On Sunday April 13th, my friend Shane and I took a drive out to the West Desert. Our purpose was to take a look at a few spots that may serve as new observing locations. I had two goals. One to find a spot that was above SQM 21.9. The second was to find a location, similar to my location off of Forest Road 006. I would prefer it to be 1 1/2 hours from my home, accessible year round and be SQM 21.8 or better. This day I was blessed to find two such locations.
First off I will share here again my LINK to my Google Maps which has my observing locations on them. The ones with images I have been too. I've put both these sites on the map and will share them here.
Here you can see that from Lookout Pass and Aunt Libby's Dog Cemetery you follow the Pony Express Rd until you come to a sign that said to Erickson Pass. You turn left unto that road and follow that road.
Once you make the turn unto Erickson Pass Rd you'll drive about 3.5 miles to the corral on the right. Here are images of this drive.
Here is the sign off SR 36 to turn right unto the Pony Express Rd.
You'll pass these signs and ATV parking area.
Continue on the Pony Express Rd heading to Lookout Pass and the Aunt Libby's Pet Cemetery.
Lookout Pass Station sign where the Pony Express Lookout Pass Station was located. You are at about 6200 feet so in the winter you can hit snow going over the pass. You want to check conditions before coming this way. There is an alternative way that is longer through SR196 through Isopea but that takes a very long time as you have to go out I-80 to SR196 until you come to the Church near Dugway and then proceed south on a dirt road.
After Lookout Station you'll come to this sign which points to the "Pet Cemetery" on the left.
Pet Cemetery sign and enclosure. Here is what the sign says:
Enclosing graves (west side) of two men and a child emigrants of the early eighteen sixties.
Original wall erected in 1888, By Mrs. Horace (Aunt Libby) Rockwell to shelter graves of her beloved dogs. 1. Jenny Lind, 2. Josephine Bonaparte, 3. Bishop, 4. Toby Tyler, Companions in her lonely, childless vigils here about 1866 to 1890. Here is some historical information:
Sometime between 1860 and 1870, Horace Rockwell and his wife Elizabeth “Libby” Rockwell moved to Skull Valley, a 40-mile long valley in what is now Tooele County, Utah. They operated the Pony Express station known as Point Lookout then continued living on the property in a log cabin built by stage workers after the station had closed. They became horse and cattle ranchers and garnered a reputation as “rough frontiers folk” and “two strange characters.” Over time, the pair came to be known affectionately as Uncle Horace and Aunt Libby.
Uncle Horace and Aunt Libby owned one of the only sources of water along their stretch of the Overland Trail and charged travelers a fee to access it. Many riders and locals remembered Aunt Libby for smoking a pipe and treating her dogs better than her hired men. Her “colony of dogs” were described as black and tan, short-haired, possibly of the “Fiste” breed (perhaps a misspelling of Feist, a small hunting terrier).[ Aunt Libby liked to name some of her dogs after popular characters of the time, both fictional and real. Her variety of name choices reveals a wide range of interests in music, history, and popular literature: Jenny Lind, the “Swedish Nightingale” of the mid- to late-19th century opera scene; Josephine Bonaparte, the first Empress of France; and Toby Tyler, the 10-year-old protagonist of the children’s novel, Toby Tyler; or, Ten Weeks with a Circus.
As testament to her devotion for her dogs, Dr. W. M. Stookey, a member of the Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks association, recalls an instance when Aunt Libby called upon Tooele’s Dr. William Bovee Dods to tend to one of her dogs, which had fallen ill. When Dr. Dods refused, Libby forced one of her workers, Elijah Perkins, to play sick, thus tricking Dods into paying a visit to the cabin. Once there, he reluctantly tended to the dog, and she paid him $100. Aunt Libby’s trick only worked once—the next time a dog got sick, the Rockwells had to travel roughly 70 miles to Salt Lake City.
When one dog died en route for treatment in Salt Lake City, Aunt Libby brought him back to Point Lookout and buried him near a collection of three graves belonging to immigrants who had died while passing through Skull Valley.[ She then hired a stone worker, Gustave E. Johnson, to build a wall around the small graveyard. As her beloved dogs passed on over the years, Aunt Libby buried each one in her cemetery.
The Rockwells moved to California sometime after May 25, 1890 and lived there for the remainder of their lives. Aunt Libby’s Dog Cemetery is the only structure still standing on the property known as Point Lookout.
The historical significance of this cemetery seems to be centered around its location among the Pony Express stations along Utah’s section of the Overland Trail. Unlike Horace’s brother, Orrin Porter Rockwell, Horace and Libby Rockwell were not major figures in Utah or Mormon history—monuments haven’t been built in their name, we don’t learn about them in history lessons. But one story about a rough, pipe-smoking woman who tricked a Tooele doctor into treating her sick dog has survived the test of time and given historical value to this cemetery. This information comes from this
LINK.
This is what the Pony Express Road looks like coming down from the Pet Cemetery. This is perhaps on the one thing that may not fit my winter observing requirement. In a winter with a lot of snow, Lookout Pass may not be passable after a heavy storm. However, the snow melts quickly out here and after 3-5 days so the sites to the west of here are usable. The alternative is Forest Road 006 because in the winter no one is out there during the week, and very few if any are there on the weekend.
