The Rockin’ TD Ranch - a review of sorts

by CN member jstrandberg

For over a decade this forum has helped guide me through the ups and downs of beginning astrophotography. Currently my main interest is camera lens astrophotography but my AT72 refractor gets used quite often. This might fall into what most consider widefield photography. I love images that include plenty of surrounding starts.

My SW 35 EQM-Pro and an ASIair Pro have transformed my astrophotography experience. And thanks to the help of forum members I have been able to create astro images that I could only dream about when I first got started. Now it’s time for me to repay the debt by sharing the most amazing astrophotography experience of my life.

This all started when a friend of mine who lives in Gig Harbor, outside Tacoma, WA, and I were talking about taking a guys-only short astrophotography vacation. I live in Prescott, AZ which has Bortel 5 skies, so I have nothing to complain about, but John’s skies are probably a 6-7 at best, and clear skies are few and far between.

It fell to me to find a site…and I swear I hit the jackpot.  Smack in the middle of the Massacre Rim Dark Sky Sanctuary in Northwestern Navada sits an Airbnb called the Rockin’ TD Ranch. The nearest town is Cederville, CA, population 530, which is 20 miles west down a dirt road. Alturas is another 30 miles west so the term middle of nowhere is apropos.

I will let you google Rockin’ TD Ranch Guest House yourself, but just let me say the hosts, Diane and Tony are fantastic people.  The 2,000-acre ranch is open for you to roam and hike to your heart’s content during the day. Come nighttime (and the darkest skies I have ever seen) there were suitable sites within my ASIair’s Bluetooth range to set up my scope. I could enjoy the night from a covered porch or the dining room table with my Galaxy Tab a7 Lite controlling the ASIair.

Several other astronomers had visited the ranch before John and I did, so Diane and Tony were familiar with our hobby and routine, and even offered to turn off the motion light beside the house. If you visit the Ranch’s Airbnb page there are several astro images posted there.

Both of the astro images were taken at the ranch. They are 90 second exposures with a total integration time of one hour. I am confident that I could have gone longer with the exposure or taken more subs, but I didn’t want to risk it. Next trip, I will be more aggressive!

At $125 and night plus the Airbnb fees I think the guest house is well worth the drive. There is also a small bunkhouse for $65 a night if you are only planning on staying a night or two. I drove nearly 14 hours to get to the ranch and would do so again in a heartbeat. It is a truly amazing experience.