Eastbay Astronomical Society

....Oakland, California - Stargazing since 1924

Barcroft: The Shangri-La of dark sky sites

The EAS and Tri-Valley Stargazers are proud to offer the 2010 Barcroft High Altitude (Low Oxygen) Star Party from Saturday, September 4 through Sunday, September 12, which encompasses two weekends, and the week between them.

The Barcroft Lab is a scientific research station, run by the University of California, and located at a mind-boggling altitude of 12,435’ above sea level (ASL) in the White Mountains, approximately 15 miles northeast of Bishop, CA.

Due to the level of research at Barcroft we are limited in the number of participants (usually about 20 but sometimes fewer). Priority will be given to those staying 3 nights or more. Send your check for $65 per person, per night, payable to:

Dave Rodrigues
1633 Graff Ct.
San Leandro, CA 94577

Contact Dave at (510) 483-9191 or davevrod@aol.com for more info.

Amenities included in the fee: Hot meals (great food!), satellite TV, video, book and magazine library, pool table, a fully equipped kitchen (w/microwave), radiotelephone, showers, bathrooms, tool shop for equipment emergencies, oxygen tanks, and helpful staff. They’ve got bunkbeds, but for maximum warmth, bring a sleeping bag.

Driving instructions from the Bay Area: (approx 340 mi, 8.5 hrs drive time)

Take Interstate 580 east to Interstate 205.
East on Interstate 205 past I-5 to Highway 120.
East on 120 to Highway 99.
North on 99 one mile to the Highway 120 exit.
East on 120 towards Yosemite.
Take 120 over the Tioga Pass to U.S. 395 (just south of Lee Vining).
If the 120-Tioga Pass Route is closed, take the Sonora Pass Route to the north via Calif. 108 to US 395.
South on Hwy 395 thru Bishop to Big Pine. REFUEL HERE with premium grade gas.
Hwy 168 east towards Westgard Pass.
Approx 12.9 miles out of Big Pine, turn left onto White Mountain Road.
Goes to Grandview Campground, Schulman Grove.
Schulman Grove to Barcroft - approx 45 minutes.

GPS: N37.583773 W118.236748 (If you copy/paste these coordinates into Google Maps and zoom in on the green arrow, you can see a satellite image of the facility.)

Good Advice:

Before attempting to go to Barcroft, begin acclimating to the high altitude for a day or two by spending the day at Glacier Point in Yosemite, and/or stopping overnight at places such as:

Bridalveil Creek Campground in Yosemite (6964’ ASL): located close to Glacier Point, where astronomy clubs from all over California come to hold weekend star parties for the public as part of an official Yosemite National Park function. This is a first-come-first-served campground, and can be quite tricky getting a campsite. If you show up fairly early (7 or 8am) on Friday morning, people often start to leave, to avoid the weekend crowds. That’s a good time to try to grab a spot. Sometimes you can find another astronomy-minded camper willing to share their site. If you get up early, you can watch hang gliders launch from Glacier Point from 7-9am on Sat/Sun.
Mammoth Lakes (8000’ ASL): a small tourist and ski town with accommodations and restaurants. Make a reservation well in advance if you want to stay here.
Grandview Campground (8600’ ASL): located along the route to Barcroft about 17 miles east of Big Pine, approx 5 miles short of the Schulman Grove Visitor Center of the Bristlecone Pine Forest. There are toilets and campsites, but no water. The suggested fee is $5 a night.

FILL YOUR GAS TANK WITH PREMIUM GRADE IN BIG PINE before heading up into the mountains. Grandview Campground has toilets and fire rings, but NO water. Bring your own water.

Your car: It’s a well-maintained dirt road, though it can get a little rough in spots. Most two-wheel drive vehicles in good shape can easily make it. Tire pressure should be checked at Grandview Campground to ensure the lower ambient air pressure at altitude isn’t causing vehicle tires to become over-inflated. A good spare tire should be brought along. Make sure the air filter is in good shape, too.

Hypoxia: A real concern at this altitude. It helps to acclimatize (get used to it) by staying at somewhat lower altitudes for a day or two before coming all the way up. Spending a day at Schulman Grove, and a night at Grandview Campground, will work. Or, spending time at Glacier Point in Yosemite and lodging in Mammoth can help, too. They’ve got oxygen at the station, for anyone in any discomfort or distress. Symptoms include euphoria, irritability, erratic or irrational behavior, dizziness, and headaches. Please cooperate if someone asks you to use the oxygen. Notify staff if you notice these symptoms in others.

Hydration: Be sure to drink plenty of (non-alcoholic) fluids, as the air at altitude is especially dry.

Weather: Can be extremely variable. The longer your stay, the more likely you’ll get nights with good weather conditions.

Temperature: Can get extremely cold. Bring lots of comfortable, loose-fitting (non-constricting), warm clothing. Layering works well. Don’t forget your hands, head, and feet. Fingerless gloves, caps or hats with ear or face covers, and extra socks are all helpful. Liquid rechargeable, or one-time use, powdered iron, heat packs are good to have, too.

Sunburn: Wear liberal amounts of SPF 30 sunblock on exposed skin, and a wide-brimmed hat.

Seeing: It can be outstanding (sub-arcsecond), if the weather cooperates, thanks to the relative lack of interfering atmosphere at that altitude. Solar viewing should be excellent. It can be especially good for astrophotography.

White Mountain was the second choice for the Keck Telescope. You'll never forget your view of the Milky Way from Barcroft. For those of you who are interested, just off this route, north of Mono Lake, is the Bodie State Historic Park. Bodie was a legendary (or perhaps infamous is a better word) mining town that was famous for its bars, murder rates (at one point it had the highest per-capita murder rate in the world), and houses of ill repute. People used to say, "Goodbye God, I'm going to Bodie!" It's now a ghost town. Just thought you'd like to know. In an emergency, feel free to call the White Mountain Research Station in Bishop at 760-873-4344. Make sure you take these numbers with you, just in case. The number up at Barcroft, if the phone is working, is at 760-937-5202. Often, one or more of the traditional roads up there is washed out due to weather or forest fires. For that reason, before heading up, it would be a good idea to confirm the roads are open at the CalTrans web site (type in the highway number) at http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo or call them at 800 427-7623. Also useful: the Mono Lake website has road and weather info, plus webcams at http://www.monolake.org/.