A Voyage to Arcturus (274 pages) - Pine Valley Hike and Baehr Observatory Night

This is a two part event. We'll discuss the book both walking around Pine Valley Ranch Park, but also in-between night observations through the telescope of the Baehr Observatory.

You will need to register for the Observatory, it's free but they keep size limited: https://secure.rec1.com/CO/jefferson-county-open-space/catalog?filter=c2VhcmNoPTM2OTQ4ODI=

The book was published in 1920 and likely influenced Baehr.

After a strange interstellar journey, Maskull, a man from Earth, awakens alone in a desert on the planet Tormance, seared by the suns of the binary star Arcturus. As he journeys northward, guided by a drumbeat, he encounters a world and its inhabitants like no other, where gender is a victory won at dear cost; where landscape and emotion are drawn into an accursed dance; where heroes are killed, reborn, and renamed; and where the cosmological lures of Shaping, who may be God, torment Maskull in his astonishing pilgrimage. At the end of his arduous and increasingly mystical quest waits a dark secret and an unforgettable revelation.

We'll meet at the information kiosk down near the river at 6:00pm, and start down the trail at 6:15pm. Plan is to hike the Park View trail south, gain some elevation, look over the the observatory, before coming down the Buck Gulch trail and just kinda exploring. Trail map is at:

https://www.jeffco.us/DocumentCenter/View/9381/Pine-Valley-Ranch-Park-Map?bidId=

Around 8:30pm we'll return to the parking lot and start out way up to the observatory. Further discussion of the book while star watching and looking through the telescope at the moon.

You'll want normal hiking gear, hat, water, sunglasses. For the trip up to the observatory you'll want a flashlight or headlamp and a chair is nice. The moon is normally bright enough to walk around and come back without lights, but clouds can change that very quickly.

I prefer to explore without children or pets.