Below is what the Pony Express Road looks like after you come down from Lookout Pass. The road is gravel and graded and I was able to drive about 60 mph on it. I slowed down to 25mph if we passed a car. You will cast up a lot of dust and your car is going to get very dusty out here.
At this sign you will turn left to get on to the road to Erickson Pass Rd. You can also go straight to go down to Simpson Springs
At the turn to the road there were several wild horses, one a mare with a colt.
Erickson Pass Road right after the turn off Pony Express Road. On Google Maps it is called S Government Creek Rd.
This is the Forest Road Sign for Erickson Pass Road. The road is in the background.
Erickson Pass Road leading southwest.
You'll drive about 3.5 miles down Erickson Pass Road to the coral. On the way you'll pass several Juniper Groves and disperse camping sites. At 3.5 miles the coral is on your left.
At the edge of the parking lot is this historical marker. The coral dates back to Porter Rockwell who ranched in this area in the late 19th century.
This is the view from the parking lot looking southeast to south. You can see in this view how open the southern horizon is and that view is a wonderful location. To view from south to zenith is one of the best views at these sites. The elevation of this site is at 5400 feet in elevation. You can see in both pictures that the area is flat with gravel.
This is the view looking south to south west. Again, except for the mountain the view is wide open.
Now for a few non-panorama views of the site.
This shows the coral looking to the west and a little to the northwest. Really wide open in this direction.
Coral looking to the southeast. Those are the Sheeprock Mountains that are west of my observing site of FR006 on the Wasatch National Forest Land.
This is the view to the south heading to the southwest. The southern view is pretty open here.
The view to the southwest. The mountain here cuts off about 10 degrees of the horizon. The mountain is Indian Peaks and the range is the Simpson Mountains. Indian Peaks is 8436 feet in height. SQM here is 21.86. FR006 is 21.82.
My only concern with this location is it is only about 150-200 feet off the road. I would like a little bit more secluded spot of the road so I will look around the coral area and see if I can find one. I did put 4 other locations on my astro map. You can see them there listed as Alternate to Coral location Erickson Pass Rd #1, #2, #3 and #4. I will heading out for a drive out there this week to check them out when the weather permits. I want to take some shots and see how the southeast, south, southwest, west and northwest views are from here. I will be using the Coral Location though on next new moon.
The other location you get to by continuing on the Pony Express Road down to Simpson Springs. Simpson Springs is a good camping location and you could possibly observe there. Here are some pictures of the site and camping grounds. Forest Service vault toilets are there as is running water from April through November.
Forest Service Vault toilets
As you come down the Pony Express Road you will come to a sign that says Simpson Springs. Here you'll see a reconstruction of the Pony Express station as in the 3rd photo. The top photo is the backside and the middle one is the interior.
This is the campsite that Shane I thought was the best to have and set up telescopes at. It is site 21.
Campsite 21 looking east over the Simpson Mountains.
Looking southeast over the Simpson Mountains.
Looking south toward Table Mountain.
Looking southwest to west from Campground 21.
Looking southwest from campground 21. When we were there there were 3 sites being used and of course day traffic on a Sunday. It has been ten years since I've been out here and the campgrounds have been upgraded as of December, 2024. This site is now really nice and can be used to observe from or to use as a base camp.
From here we drove down the Pony Express Road farther down. Here is a map.
From Simpson Springs you drive down about 3.5 miles and there is a road you turn on. From there we went down about 1/4 mile and pulled off to very flat desert. This site is excellent! It has wide open spaces and outstanding views. SQM here is 21.91 to 21.93. Here are images of the site which I call Simpson Springs Wide View Site.
This is the view looking southwest, to west to northwest. Wide open, dark, very dark at this location and a good 1/4 mile off the road.
This is southeast to south to southwest.
That road is the side road I took out to get to the observing spot. I walked closer and took these shots looking southwest to west here. Those mountains are a long way in the distance and don't impact the views.
This is the view south.
This is the view north back toward Simpson Springs.
Looking west to the Deep Creek Mountains on the Utah Nevada border. That is Ibapah Peak which is 12,087-feet and the highest mountain in that range. There are VERY dark skies out there if you want to make the 3 to 4 hour drive and spend several days out there.
These sites and locations will provide excellent observing locations from spring, through summer through fall. Accessible in the winter if there isn't a lot of snow. If you go there have a tire pump and patch kit but overall the roads are graded, graveled and well maintained. Side roads can get very slick in wet weather though. Your car will be filled with fine dirt/sand and know it takes a good couple of washes to get it out. However, the views of the Milky Way and of deep sky objects are well worth it.
The coral on Erickson Pass Road is about 1 hour and thirty minutes out, similar to going to Forest Road 006. Simpson Springs is about an hour and forty minutes out and the observing site south of Simpson Springs is a good hour and forty-five minutes out. After daylight savings I would plan to camp over if your heading out. I'm excited about these new sites and using them or nearby ones as I get to know the area more.
