North Allegheny    String Ensembles

Cedar Creek Park, PA

Outhouse Observing

Cedar Creek Park

305 Port Royal Drive

Belle Vernon, PA 15012

By: Dennis Morton

            The AAAP was asked to provide evening sky observation at Cedar Creek Park, 305 Port Royal Dr., Belle Vernon, Pa 15012 on June 29 for a group of weary bikers participating in the Rails to Trails Conservancy Program.   There were over 500 bikers participating in this event where bikers averaged over 44 miles a day riding from Washington D.C. to Pittsburgh, PA in 7 days.  

            I arrived at Cedar Creek early so I could set up my campsite for the night. The sky was overcast all day. By 5:30 p.m. I hooked up with a few other AAAP members including Bill and Maureen Moutz and Ed Moss. The sky was overcast all day and their attitudes were “down in the drain.”   The evening was not a complete “wash out” because a Northwestern wind “flushed” the clouds away to let Bill do some solar observing for a small crowd. 

            By 6:00 p.m. he had quite a group of people around him.   The crowd had “runs” of questions for Bill and other AAAP members.  We answered the same questions over and over again. “How big is that sun spot?”  “How hot is the sun?”  “What are you looking at?”  The sky continued to clear during the evening and our anticipation for a clear night sky was “bubbling over the rim.”

            Once we knew that the sky was going to stay clear we moved to our new location that was next to an outhouse!  This was one of the only locations that we had access to electricity. A large white sheet was hung over the side of a portable bathroom where a power point presentation was going to be presented around 8:30 p.m. We set up several telescopes around the restroom lecture.  Tired and weary bikers started to slowly “trickle” in before the power point presentation.  We were able to observe Venus and Saturn early in the evening sky.  By then Don Hoecker, Kathy Desantis and Fred Klein were there to  “jump in” the fun. 

As we were viewing the planets several bikers heard a gurgle of running water.  One of them “dipped” their head in a near by bush to discover a six-inch waterspout of what smelled like raw sewage.  I quickly grabbed my bags that were on the ground and moved them to a dry and “less offensive smelling” location.  By the time I got back to my scope water was “trickling” under my equipment so I grabbed the mount, telescope, tripod and weights and “pushed” it to a new location.  I felt like a “drip” for setting up next to a sewage outlet.L  Most of the observers said not to worry about it and they kept telling me “Urine all right guy”   

The power point presentation was a hit for a crowed of 75 or more bikers.  They  “squatted” in the grass to see what Bill had to “spout out.”  About two hours after the presentation most of the bikers were “pooped out.”   We were all “drenched” by the dew because we were located in a valley next to a creek.  

            As members were trying to head home, around 11:00 pm,  they discovered that the front gate to the park was locked.  They were “wishy-washy” about what to do and the last I heard they called the cops to unlock the front gate.  Overall I think that everyone was “relieved” to see either the toilet rings or the rings of Saturn in the sky.  Fortunately, no one got “mooned” because of our location in the valley and its location low on the horizon.