I had plans to head to a darker location on Saturday, but I got an upset stomach and wasn't ready to hit the road until almost 4pm. That would have put me at the Chuchupate Ranger Station (near Frazier Park) at about 5:30pm, or about 1/2 hour after dark.
While I've pulled in to observing spots later than that, this seemed a little tricky, what with having to set up in the dark and being at least a little annoying to the other folks who were there for dark skies.
So, instead, I headed for Red Box Junction. This is in the Angeles National Forest, adjacent to the Angeles Crest Highway. It's right where you'd turn right (if coming from La Canada) to go to Mt. Wilson.
The altitude is modest (I'd guess just 4,000 feet or so) and it's set a few miles further north from Mt. Wilson. In theory, this would make the sky a little darker.
I wouldn't call this a "dark sky" location, by any means. Limiting magnitude is probably only about 5, and it's much worse towards the South (where everyone lives). It is, however, much dark than viewing from town. Even more so, my own home has lousy horizons
On the plus side (beyond the slightly darker skies than in town), it's got a large, paved, mostly level surface, and vault toilets. On the down side, it's right next to the road, so you've got lots of traffic that's going to affect you.
But even more than that, a lot (I mean, a *lot*) of people on late night drives through the forest) stop at Red Box to chat, smoke, or plan their next stop. So rows of cars will pull in with some regularity (especially on weekend nights), which means lots of lights in the lot.
So, basically, I would need to decide if the convenience of a toilet and the slight security that increases by being where people regularly stop is outweighted by the bright interruptions.
In any event, I only observed and photographed for about two hours. My clock drive is really crappy, and most of the shots were terrible. In many cases, I was better off just taking short exposures on a non-motorized tripod.
So, some surprisingly descent shots of the Orion Nebula, and some with the Pleiades and Comet Lovejoy easily visible. No tail, but a nice, obvious, green snowball.
