Camping trip at Area 51 border 4/10/09

Just wanted to see if anyone else was going to be out there this month. I just posted in the other thread about some guy camping there but I thought Id make this thread to see if anyone else would be camping this month. the middle of april to June really are the BEST months to camp at area 51. not to hot, not too cold. Still gonna be chilly at night but absolutely PERFECT during the day here in April


so far I have 3 going with me, I hope to get more to break out of their shell and do something different, but we'll see.

anyone who isnt entirely creepy is welcome to join us for a few drinks... lol

reply to post by bknapple32


I know someone heading out with his family for a day or two in April. Most of the regulars do not hang out at the front gate, which is probably why you don't see too many people, other than first timers.

Bringing guests is dicey if they don't have their own ride. Look back at that dumb arse History Channel show they did a month ago. How exciting is the border without theatrical music? The kind of person that enjoys the range needs to be able to handle long periods of nothing happening. That's how it goes. This is not a theatrical event. You are observing, and often there is nothing to see, even if you are on Tikaboo. I do SIGINT/ELINT/PHOTOINT, so I don't get bored, but the average visitor can't take more than an hour of sitting around the border "doing nothing."

I posted a frequency list in that thread I started with Red Flag frequencies. Suitable scanners can be found here:
mil air scanners You can search for the secret frequencies. [Please don't publish them.]

Have you considered camping around Tempiute. You get a bit of altitude so you can see over the range. There are camping spots along the main Tempiute loop, and some of the dirt roads. There is no flag running, though there is some F22 training going on at the moment, as well as Fighter Weapons School. From Tempiute, you could see the flashes as they bomb Dog Bone Lake and also the ranges north of the box. They have been doing Reaper training, flying the route that pops out behind Bald Mountain, down the ET highway, turn east at Tikaboo, over to Irish, then back to Bald.

The front gate is too close to the box, so other than bombing Range 63, you don't see much action. Actually, I never saw Range 63 bombed, but rather they shoot it up from gunships. Even then, they action is towards the western part of Range 63 which can't be seen from the front gate.

The F22 training (my guess) would be around Revielle/Railroad Valley. They avoid the Janets that way, plus it is a supersonic corridor.

Getting back to that History Channel show, Mark Farmer brought the team to a spot he considered in the test flight path. I've been meaning to email him and ask where it is. My guess is it was near Bald Mountain, since that is a way to sneak around the box. Coyote Summit would do. The reason I think it was near Bald Mountain is he mentioned plutonium dispersal. That would be on the other side of the Bald Mountain

For the one sport they went to on the history channel... I assumed it was the power live overlook.....



but yea. im by no means a first timer, but I just love tradition.. plus I can be a very patient person when it comes to discovery.. I am getting my ph d in archeology, so it comes with the territory



seems like the weather is gonna be bad the weekend of the tenth.. .high 55, low 38, 80% chance of rain.. But no choice, hes visiting that weekend, he'll just have to deal.

p.s good talking with you again gariac..



been a while.... any new news about the prison??

reply to post by bknapple32


I'm pretty sure they were not at the Power Line Overlook. For one thing, Mark was talking about plutonium on the ground, which to me meant the Project 57 test that is behind Bald Mountain. It is shown as the Alpha Contaminated Area on some maps. I have no knowledge of the ground around Bald Mountain being radioactive, but I never tested there. Parts of Queen City Summit are another story. Higher than average radioactivity, but not really significant. Anyway, I've been to the Power Line Overlook plenty of times, generally car camping. Damn windy.

I didn't mean to imply you are not a regular. Rather, I am saying the regulars don't hang out at the front gate. Incidentally, from the parking lot at the front gate, you can see the new camera tower towards the west. [The History Channel experts missed it.] I didn't mark the spot with my GPS, but basically you park in the lot and walk north on the road leading from the parking area to the eventually where the camos park. Obviously, don't cross the border. The tower shows up between two hills. The tower itself is on google earth, so you can just put the location in your GPS and as you walk the road, look in the direction the GPS indicates.

I've heard nothing about the prison, but I know real developers that have trouble getting financing. This yahoo will most likely not get financing before his time limit runs out. Now you can get extensions on development, but given the amount of public outcry, I doubt this jerk will get an extension. I'm really surprised the county caved in at all. Most developers option the land, then try to get it rezoned, because the city or county doesn't have to do a damn thing for you regarding zoning. You won't win your suit. [Suing to enforce zoning is different.] That is, the zoning is what it is. You get it rezoned, you exercise the option and make a pile of money. If you don't get your zoning, you pack up and go home, well, onto the next project.

reply to post by gariac


Thats what I figured would happen to the prison...



I'll have to make the walk up the hill to see this new guard shack. Any reason why they added one so close to the border? Aside from the crazies who might gte half a mile in speeding down the road.

reply to post by bknapple32


It's not a new shack. They added a new camera tower about 2 or 3 years ago. It shows up on Google Earth.
37.344125° -115.656907°

You can see it from the parking area, or maybe some area a bit north of it. Like I said, I didn't log the coordinates of where I spotted it. There is a similar tower at the back gate, which is easier to see since it is much closer.

I didn't post it here, but over on usenet, I put a few kmz overlays. One was of where they can see from Bald Mountain. It turns out there are a few spots along the road to the back gate where you can't be seen from Bald Mountain, so my assumption was there would be cameras in the hills to augment where they can't snoop. Now I did log this spot. If you go to
N37.62406 W115.76771
and look in the direction of 150 true, you can see a tower on the distant hills. Here is a photo
tower in the hills
I may have screwed up the vector since it indicates this tower would be in free territory.

Anyway, I took a trip to the back gate and they had the camera on the tower scanning back and forth. The photo is on this page:
Area 51 back gate