Rich N
Post Laureate
Reged: 09/22/04
Posts: 5618
Loc: San Francisco Bay Area, Calif...
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This Summer I looked for rocks. My older brother talked me into hunting for rocks in the Oregon desert, about 80 miles north of the California / Nevada border. The nearest town is tiny Plush, Oregon. Their insulated dirnk holders say "Plush, Oregon, a small quiet drinking town with a cattle problem." The people there were very nice.
We spent quite a bit of time on washboard dirt roads. If you go slow your teeth will fall out. Speed is the answer to a smoother ride. 
We stopped at the Dust Devil Mine where we looked for sunstone. There's lots of sunstone out there but finding one of gem quality is more difficult. The folks at the mine were very friendly. They give you lunch and dinner. The only cost is if you find sunstones and they are of gem quality then you either buy them (for a very reasonable price) or you just give them to the mine owners. The mine also has big automated equipment to look for the sunstone. You can find sunstone just laying on top of the ground in a large area of BLM land near the mine.
I had my Canon 15x50 IS, Leica 8x42BN and Leica 77mm Televid APO with me.
We were lucky, the temps were in the mid 70s deg F. They are often over 100 deg F in July in that part of the country.
Here are a few pics.
Rich
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Rich N
Post Laureate
Reged: 09/22/04
Posts: 5618
Loc: San Francisco Bay Area, Calif...
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The mine is an open pit.
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Rich N
Post Laureate
Reged: 09/22/04
Posts: 5618
Loc: San Francisco Bay Area, Calif...
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In the pit.
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Rich N
Post Laureate
Reged: 09/22/04
Posts: 5618
Loc: San Francisco Bay Area, Calif...
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Sunstone, but not gem quality.
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Rich N
Post Laureate
Reged: 09/22/04
Posts: 5618
Loc: San Francisco Bay Area, Calif...
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A closer view.
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KennyJ
The British Flash
Reged: 04/27/03
Posts: 20139
Loc: Lancashire UK
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Thanks Rich for an interesting report and photos of what I must say seems like an " alternative " holiday ! :-)
Looking at those photos , I can see why you were so relieved about the moderate temperatures .
That does not look the kind of place I would like to be with temperatures over 100*F !
Those distant mountains look interesting -- did you look at those through your optical equipment ?
I instinctively got a feeling they were to the north / north west -- am I anywhere close ?
Hey -- that place called Plush sounds like the exact opposite of the village close to where I live .
Plush is a small drinking town with a cattle problem , while Brindle is a small cattle village with a drinking problem ! :-)
Regards , Kenny
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Milton Wilcox R.I.P
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Rich N
Post Laureate
Reged: 09/22/04
Posts: 5618
Loc: San Francisco Bay Area, Calif...
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Hi Kenny,
Thanks!
The first shot across the mine pit is looking North and a little West. My 8x42 and 15x50 got used frequently out there.
The second day we went out to the mine we took a wrong turn and were near the hills in the distance in the first photo. We took some "interesting" dirt roads to get back to the right spot. We put on well over 100 miles on dirt roads.
Rich
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Rich N
Post Laureate
Reged: 09/22/04
Posts: 5618
Loc: San Francisco Bay Area, Calif...
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Here is one of the better washboard dirt roads.
This photo is looking roughly southwest.
By the way, this part of the country is dark at night. It is in the black part of the light pollution maps.
Rich
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Rich N
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Reged: 09/22/04
Posts: 5618
Loc: San Francisco Bay Area, Calif...
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This is looking pretty much west. On the second day, when we took the wrong turn, we went from left to right behind these hills and quite a way west (right). The road signs are little sticks with numbers. Not at all easy to see.
Rich
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Bob A (SD)
sage
Reged: 07/16/05
Posts: 369
Loc: Black Hills of South Dakota
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Rich,
I noticed your Sebenza in one of your pictures. Chris Reeve makes solid excellently designed folders! Given that this is an astro forum I thought I'd share a pic of my customized astro theme Sebbie. I had Matt Cuccharia do a "melt down" on the titanium handle edges and add a graphic I designed called "galaxy" (hence the astro theme) 
Link to picture
Best!
--------------------
Bob
N44°0'19" W-103°18'8"
-Intes-Micro MN56/Moonlite CR2/Antares 8x50RACI
-SkyWatcher EQ6 SynScan v3.27/Hanna saddle head/Casady saddle/Losmandy dovetail
-StellaCam II/10" RS monitor/Hauppauge WinTV-USB2/Mogg 0.6X
-Speers-Waler SWA 5-8/10/24.7mm; Russell SWA 13/19mm; Agena SWA 32mm; TV PowerMate 2.5x
-Criterion RV-6
-Celestron C90 #52268
-Bins: 7x42B SLC; ED2 7x36; 8x32DCF-WP/9x21UCF; BD6.5x32IF; 9x35IF GR/8x30Yosemite; Dakota 7x28; Binolux 7x35s 11° & 10.5°; ZOMZ 6x30 12.5°
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KennyJ
The British Flash
Reged: 04/27/03
Posts: 20139
Loc: Lancashire UK
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Rich ,
Thanks for the extra " bonus " pics !
