Good news everybody! We made it, and survived all of the doom and gloom predictions regarding 2012…to experience more doom and gloom predictions regarding 2013 (to read about those, click HERE). So, before the sun purportedly burns us all to a crisp (which it won’t), tonight is a great chance to start off the new year by watching the annual Quadrantid Meteor Shower. In 2012, the Quadrantid’s put on quite a show – however, this year, the shower may be slightly obscured by a semi-bright moon. According to NASA, the best time to view the Quadrantid’s is from 3 a.m. to dawn, no matter where your location is. (Information HERE). If that’s not enough information for you, there’s information HERE, HERE, and HERE, about the annual shower, and as always, if you’d like to help NASA out, check out this app for your smartphones HERE.
Current Conditions, Deer Springs Trail/San Jacinto, December 30, 2012
There’s a number of ways to celebrate the end of the year. For some, it’s all about wearing green underwear, eating twelve nuts, twelve grapes, and packing a bag to leave at home. For others, it’s the typical night out extravaganza in around the world style, followed up by watching bowl games for the entirety of the first day of the year in a near comatose state. For me, I like to try and get out at least once at the end of December. It helps me feel like I haven’t become the blob after eating oodles of home-made Peppermint Bark and other delicacies throughout the Thanksgiving to New Year’s Eve period. Getting out at the end of the year is tricky – sometimes it feels like the only place you get to is the mall; but, I always find it worthwhile because it allows me to recharge my batteries, appreciate the beauty of winter, reflect on the year past, and set goals for the coming year.
Cowles Mountain Winter Solstice Hike, December 21, 2012
Winter Solstice, Cowles Mountain, 2011
In case you've been out of touch for a while, and haven't heard that the Lemurians, Sasquatch, Batsquatch, Planet X, a black hole, the planets, a supervolcano, and much more are all planning to destroy the Earth, that is happening this week. In fact, it is happening on December 21, 2012. How do we "know" this? Well, the Mayans, great astronomers that they were, predicted this thousands of years ago - or so we think - and somehow managed to correctly pick a date on a calender system that wasn't even envisioned or imagined in their time. On an unrelated note, December 21, 2012 is actually the winter solstice for 2012. True fact. If you're in San Diego County, and you like hiking, and you're interested in the winter solstice, the Mission Trails Regional Park Guides will be leading their annual winter solstice hike on the mornings of December 20, 2012, December 21, 2012, and December 22, 2012 (if the world still exists). The hike goes partway up Cowles Mountain, and stops at a site that we think was used by other ancient people - the Kumeyaay - to observe the winter solstice for a long time. I've been on this hike a number of times, and its a great chance to learn more about native american history, as well as a great opportunity to hike Cowles Mountain and observe the winter solstice. Finally, if you believe in all of this end of the world stuff, and have your own reason for believing that it will all end, this hike is a great way to watch the world end as well. Even better, if the world doesn't end, as NASA assures me it will not, you can go on this hike on Saturday morning, in order to celebrate that the world still exists. This is one of my favorite hikes in the local San Diego hiking community to do on a yearly basis, so you may rest assured that irrespective of the world ending, I will be out there - hiking. Do note that this is a popular event despite its early hours, so plan accordingly in terms of finding parking, and enjoy the spectacle - sunrise - or world end.
Directions to Cowles Mountain: HERE
More Event Information: HERE
Bear Gulch Cave Trail
Let’s say you’re in California, or thinking about visiting California, and you’re looking for a National Park that you can hike in, camp at, climb at, and possibly do a little spelunking at. If you were seeking recommendations for such a place, chances are that you’d get the usual recommendations – Sequoia National Park, Yosemite National Park, or even Joshua Tree National Park. There’s nothing wrong with any of these recommendations – these parks are known world-wide because they’re stunning. But there’s another National Park in California that’s a little bit off the beaten path, and not as well known that has all of these things, and is equally stunning in its own right. That park is none other than Pinnacles National Monument.
2012 Geminid Meteor Shower, December 13-15th 2012
As I always say with all these astral phenomena, unless you've been living on the moon, you know that something is going on in the sky. This week, it’s the Geminid Meteor Shower, which according to all reports, is particularly strong and visible this year - perhaps even more so than its predecessors, the Leonid and then Orionid Showers. In fact, according to all of my internet sources – the Geminid Meteor Shower may indeed be the best meteor shower of all of 2012! (Information here, here, here, and here).
The Geminid Meteor Shower will be peaking on the night of December 13, 2012, and the early morning hours of December 14, 2012. According to Earthsky.org, and various other sources, the best time to view the Geminids is from midnight to two (2) a.m., irrespective of where you are located. For a list of tips on how to view the Geminids, check out Earthsky’s page HERE. And, if you don’t feel like staying up late – or waking up early on Thursday night, the good news is that the shower will linger into the evening of Friday, December 14, 2012, and the early morning hours of December 15, 2012.
It’s worth noting that the shower should be particularly visible this year, as it coincides with a new moon, which will set well before the shower is at its peak time, so if you have clear skies and if you’re away from any sources of light pollution (city lights), you should be able to see quite a few meteors. As a general rule, the Geminid Shower is always my favorite meteor shower of the year, and since the world is ending just a week later, it is your last chance to view a meteor shower before whatever the Mayans did or did not predict happens! And, if you're interested in science, help NASA out, and check out this app here to record what meteors you can. Also, if you’re a hard science believer like me, here’s a solid list of reasons why 2012 isn’t real, and why I’ll be here blogging well after the world purportedly ends next week – but until then – keep your eye on the sky!
Abandoned Factory, Chatham, Ontario, Canada
Right now, there’s a perception that the term “adventure” only refers to epic feats of swashbuckling derring-do that only can be accomplished on the highest mountains, the deepest oceans, the driest deserts, the wettest jungles, and in situations where one has lost at least one appendage, member of the group. I’m not going to lie: while I do love those situations where I lost a leg and had to make shoes out of duct tape to get down a massive snow covered peak after rescuing eight baby goats, and while I have massive respect and admiration for anyone who accomplishes anything epic, that’s not what adventure should mean in my book. Think about it for a second – life is rough, life is tough, and life is full of those existential moments of boredom that bothered people like Albert Camus.
2012 Leonid Meteor Shower, November 16-17, 2012
As I always say with all these astral phenomena, unless you've been living on the moon, you know that something is going on in the sky. This weekend, its theLeonid Meteor Shower, which according to all reports, is particularly strong and visible this year - perhaps even more so than its predecessor, the Orionid Meteor Shower. In any case, the best time to view the shower - wherever you are in North America, will be anytime around 4:30 a.m. EST, November 17, 2012 (Saturday). You can be assured that I'll be out watching, and you should be too - should be a lot of fun. For those of us here on the West Coast, that means the best time to watch should be 1:30 a.m. PST. And, if you're interested in science, help NASA out, and check out this app here. More info: here, here, here, and here.