Friday, March 13, 2009 - City of Rocks State Park, Faywood NM

Observatory, City of Rocks State Park, Faywood NM, February 19, 2009

Time to hit the road again, back to City of Rocks State Park for a few days.

First State Parks Observatory

A quote from the City of Rocks State Park website:

City of Rocks was first to receive an observatory in the Division. The observatory consists of a 12’ x 16’ building with a roll-off roof and is permanently equipped with a 14" Meade LX-200. The entire facility is solar-powered and will include a 20-inch monitor, which will enable many visitors to simultaneously view the jewels in the night sky, as images are transmitted through the telescope. Click here to find out more about upcoming star parties.

Saturday, March 21
08:15 PM - 10:00 PM
City of Rocks
Star-n-Parks
Join National Public Observatory astronomer Matt Wilson for a guided tour of the spring constellations and planets. Sunset is at 7:15pm and Saturn will be well presented.
Fees: Regular Entrance Fee
Contact: Gabriel Medrano 575-536-2800

Night camp

Site 12 - City of Rocks State Park, Faywood NM

Verizon cell phone service - fairly good signal - best on west side of the park
Verizon EVDO service - faster than many places I've camped
Go to City of Rocks State Park website
Locate City of Rocks State Park on my Night Camps map
Check the weather here

Crayfish Chimney

Late one afternoon I sat upon my camera case beside the path where it wound through the darkest part of the woods, down near the pond, and watched a crayfish building his "chimney," the land entrance to his underwater tunnel. He had just started to work above the ground when I first arrived. He came up through the moist black earth, carrying a ball of it between his two enormous fighting claws. Using the claws as hands, he spread the soil around the hole to form the base of the chimney. He then backed down the hole and after several minutes came up with another armful.

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