That place reminds me of some I've visited in Spain and the Canary islands .
VERY SPOOKY after sunset , but awesome for stargazing and such like ! :-)
Kenny
--------------------
Milton Wilcox R.I.P
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Rich N
Post Laureate
Reged: 09/22/04
Posts: 5618
Loc: San Francisco Bay Area, Calif...
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On the way to meeting my brother for this rock trip I spent two nights at our TAC/GSSP Lassen Peak star party. The skies were absolutely outstanding. They were very dark, transparent, and the seeing was sub-arcsecond. I spent a lot of time looking for the Snake dark nebula with my Canon 15x50IS but never quite felt I was seeing the Snake. M24 and all the other Summer eye candy was so much fun from such a dark, clear site.
Unfortunately, when I tried to use my Kowa Highlander I found it had developed a problem. The right side had something miss aligned. I'll be sending it back to Kowa in Southern California to be fixed. I haven't looked through it since we got back. I'm not sure what else may have gotten shifted after all the dirt roads we took looking for rocks. But, it was very well protected in its Pelican case.
Rich
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Rich N
Post Laureate
Reged: 09/22/04
Posts: 5618
Loc: San Francisco Bay Area, Calif...
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Hi Bob,
Thanks! That's a very nice custom mod to your Sebenza.
All the best,
Rich
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KennyJ
The British Flash
Reged: 04/27/03
Posts: 20139
Loc: Lancashire UK
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Rich ,
Sorry to hear your Kowa Highlander is poorly .
I'm sure a course of anti - misalignment pills will ensure a speedy recovery !
Kenny
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Milton Wilcox R.I.P
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Rich N
Post Laureate
Reged: 09/22/04
Posts: 5618
Loc: San Francisco Bay Area, Calif...
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It was a little strange to see Jupiter in the left side as a nice clean disc and through the right side Jupiter was a disc with a lot of light smeared out in a fan to the right.
This was all before going on any rough roads. But, something inside the right side must have shifted a bit.
I was really looking forward to using it at Lassen. At least I got to bond more with my Canon 15x50IS.
Rich
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KennyJ
The British Flash
Reged: 04/27/03
Posts: 20139
Loc: Lancashire UK
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< At least I got to bond more with my Canon 15x50IS. >
I like your use of the word " bond " here , Rich .
They say every cloud has a silver lining .
I've found that relationships with binoculars can become a bit like human relationships .
The more time one spends holding , gathering information from , looking at and looking through , sharing views and intimate experiences with , praising and appreciating , being disappointed by and criticising , yet caring for and thinking and writing about , the better one gets to know the instrument , and the stronger the " bond " grows .
Occasionally , perhaps after weeks and months during which other items have dominated the mind and intrigued the eyes , suddenly an old favourite , very personal flame can suddenly be re - kindled .
" How could I have even CONSIDERED selling YOU ? " one may silently whisper to an optically mediocre 10 x 50 which fits the hand like a well - worn glove .
This , in my experience , never occurs unless a " bond " has been established in the first place .
Kenny
--------------------
Milton Wilcox R.I.P
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Bob A (SD)
sage
Reged: 07/16/05
Posts: 369
Loc: Black Hills of South Dakota
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Rich,
I have a Lassen poster on the wall here at the house. I was part of a Vacaville scout group doing a lot of hiking (rim rovers) in the general area. We'd already done Lassen and were at Mt St Helena in Sonoma County when Oakland caught fire nearly 2 decades ago. From near the summit we could see the smoke unaided and with binocs the fires. Bad bad juju.
Trust you'll have a less eventful trip.
Moved out here in '94.
--------------------
Bob
N44°0'19" W-103°18'8"
-Intes-Micro MN56/Moonlite CR2/Antares 8x50RACI
-SkyWatcher EQ6 SynScan v3.27/Hanna saddle head/Casady saddle/Losmandy dovetail
-StellaCam II/10" RS monitor/Hauppauge WinTV-USB2/Mogg 0.6X
-Speers-Waler SWA 5-8/10/24.7mm; Russell SWA 13/19mm; Agena SWA 32mm; TV PowerMate 2.5x
-Criterion RV-6
-Celestron C90 #52268
-Bins: 7x42B SLC; ED2 7x36; 8x32DCF-WP/9x21UCF; BD6.5x32IF; 9x35IF GR/8x30Yosemite; Dakota 7x28; Binolux 7x35s 11° & 10.5°; ZOMZ 6x30 12.5°
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Rich N
Post Laureate
Reged: 09/22/04
Posts: 5618
Loc: San Francisco Bay Area, Calif...
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Lassen is a grand place for hiking.
The Oakland fire was really sickening. I remember house after house going up in flames (watching it on TV).
All the best,
Rich
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