March 1-3, 2024

Great Orion Dark Sky Festival

We will be assisting with the Great Orion Dark Sky Festival, a private star party just outside of Death Valley
. Our primary responsibilities will be to staff a booth with live demos and educational information,
sit on an Astrophysicist Q&A panel on Saturday afternoon, and interact with participants at the festival.
You will be compensated for your time and expertise helping with this festival.

What you need to do:

- Acquire necessary camping gear (from Caltech Y, or REI, or from friends).
- Plan on what you and your crew want to do during your off time in terms of hiking or attending other Dark Sky Festival activities.
- Get ready to have a good time

Hiking Ideas:

- Surprise Canyon and Panamint City--historic ghosttown near the festival
- Darwin Falls--Beautiful unexpected waterfall in the middle of the desert
- Trona Pinnacles--cool rock formations just off the road on the drive to the festival
- Zabriskie Point--beautiful badlands and sight from Star Wars scene
- Badwater Basin--lowest point in the Western Hemisphere
- Mesquite Dunes--expansive sand dunes
- Golden Canyon--cool canyon hike
- Artist's Palette--colorful hillsides
- Dante's View--view over Badwater Basin

Lots lots more, so ask me for tips.

Links:

- Weather forecast for Dark Sky Festival (near Ballarat, CA)
- Stater Bros Grocery Store in Mojave Good for getting groceries on the way!