Playa conditions

chiefdanfox · Post by **chiefdanfox** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 11:25 pm

Dry pie? Curious minds want to know.

hsdavis · Post by **hsdavis** » Tue Apr 29, 2008 3:20 am

No matter what the conditions are today, there will be 4 more months to soak, bake, simmer and dry out to a nice crusty finish. April has been a wet month in the Black Rock Desert, and I'm sure that will mean a nice even, smooth but crackly finish to our home away from home.
Ahhhh, I can practically smell it now. I think I'll shake out my sleeping bag today!

brickmaster · Post by **brickmaster** » Tue Apr 29, 2008 5:25 am

This is a quote from two and a half weeks ago

"This is the earliest I have driven on the playa, after a wet early winter it
quit raining and snowing leaving us with another below average season. There
is no snowpack on any nearby mountain ranges so there in no hope for runoff
to improve things. The rainy season typically ends in March so there probably
won't be much more rain. There is a possibility of thunderstorms in the
summer which may help a bit. So, this August bring goggles and dust masks, you
may need them."

Everyone looking forward to the dust bowl of 2008?

I am

PEZ · Post by **PEZ** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 1:46 am

brickmaster wrote:
Everyone looking forward to the dust bowl of 2008?

I am

Let me at it!

chiefdanfox · Post by **chiefdanfox** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 9:49 am

hsdavis · Post by **hsdavis** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 11:03 am

Is it too soon to do another bump? Just wondering!

capjbadger · Post by **capjbadger** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 11:20 am

Why is this asked every year? Count on it being hot during the day, cool/cold at night, windy, and dusty. Same thing every year.

Badger

chiefdanfox · Post by **chiefdanfox** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 12:03 pm

capjbadger wrote:Why is this asked every year? Count on it being hot during the day, cool/cold at night, windy, and dusty. Same thing every year.

Badger

I ask because I want to bring my telescope, an 8" schimdt -cassegrain gps, motorized thingy. It would have been great to bring it in 2006, but I didn't. I brought it in 2007, and it was too dusty. The difference in how much dust was airborne day and night was really dramatic between the two years. I got the hot and cold part.

I am actually asking about the condition of the playa: crusty, blowing around like a sombitch, a la 2007, etc. It might be too early to bump, but on the chance somebody was out there recently, and was willing to impart their findings, I was willing to risk it. It was a big risk, but I roll big.

I'll probably bump again as soon as I hear folks are setting up the city and reporting back in, so you haven't seen the last of this. I might even wonder over to HQ and see if somebody knows there.

capjbadger · Post by **capjbadger** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 12:42 pm

Ahhh.. makes sense.

Yeah, I can't imagine that we'll get a real good idea of the surface conditions until right before the event.

hahahaha Gotta roll big to be bringing optics out there.

Badger

BitterDan · Post by **BitterDan** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 1:26 pm

It sprinkled two days last week.

ZaphodBurner · Post by **ZaphodBurner** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 1:35 pm

chiefdanfox wrote: I am actually asking about the condition of the playa: crusty, blowing around like a sombitch, a la 2007, etc. It might be too early to bump, but on the chance somebody was out there recently, and was willing to impart their findings, I was willing to risk it. It was a big risk, but I roll big.

On the aviator's list last week somebody reported that the playa is still soft and there are dust dunes. Somebody else reported that the area toward the airstrip was looking pretty good but apparently it's still a bit crunchy.

I don't know what that suggests this far out, except for dust.

-c

Cassidy · Post by **Cassidy** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 4:45 pm

I think the raging CA fires will affect the view but will probably make for some spectacular sunrise/sunsets.