Mog Mt. Evans #16
Mt. Evans, Colorado, USA

November 7th - 8th, 2008

This year's trek was an important one for the DU Observatory because it was necessary to install a new transmission control unit. This is the device which enables the movement of the telescope on the summit of Mt. Evans. The weather has been very favorable this Fall, and we were fortunate that a major snowstorm bypassed the Colorado mountains and did it's major dump on Nebraska.

Those of us from the Colorado Springs area met at Steffen Grimm's shop at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, November 7th. I was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by Duane Russell when I got to Steffen's shop. Duane is a veteran of several Mt. Evans trips, and I hadn't seen him for a few years.

No trip starts out without some difficulties. Philip Staton had to change jets in his carburetor, Curtis Fox discovered he didn't have any tail lights on his trailer, and I had a tire with low pressure. While I got some air from Steffen's big compressor, Philip changed his jets. There was no way we could fix the lights on Curtis' trailer in the dark, so we just turned on his mog's parking lights and that was sufficient to mark is presence. Once set, we started out for Echo Lab, with a stop in Castle Rock for dinner.

We arrived at Echo Lab at 10:00 p.m., two hours later than planned, but that seems to be kind of normal (for me, at least). Dr. Bob had a goodly supply of Fat Tire waiting for us, so that was a welcome treat. I have to take a moment here to brag about my truck. Those of you who have made this trip in the past know how steep a grade it is from Idaho Springs up to Echo Lab. It's just a plain slow grind in 4th and 3rd gears, sometimes even down to 2nd. Philip wanted to fill his truck and Gerry cans in Idaho Springs and since he knew the way up to the lab, Curtis and I went on ahead. I made it all the way in 5th, without ever having to downshift. That's a first!

Philip arrived about 15 minutes later, followed shortly by Ron DePugh who had driven his mog from Boulder. Dr. Bob received an e-mail from Jay Couch, saying he'd be up in the morning, so we spread out our sleeping bags and crashed for the night.

It was pretty much smooth sailing all the way up past Summit Lake and we didn't encounter our first major drift until MM 12.
Last year, I was able to bash through this drift, but couldn't do it this year.

Jay gave it a try with the U-1250 and was able to float right over it with his wide AG tires. We still had to shovel a bit to get the 404's through.

After picking up our gear at Echo Lab, we continued on down to Idaho Springs to reconvene at Beaujo's for dinner, courtesy of Dr. Bob. After getting plugged on a five pound 'Mother Lode' and a one pound 'Yukon' pizza, we said our goodbyes and headed out for our respective homes.

As a final note, Dr. Bob is advocating an RMM function at the observatory in late June of next summer. I think that would be an outstanding event. It'll be warmer, people can come in conventional vehicles, wives and kids can have an opportunity to get an idea of what we do on these November outings, and everyone will have an opportunity to view stars they've never imagined existed.

Submitted by;

Kent Drummond

photos by Kent Drummond and Ron DePugh