Message posted by Gregos on October 28, 2012 at 12:09:27 PST:

Lots of good spotting scopes at www.shoptics.com (among other things)!

I have a Celestron C130 Mak about $300 and shoptics gave me a free heavy duty tripod.

Not sure I understand the Cammo Dude / deputy question. Tikaboo Peak is BLM land so there are no trespassing issues. The Restricted Border is 15 miles away in the direction of the base so you won't see the Cammo Dudes. You may get lucky and be visited by a Pave Hawk helicopter out of Groom. I have never had suck luck!

As for gear, water, water, water! Water is heavy, so is cameras and spotting scopes! Recruit a buddy or two to split up the weight. I carry (4) 1.5L bottles of H2O, Jet Boil camp stove, (1) MRE, Binoculars, Scanner, Night Vision (shoptics again), cheap fleece sleeping bag, sleeping pad, 1 person tent which I left up there in a 5 gallon Home Depot bucket. Everything else, I carry in a US Army ALICE pack. Everything wrapped in my Under Armour thermals. It gets a bit chilly up there just before sun up even in August! The ALICE pack weighs about 60lbs fully loaded! I also have a 1st gen SPOT emergency beacon but a Verizon cell will work at the top. I'd skip the spot due to price and buy a Verizon burn phone if that's not your carrier. Oh take an empty trash bag for the trip home. The trail is littered with empty bottles and trash. I pick up a much as I can on the way down. I once weighed an empty Gator Aid bottle. is weighs exactly 1 ounce. I don't understand it???

In Reply to: Re: spotting scope for viewing bas posted by Don on October 28, 2012 at 4:03:05 PST:

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