Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, August 12, 1993 TAG: 9308120257
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BY CELESTE KATZ STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
For those who searched the skies before 10 p.m. . . . well, there were some nice cloud formations.
Skies over Roanoke remained hazy and dim until after midnight, but for those who managed to get away from city lights, nature did provide some entertainment.
Scenic overlooks on the Blue Ridge Parkway were packed with meteor-seekers reclining in lawn chairs and rubbing their sore necks in pickup-truck flatbeds. Others simply sprawled on the asphalt, lined up like hot dogs in a package to watch as the long-tailed meteors fizzed their bright trails across the northeastern sky.
Roanoker Grace Campbell, 5, applauded and shrieked each time a shooting star passed her vantage point.
"This is my first REAL meteor shower," she said.
"[The meteor trails] don't usually last long enough for everybody to go `Wow!' " said Grace's father, Michael Campbell, who has been an amateur skywatcher for 30 years. "By the time everyone reacts, it's over."
Farther north along the parkway, scores of people were drawn to the clearing skies over the Peaks of Otter. Shuttle-bus tickets toward the summit of Sharp Top sold out in a matter of hours.
For those who opted for the earlier shuttle time slots and made the steep 300-yard hike to the summit, the bus ride may well have been the most exciting part of the excursion.
The 30-passenger bus took a narrow, winding route toward the top of the peak, its speedometer needle jiggling like that of a grocery store produce scale. The road was so precarious that shuttle driver Harvey Ragsdale received applause after returning his human cargo safely to the starting point.
Huffing and puffing, the first voyagers made their way to the high terraces of Sharp Top only to discover after catching their collective breath that there just wasn't much to see other than a layer of haze over the foothills below. Above, little besides the occasional fruit bat caught the eye.
"There were no `Star Wars' tonight," said Staige Blackford, 62, of Charlottesville.
Blackford, who came to the mountains to hike, said he wasn't "too optimistic" at 9 p.m. when no meteors had yet materialized.
"This is my second trip to this bloody mountain today," he said, laughing.
But even for those who didn't see the shower of light they'd hoped for, many didn't consider the trek a complete loss.
"This is the first time I've ever been up here," said 14-year-old Aaron Cofer of Forest. "I just like to see the sights and lights and everything."
As for some of the wildlife discovered in the rock crevices, Cofer said, "I thought we were supposed to be looking for meteors, not rats."
Brit Rossie of the Hopkins Planetarium tried to stay optimistic as the clouds thickened.
"Next year may still be a good time," he said. "Any time you do this, Murphy [for whom Murphy's Law is named] comes up with you and says it's going to be cloudy."
Rossie added that nearly three out of every four skywatches scheduled by the Explore program are canceled or hindered by inclement weather, such as rain or haze.
"There was such a demand; I didn't want to disappoint people by not doing it - especially at 5 p.m. when it was clear," he said.
Rossie said he hoped the skies would clear again - and to some extent he got his wish. The clouds parted as the first group stumbled down the unlit mountain path. The brightest constellations began to appear over the Peaks around 10 p.m.
As residents gathered in the darkness along the parkway, a different form of light caught their attention: that of the flashlights they'd just bought to navigate the narrow trails. A brisk trade commenced, perhaps somewhat easing the disappointment of those who arrived a little too early.
Lots of fun? Definitely. The shower of the century? Maybe.
by CNB