[pct-l] RE: post about the Perseid Meteor Shower

[lbakkar at hotmail.com (Linda Bakkar)]

My first attempt to watch the Perseid Meteor Shower was on the first night I 
ever spent on a section of the PCT.  I was sooooooo excited!!!  But I was 
also very inexperienced!  We camped behind some trees off the trail, with 
lots of sky showing, somewhere north of Goat Rocks.  I left the tent door 
open, so I could see the meteors, but promptly fell asleep instead.  In the 
middle of the night, I was awoken by a little vole crawling over my face.  I 
jerked awake, thinking of bears (I was new to wilderness hiking, you 
remember) and started screaming.  I couldn't stop, even when I realized what 
it was.  My tent partner, also new to me, calmly aimed her flashlight at the 
poor little being, who was shaking with fear in a corner of the tent.  My 
terror relaxed, and I took a stuff sack and picked the little animal up and 
put it outside, watched it waddle off into the grass as fast as it could go, 
then zipped the tent door closed.  It amazes me to this day that my tent 
partner ever wanted to hike with me again.  After several years of section 
hiking, we hope to finish Washington State this summer.

Lindy B.

>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Mark Wright" <sparkymeister@gmail.com>
>To: "Pacific Crest Trail Mailing List" <pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
>Sent: Wednesday, April 06, 2005 10:36 PM
>Subject: [pct-l] Perseids
>
>
> > Since it's almost time to hit the trail I thought I would remind
> > everybody of a spectacular show coming in August. Every year for a few
> > days around August 12 there is a meteor shower called the Perseids.
> > Unfortunately we will have a half moon on the 12th, but that's much
> > better than a full moon. So mark it in your notes and keep an eye open
> > for it. If the sky is clear and you have a south easterly view you
> > could be treated to quite a show. And the higher your elevation the
> > better.
> >
> > Back in 1999 my brother and I had an excellent campsite just above
> > Upper Crabtree Lake by Whitney and we were not expecting anything.
> > Then out of nowhere a fireball streaked across the sky. Some of them
> > were so bright that the tail took didn't disappear until after it
> > passed out of site behind the mountain. An amazing fireworks display!
> > It was made more breathtaking by the fact that we just had a smoke
> > (not tobacco). The only downside is that the really bright ones that
> > passed out of view before burning out left us wondering if they might
> > have taken out Lone Pine.
> >
> > I'm hoping to see an aurora as I head farther north. Pray for an
> > Earthbound coronal mass ejection.
> >
> > http://comets.amsmeteors.org/meteors/showers/perseidobs.html
> >
> >
> > Mark
> >
> > --
>