An evening at Pine Mountain Observatory

Have you been out to Pine Mountain Observatory yet? They stop public viewings at the end of September and won't start up again until sometime in May 2014. Pretty cool chance to look thru some powerful telescopes...we saw ring nebulas, the Andromeda Galaxy, double stars, a brief glimpse of Saturn before it slipped beyond the horizon.

I would highly recommend taking the binocular tour. You lay down with some binoculars and are taken on a tour of the night sky by an eager and well educated docent. I would do it again. We went up on Labor Day weekend and, of course, it was a zoo but lots of languages spoken and lots of curiosity on the loose!

Benham Falls at dusk

It's early September and lots of water still at the falls! A little lower on the river, at Dillon Falls the mosquitoes are happily feasting on whoever shows up, bring long sleeves for your hike! The water runs so nice and quietly there and folks were taking advantage with some fly casting, canoeing and dusk mountain bike cruises down the river trail.

Todd Lake and Broken Top in August

Todd lake in the evening is the perfect pond for a little shoreline picnic and float-about. You can hike around the lake if you like. Evenings are relatively quiet, we found, with most folks headed back to town toward dinner time. No problem to find some shoreline for yourself!

 

We worked up appetites beforehand by hiking up toward Broken Top and South Sister for gorgeous view. It's an easy loop if you hike back down the gravel road 370 (only open to vehicles a few months of the year) back to Todd Lake. Nice little slice of the high country!