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For those of you who couldn't make it to the meteor shower viewing, perhaps you thought we were crazy to go up a mountain at 1 in the morning to watch some dust fall through the atmosphere. Well, I couldn't agree more! But if there's strength in numbers, then we were certainly a strong, albeit crazy group last night... er... morning... er... whatever! Seven people came on the 6.8 mile hike in the morning and then by the time midnight rolled around, ten more people had appeared. The weather for the hike was pretty nice. When headed out, it was foggy and cloudy but by the time we got to the park, that area was completely sunny! We saw the sandstone formations and the great pacific enshrouded in fog, what a sight! Ok, onto later that night - when 17 of us decided to brave the cold and sleep and headed towards Mt. Hamilton from Loann/Tai's place where some of us had dinner and a movie. As soon as we headed out, we saw that indeed, there were other crazy people, too. In fact, the crazy people were all lined up on the road to go up the mountain! How many? Let's just say "Friday traffic on 101" to give an idea. It was ... amazing watching (and participating in) the line of vehicles all clammoring upwards away from the city lights and up into the mountains.
We parked the four cars, it was 1am already. As soon as we stepped out the cars, we could see a variety of bright streaks across the sky in many different directions. Most of those who wanted to stay inside the car were beckoned to step out to take a look. And once they did, they were hooked. Parked at the side of the road, we set up base camp using sleeping bags and blankets. Folks bundled up in warm clothing and head protection and stared into the heavens for an unforgettable show. You didn't have to squint to see these beautiful flares. Some were so bright, they left a light-shadow in the sky for a few seconds after they had zoomed out of sight. I cannot even begin to describe what we saw. You had to be there! Over a span of 2 hours or so, we must've seen at least 200 or more meteors. Sometimes the sky would light up with 2 or 3 at the same time! I lost count of how many times I exclaimed "wow!!! that was NICE!!" or "wooooooo.... incredible!". It was another memorable day/night.
Thanks again to Loann and Tai for letting us crash at their beautiful home before the meteor shower extravaganza. Hope everyone who braved the 35 degree outdoor theatre had enough time to catch up on sleep today. We'll see you back at this show in another 33 years (or something like that). Dont worry if you feel you've missed out, there are other meteor shower systems so you dont have to wait that long :)
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More pictures will be posted in a the future...