Nestled high in the Mountains, overlooking historic Ft Davis, this place has it all! Beautiful views, abundant wildlife & birding, pristine isolated camping spots, excellent interpretive centers & programs, the Indian Lodge & Resturant (great food at modest prices), and one of the largest & finest observatories in the world!
We also found the locals in the town of Ft Davis to be some of the friendliest folks in Texas!And from a few of the interesting things within the town, and alongside the highway, they also have quite a sense of humor!
Highlights of the stay included a visit to the Fort Davis Historic Site http://www.nps.gov/foda/ , the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute https://cdri.org/index.html and taking the 3-hour birding walk within the Park Primative Area. The walk was led by a full-timer/volunteer who had been working and birding at this park for thirteen years!Located about 15 miles away is McDonald Observatory. This premier site is owned & operated by UT Austin, and conducts some of the world's most advanced research in astronomy.
We did the Tuesday nite star party, which started with a nice lecture and tour of the sky from the Visitor Center's ampitheater, followed by viewing through a dozen telescopes set up at the Center ranging from 8 to 20 inches.
The following day, I went on the excellent tour of the 107 inch Harlen Smith telescope and the new 400 inch Hobby-Eberly. The orginal telescope at the site, an 82 inch reflector, was installed in 1929. It and the 107 inch companion sit atop a 6800ft peak just above the Visitor Center. To give you some concept of size, here's the 82" with vehicles parked out front.
The 107 is a massive instrument, used mostly today for taking critical spectral images of distant stars and laser measurements of minute distance variations to the moon.
The tour was completed with a visit to the newer 400". This is a "low cost" design utilizing multiple mirror segements rather than a single mirror (impossible at 400"!). The entire mirror assembly is rotated effortlessly on six "air bearings" on it's bottom ring.
The tour was completed with a visit to the newer 400". This is a "low cost" design utilizing multiple mirror segements rather than a single mirror (impossible at 400"!). The entire mirror assembly is rotated effortlessly on six "air bearings" on it's bottom ring.
