I've been to Vernon res. many times. It does have a lot to offer...sometimes too much. Just don't think you can go there on any given weekend (except during the dead of winter) and think you'll not be bothered with camp fire light all around the lake. Like anyplace where people go, most calm down as the night draws on. Vernon, however, is a party place at times. I've been disturbed from sleep a few times by other folk while camping there. The bathrooms are a plus. If you plan on getting the sites with the bathrooms near by, it would be wise to get there early Friday morning, or Thursday night. During the week, not such a problem. If you don't need the bathrooms, there are better locations for observing 5-8 miles South. There is also a road that heads West a couple of miles South of the reservoir, that will take you up higher. There are literally dozens of great places to observe out there, where people you don't want around are not there. Vernon does offer slightly better skies than pit n pole. I've observed there a few times. One was good, the other windy. Being from Stansbury Park, it's easy to get there. Keep us posted when you plan to get a few or a bunch to go out for an evening. I'll try to get there. Say no to sucker holes, Dale W. ________________________________ From: Jay Eads <jayleads@gmail.com> To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Friday, December 30, 2011 11:14 PM Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Vernon Reservoir Area I spent a good part of the day today out by the Vernon Reservoir and found some wonderful observing areas. I posted both images and links to some video I took (feel free to shut off the volume as the wind is blowing pretty good and I rambled in comments). The video is on my YouTube account, GapperJUT (if you know me, you'll understand the nickname Gapper). Here is the link to the blog (I haven't proofed it yet but will tomorrow for grammatical and spelling errors but I am not overly concerned with that on a blog, its not my dissertation or wasn't my thesis). http://jaysastronomyobservingblog.blogspot.com/ My take aways. The reservoir has a wonderful large group campground that would serve as a wonderful field for scopes. Tents could be set up on one side, scopes on the other. The bathrooms at the reservoir are the best I have ever seen (save the one at Dead Horse Point) and were very, very clean and still open as the video shows. They took their time and care here on the bolt because it isn't a flimsy bolt but a large one so no one is walking in on you. There are scattered campsites in the area as an fyi and in the summer I'm sure they would have campfires in the distance. It would be an excellent place to camp and even take kids if you have young kids and then use one of the other sites i found. I found 3 sites, 2 that are useable to the east of the reservoir. I also found 2 sites down in the valley on forest land. Well, to be truthful I found a couple more sites in above the reservoir I didn't post and one really good site in the valley below I didn't share. Distance was about 65 miles and took me about 1 hour and 15 minutes which included a 10 minute stop to fix something on the Pathfinder. Its 24.5 miles from the Pit and overall, I think a much better area to observe from. Time and experience will tell. According to the Light Pollution Map (and yes, I take it tongue and cheek and go by my SQM readings over time) these sites look to be as dark if not darker than Lakeside. http://sites.google.com/site/3davel/home/light-pollution/lp2001/gmap Anyway, I hope you enjoy, I did. -- Jay Eads _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php