Backyard Adventurer: Stargazing at Brasstown Bald

The unfortunate side effect of living so close to Atlanta, besides the traffic, is the light pollution. On a good night in the winter, brighter constellations like Orion and Ursa Major/Ursa Minor struggle through the haze, but the sky is mostly a black abyss illuminated by the moon and the city lights.

After a good deal of research, I found that the Brasstown Bald parking lot was an easy-to-access spot less than two hours from our house that offered good stargazing. Family convinced, we headed up.

We arrived around 7:30pm. The drive up to the top, if you've never done it before, can be steep and curvy. A member of our party suffered from some mild carsick-ness on the way up, so be aware. After dark, the wildlife in the area tends to explore closer to the road. We spotted two bobcats by the side of the road, and waited for them to cross over before continuing our climb.

The first thing I noticed as we drove into the parking lot was that it was very dark. There are no lights in the lot or on the buildings after the fort closes for the day. Access is simple, however; the gate remains open, and the park asks for $3 per person over 16 years old to be placed in an envelope in a box beside the entrance gate.

I recommend parking near the bench on the far side of the parking lot. The bench is on a concrete slab in front of a clearing in the trees that overlooks a small town. This allows for seating outside of your car, and some views without trees in the way.

While the visibility isn't the best I've ever seen (I'd have to say that goes to a spot about twenty minutes outside of Sedona, Arizona), I wasn't expecting to see the Milky Way. But there it was, a cloudy stripe of stars across the sky. It was a very beautiful view.

The concrete slab made for a great place to prop up the camera. We used a Canon 7D with a 35mm lens to get some wide shots of the sky, with the shutter speed set at around a minute. Afterwards, we realized the focus on the lens had been slightly off, rending all the photos slightly fuzzy. As for the shutter speed, thirty seconds was too short, and anything longer than a minute or so started to get star trails, and we didn't want that. Depending on where we aimed the lens, there was a slight haze from the city in the valley beside the mountain, but it was easy to avoid. 

My only complaint, really, would be the temperature. It was around 30 when we ate dinner in Blairsville, and it fell to about 28 when we parked on the mountain. That wouldn't have been so bad had the winds not been around 15 miles an hour. It wasn't a constant wind, but it was frequent and strong. We had to keep an eye on the tripod to make sure it didn't get blown around or over by the wind.

We brought plenty of blankets, jackets, hats, and gloves, but the wind made it hard to stay longer than about an hour. It was a beautiful spot, though, and I fully intend to return in February or March to catch the winter sky in hopefully less chilly conditions. 

(Backyard Adventurer, Part 1)