Excursions

We are offering two excursions on Saturday, Aug 7: to Muir Woods National Monument and San Francisco, and to the historical
Lick Observatory on Mt. Hamilton.

Each trip is limited to 35 participants. The cost for the Muir Woods trip is $30 and for the Lick Observatory trip it is $35.  This will need to be paid in cash when you check in at the ASOS registration desk as we are not able to set up a system to accept credit cards for the excursions.

Muir Woods National Monument/San Francisco

We will depart the Berkeley City Club at 13:00 and should arrive at Muir Woods by 14:30.  We will then depart Muir Woods at 16:O0 and cross the famed Golden Gate Bridge en route to Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, arriving at approximately 16:45. After free time in this tourist center, we will depart at 18:30 by ferry to Oakland's Jack London Square, where our bus will meet us and return us to Berkeley.

The California redwood is the world's tallest tree; the grove at Muir Woods has individuals over 70 m in height.  Fisherman's Wharf provides spectacular views, including Alcatraz, Coit Tower, the TransAmerica Pyramid, and the local sea lions. The ferry ride will pass under the Bay Bridge and provides splendid views of the bay and city.

Muir Woods:  http://www.nps.gov/muwo
Fisherman's Wharf: http://www.fishermanswharf.org/
Ferry:  http://www.eastbayferry.com/index1.php

The cost is $30 per person, which includes a box lunch, admission to Muir Woods, and the ticket for the ferry.

Even though this is August, please be prepared for cool weather! Depending on the wind and fog, San Francisco can be surprisingly chilly, even if it's hot inland. Or it can be surprisingly warm - one never knows.  A light jacket is recommended to bring along.  Food is available at Muir Woods and Fisherman's Wharf, plus there is a snack bar on the ferry.

Lick Observatory

We will depart the Berkeley City Club at 15:30 and should arrive at Lick Observatory by 17:00, which will give us some free time to take in the impressive views from the top of Mt. Hamilton and have our boxed meals before the tour of the large complex starts at 18:00. We expect to return to Berkeley some time around midnight.

Most of the Lick Observatory complex is not open to the public, and this special tour will be given by Support Scientist Elinor Gates. It includes the 120 inch (3 m) reflecting telescope and opportunities to talk to current observers. After the tour, weather permitting, we will have observing time on the 36 inch Great Lick Refractor, the world's second largest. We hope to see such objects as Saturn, Albireo, the M 13 globular cluster, the Ring Nebula, and possibly Jupiter or the Andromeda Galaxy, depending on viewing conditions. Bring your wish list of objects to view!

Lick Observatory: http:/mthamilton.ucolick.org/
Elinor Gates: http://www.ucolick.org/~egates/
Great Lick Refractor: http://www.ucolick.org/public/telescopes/36-inch.html
Webcam views: http://mthamilton.ucolick.org/hamcam/

The cost is $35 per person, which includes a box meal and the tour fee. A gift shop sells photographs, posters, etc.

Even though this is August, please be prepared for cool weather! Although Mt. Hamilton is likely to be warm or even hot by day, it is nearly 1300 m (4200 ft) high and often cools off rapidly at night. We recommend bringing a light jacket. Also, the road up to the observatory is narrow and winding - you may want to take this into account if you suffer from motion sickness. You may also want to bring some exta snacks in case you get hungry later in the evening.