Mt. Wilson Observatory Hideout III: the Monastery

This was my first view of the Monastery at Mt. Wilson Observatory. Compare it to this photo. 

Here's how to orient yourself to it:

I took this from near the front door, looking between the main building and the cottage. The pooch in the linked photo was standing beside that chimney, behind the van.

No. They're pine cones.

Originally they called this a monastery because the only astronomers here in the early 20th century were men. That's not true anymore, but the name stuck.

I had always wanted to get a glimpse of the place but it's in one of the private areas of the mountaintop where astronomical researchers live while they're working here.

The monastery is only steps from my cabin. I took this picture from my front porch this morning while the sun rose. I'm not normally an early riser but I'm going circadian here.

Here's a better look at the Monastery Cabin. Someone is living in the front part now. The back houses a kitchen and dining room that was once staffed to provide meals for the astronomers. I was able to peek through a gauze curtain and see a dining table that might have seated 12 or more people. It looks like there's a clean, white tablecloth on it. There are also a couple of bells, the kind with handles on them that you ring to let folks know the chow is on. Couldn't get a good picture through the gauze.

The "day side" of the Monastery. Scientists studying the sun stay on this side. Those working at night stay down the hall behind me. There's also a second floor above the night side.

The night side hallway is plain and carpeted. At the end is this:

I don't know what it is, but keep in mind that it's outside Room 4.

This summer the Monastery housed students in the CUREA program. I hope they do it again next year. The professor in charge lived in my cabin. She had a dog. I know because of the pupkiss on the windows above the couch. It makes me feel at home.

You can see why the place is thought of as monastic. It's simple and clean. This room is luxurious; others I saw had bunk beds. Each has a sink. There's a communal bathroom and a laundry room (bring quarters).

Nice views from every room.

The Monastery is at the end of a promontory below the Observatory. Behind it this stairway leads down the steep hillside to buildings that are part of another entity. The warning works for me.

Heading uphill in the other direction on your way to the telescopes, you'll pass my cottage. Mine at least for another 24 hours.

Mt. Wilson Observatory Hideout II

I kept getting up from my dinner last night to photograph the sunset. I finally had to stop because I was hungry. My kitchen window at my Mt. Wilson hideout looks out over Pasadena and Altadena, to the west of where I sit.

I'm fortunate to have a weekend getaway in a cabin at Mt. Wilson Observatory, high above Pasadena in the San Gabriel Mountains. Mt. Wilson was founded in 1904 by George Ellery Hale. Einstein visited here. Here, at the 100-inch telescope, Edwin Hubble discovered and proved the expansion of the universe.

While I thought of the great scientists, the moon rose almost full to shine over the places they'd walked. The valley to the west and south twinkled. The Observatory still houses scientists and experiments, but larger telescopes in Chile and Hawaii are used for the Hubble-type discoveries these days. We have too much light pollution here now.

Night critters began to make their moves. The windows and doors have screens and a breeze flows through, so I've got air conditioning without bugs. Depending on what time of year you come up, you might want a bug net that goes over your hat. I'm told the nets are $4 at Big 5. I'll have to get one for next time. The (seasonal) gnats adore me and escort my face wherever I go. Except in my cabin. They haven't figured that out yet. It's a good strategy for staying inside and writing.

It's been a long time since I've watched the sun rise. Today is the first time I've ever watched it from up on the mountain. After I had my coffee I took a walk to get some exercise, snoop and take pictures. I will never run out of Mt. Wilson pictures to post.

This walkway between an office and the machine room had some lovely light, so I photographed it without noticing the thing on the floor. Probably a drain. But of course I must go back and make sure.

This building houses the Snow Solar Telescope, which was the first telescope on the mountain. Hale brought it here in 1904. I've never seen it. Maybe that's because it's in use even now.

People live here. At least four cabins are occupied, as far as I know. I haven't snooped everywhere, but I can ask. I'm fascinated by the idea and I feel privileged and grateful to be here for my writing weekend.

I keep saying "my." I'm feeling ownership. I was sitting here typing when a family of tourists walked by, having ignored the "do not enter" signs and marched on into the private areas. I was immediately outraged. Then I understood their curiosity. I'm pretty sure they heeded the "DANGER: DO NOT ENTER!" signs beyond the monastery because if they hadn't they might not have come back.

I want you to have a proprietary feeling about the Mt. Wilson, too. As the Observatory ages it becomes more of a museum, and this amazing place will need you more and more, to be its protectors, visitors and benefactors.

Come on up. It's open 10am-5pm, 7 days a week, as long as the roads are open. And it'll take you longer to drive from Pasadena to Santa Monica than it'll take you to get here from just about anywhere.

I promised pictures of the monastery. I haven't forgotten.