Pictures from the Trip - Part 3 - California

Sun peeking from behind Observatory

We took a day trip to see Palomar Observatory.  The Observatory was impressive and the scenery was amazing.  There were a number of overlooks on the way up the mountain and I was able to take some really nice pictures.  The main problem was the time of day.  The sun was in a position that I was unable to get some shots.  I mainly had to shoot standing sideways to keep the sun out of the lens.  The more I take pictures, the more I want to stop at each and every place that I can to take photographs.  It takes a lot longer to get anywhere because I am want to stop and take another picture.  I try to balance annoying everyone else in the vehicle with taking another photo.  On the other hand, it gets people to stop and look at things that otherwise they might have driven past. 

Steps to the Observatory.

Palomar Observatory sits atop Palomar Mountain at an elevation of 5,617 ft. (1,712 m).  Although the weather at sea level was fairly warm, the temperature at the top of the mountain was 39 degrees Fahrenheit (3.88C).  I am glad that we had brought some warm fleece with us.  Although the roads were clear, there were patches of snow along the road in the shadows.  The snow delighted my grandson who had not seen snow since moving from Virginia to California.  He and his father had fun having a snowball fight.

View from an overlook at about 3600 ft.

According to Wikipedia, the Palomar mountains is a phrase from the time of Spanish California which translates as pigeon house and may be a reference to hen house.  It was suggested that there may have been pigeons or chickens raised in the area. 

View from aprox. 5000 feet.

The Palomar Observatory has several telescopes including the 200 inch (5.1m) Hale Telescope and the 48 inch (1.2m) Samuel Oschin Telescope.  The observatory is open to the public and is generally open except for national holidays and weather emergencies.  I guess we were lucky that we were able to get up to the observatory.  I noticed that the Observatory was closed today while I was checking facts on elevation, etc.  The change in climate is very dramatic.  I would highly recommend checking weather conditions at the observatory before making the trip up the mountain.  They sell fleece jackets at the gift shop and post the days temperature.  I guess the change in elevation catches a lot of people unprepared.

Valley near Lake Henshaw.

Palomar is a beautiful observatory.  The architecture is Art Deco.  I have been to the observatory at Mauna Kea, Hawaii and the buildings there are more utilitarian looking.  This building is a piece of art in itself.  You can go inside the observatory and look at the workings of the telescope through a glassed in area.  There is a long paved path leading up to the observatory.  There are signs posted along the way warning that rattlesnakes are part of the natural environment here and to be on the lookout for them.  Once you get to the observatory there are a lot of steps up to the building itself and more inside up to the observation area.  I saw on the internet that there were seventy steps to the observation room, but I don't know if that was counting the outside steps or just the steps inside.  But the climb was worth it. 

After touring the Observatory, we came down the mountain and stopped at a  restaurant near Lake Henshaw.  Along the way we stopped at an overlook to see the valley.  The valley was awe inspiring.  I have never seen anything like its scale before.  You cannot really tell how big it is from the pictures.  Every time I took in a new sight I was totally amazed at the beauty of the state.

All in all, it was a great day.  I wish I had more time to spend everywhere I went.  I love being in the mountains and this was a beautiful area.  There were redwood trees there.  The redwoods were tall, but not as large in diameter as the redwoods I saw during my last trip to California.  Still, it was great to see some redwoods again.  It is not something that we have on the East Coast where I live.  The whole California trip was a great adventure.