site on Vekol Road just north of the
highway would be better, assuming it is not all private land.
I am still planning on returning to the Vekol Road site. But it seems
like different law enforcement agencies are out there in force. At
very least this inconveniences us and at worst it indicates that the
site isn't safe. Either way, I think some discussion of this is
warrented one one of the astronomy lists (az-observing or the EVAC
list).
Observing was good. I'll write that up in another message if I have
time.
Joe Larkin
--- Frank Kraljic <FJKraljic@xxxxxxx> wrote:
> But as if that wasn't enough excitement, leaving Vekol shortly
> after the
> 0200 hour, a border patrol vehicle steered into the right lane and
> forced me
> to stop--only a few feet before colliding head-on.
> "Most border crossers in vehicles just zoom right past us," the
> border
> officer appealed. Great, I thought, just put my life on the line.
> After a series of questions and notations of concern about camping
> at night
> in this area, we continued on our way only to get pulled over again
> just
> after engaging the I-8.
> "Border patrol?" I asked.
> Disgustedly, he shined a flashlight on his Sheriff badge. Oops.
> "Why were you on Freeman Road?" I explained about the star party
> and
> casually motioned to the telescope in back.
> After a second or two or examination, "The reason why I pulled you
> over is
> because we have a problem with drug trafficking in this area. I
> saw you
> enter the highway from Freeman Road and your vehicle is dusty,
> leading me to
> investigate."
> He proceeded to ask if anyone else was out there, and if we had
> seen other
> vehicles drive by.
> "Aside for the two border patrol vehicles and another Sheriff SUV
> on
> Freeman Road, no."
> The Sheriff seemed surprised there were other patrols out there,
> and like
> the other stop, cautioned us about the area at night before letting
> us go.
>
> This is not the first time I or others have dealt with either the
> border
> patrol or the sheriff's office leaving Vekol, especially in the
> last year or
> so. Although I do not have a problem observing from that location,
> maybe it
> would be best to select an alternate EVAC deep sky site.
>
> Still... a good time nevertheless, except perhaps by the snake.
>
> -FRANK
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com
--
See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please
send personal replies to the author, not the list.
Other related posts:
