[Lvas] Trip Report

[David Blanchette]

I finally made time to check out the abandoned airstrip known as the 
Jackass Aeropark, up at Amargosa Valley.  It's about an hour drive 
(75mph) up hwy 95 from the northern loop of 215.

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=36.635538,-116.405725&spn=0.024106,0.034418&t=k&z=15

I went out Sunday during the day to see how to get out to the actual 
airstrip.  There are a number of dirt roads, most in decent 
condition.  I also wanted to look for signs of people using the place 
as a Friday/Saturday night hang out.  There was very little evidence 
of this.  No trash, fire pits, bullet ridden car doors.  There was 
one beer can.  So I don't think a lot of people frequent the place.

The airstrip and taxiway are mostly dirt now, with bits of tarmac 
here and there.  It's hard to tell whether the tarmac was pulled up 
or just left to weather away.

I went back out Monday night, arriving about 5:30pm.  There was quite 
a glow remaining from the sunset.  By 6pm, however, even the western 
sky was quite dark.  After watching the ISS come up in the west about 
6:35, I went home.

Overall, the site is pretty good.  I could make out the whole Little 
Dipper at 6pm, and Andromeda was an easy naked eye object.  However, 
there are several sources of light in the area, which is why I wanted 
to see things at night.

1. Rest Area/gas stations/tourist trap at the intersection of hwy 95 
and hwy 373:  This stuff is about a mile east of  the southern end of 
the airstrip.  There are a couple of billboards as well as parking 
lot lights.  I found that going to the southern end of the airstrip 
brought the billboards almost edge-on, greatly reducing the light's 
affect.  Using my van to block this area made things quite tolerable.

2. Headlights on northbound hwy 95:  The road comes downhill into 
Amargosa Valley, so the headlights about 4-5 miles away can be 
irritating, similar to how Venus was irritating.  Even more so, 
surprisingly, than the billboards at the rest area.

3. Headlights on southbound hwy 95 are no problem.  The angle is all 
wrong for beaming onto the airstrip.

4. Headlights on southbound hwy 373 are no problem; As with 
southbound hwy 95, the angle is all wrong.

5. Headlights on northbound hwy 373 can be intense.  My guess is the 
highway rises as it heads south.  It also makes an angle with the 
airstrip such that headlights point right at the southern end of the 
airstrip.  So when a F150 size truck has its highbeams on, it looks 
like a train is coming at you, even though the truck is probably 4 or 
5 miles away!  In the hour or so that I was at the airstrip, there 
were only 3 vehicles that caused problems.  I expect, as the night 
goes on, even this traffic would diminish.

6. Town/City of Amargosa Valley:  The entire south to west horizon is 
a string of "city" lights.  The area almost due south is the worst, 
but its still less trouble than the rest area.  The lights are quite 
low on the horizon, and mostly the yellow sodium variety.

7.  Las Vegas: A 10 to 20 degree light dome to the east-southeast

8. Pahrump:  A 5 to 10 degree light dome to the southeast.

Distance (by lightbeam) from Las Vegas to various observing sites we've used:
Sawmill Trailhead: 29 miles
Cold Creek: 36 miles
Redstone Picnic Area: 37 miles
Valley of Fire: 38 miles
Temple Bar: 47 miles
Amargosa Airstrip: 75 miles
Furnace Creek Airport: 99 miles

-- David