Who can forget the year 2020, probably no human kind. We were diligently avoiding all travel, going out, meeting with people for a little over 6 months now but honestly we did not mind. No matter how much we love outdoors and to be out and about in the nature, we can be equally comfortable at home. We love to spend time at home doing things separately and together, don’t miss a social circle or hanging out. But nevertheless, we were missing being close to the nature, so camping seemed like a good socially responsible outdoor thing to do.
We were meaning to visit the Cherry Springs State Park for long, the only official area in the East Coast that boasts of dark skies that is truly light pollution free. It is one of the best places in the eastern U.S. for stargazing and yes we love staring at the sky :). Just shy of 4 hour 30 mins Coudersport, PA wasn’t a bad drive at all from our basecamp. There are 3 options for campsite that you go for depending on what you want to accomplish.
Cherry Springs Rustic Campground are basic with common clean and well maintained restrooms, no bathrooms. Each campsite has a picnic table and grill that you can use your own wood for. Night Sky Public Viewing Area is right next to this rustic campground, so you can simply walk for a better unobstructed view of the sky.
Lyman Run State Park, which is 15 mins drive to Cherry Springs Park is a very nice option indeed. It has modern bathrooms, fully apt for taking a shower after a day full of hiking. There are some RV spots available also. Both of these above options does not come with any restrictions on use of red light only, on cooking etc. You got to have a reservation for camping, the spots fill up fast so reserving ahead of time is a good idea.
If you are looking for a pure star gazing experience, then you can simply head to Overnight Astronomy Observation Field –Excellent overnight viewing for serious stargazers with equipment. All lights must have red filter or need to be fully shielded. White light is prohibited and of course no fire or cooking allowed. The area does have dedicated restrooms, courtesy envelops available at the entrance to pay for the area and services.
This time around, we were looking for a true camping experience so chose the Rustic Campground . Since this was our first time camping, we were pretty excited to buy all the camping gear we could most aptly buy without going crazy (Specially me, Sheesh is very good with spending). However, since I am able to pursue him most times we hit the most expensive gear store that we know of i.e. REI. We could have easily bought a good Coleman tent but no I wanted THE BEST & THE MOST EXPENSIVE. After much research, here is all we got for our very first amateur camping trip:
- A 2+ plus half dome tent as I wanted the tent to have enough room to house anything that I wanted to, including our luggage (Overtime I will get better with camping… promise). Tent poles and stakes included. – Check the tent here
- A footprint, very important if you want your tent to last and also to avoid ground moisture to creep inside of your tent
- A Coleman Portable Butane Stove – Check the stove at Amazon
- Coleman Butane of course – Check here at Amazon
- You need a good flat cushioned surface for a comfortable experience so we got Wellax UltraThick FlexFoam – Check here at Amazon
- Teton Sports Canvas Sleeping bag – Check here at Amazon
- An Insect repellant to use on the tent – Sawyer Products Premium Permethrin Insect Repellent – Check at Amazon
- A red flash light, which was required to be used at night. Despite the fact that you could use any light in the camping area we wanted to be respectful of not ruining anybody’s dark sky experience. Also this is a must have if you are exploring the main grounds. Red Flash Light
- An LED camping lantern and some batteries. I am not a big fan of this so may be explore something that does not drive you blind- LED Lantern
The day we reached it was almost dusk and we had 30-45 mins to set up our tent before it got dark. Keep in mind it was our first time, and as expected we were putting the top at the bottom and not able to figure out for a good 30 mins what is that we were doing wrong. Bursting into laughter on our awesome feat we finally figured the tent out and were so happy to lay everything together.
While I made myself cozy like a bunny inside our set up, Sheesh lit fire and we used that to heat up our pre-cooked dinner we had brought along. Can’t describe how happy I was, to enjoy the meal under the sky and by fireside.
At night when it was completely dark, we packed a small bag of blankets and grabbed our chairs to head to the night viewing area. Sadly the sky wasn’t as clear as we hoped it would be, for viewing, but nevertheless we enjoyed the many number of stars we saw (they were many times more than what you would see within any city). I forgot to mention, that we also had bought a telescope earlier in the year to take star gazing a little more seriously and we had taken it along. While we had spotted and seen Saturn and Jupiter earlier at home, the slightly clearer sky but dark skies gave us a much better view.
The entire rest of the time at the park, we simply relaxed, drove up and down route 44 either for groceries/wood to the nearest town Galeton, cooked our favorite basic meals and snacks. I seem to have re-lived the entire experience as I penned it down here, smiling :).
Cheers!
Travel Diaries 