“You can observe a lot by watching.” Yogi Berra.  “One way to open your eyes is to ask yourself, ‘What if I had never seen this before? What if I knew I would never see it again?” Rachel Carlson

Hot sun, cool breeze, 80s into 90s, primitive trail, with switch back up to an old fire road. Tremendous view along the way.  Enough shade to stop, stay hydrated and enjoy.

I’ve climbed to High Point before but this time I wanted to follow this advice and took time on the summit to observe, watch and ask. While I enjoyed a great lunch, a ranger climbed down from the watchtower and offered me a water, I thanked him for his service and we spent the next 20 minutes talking about hiking in California forests and summiting its peaks. The watchtower on High Point, at 70’ is the tallest USFS fire tower in California. It was brought back into service in 2009 and is staffed by the San Diego/Riverside County Chapter of the FFLA.

About 2 miles from the watchtower is the Palomar Observatory, among the most iconic scientific facilities in the world, and a crown jewel in the research traditions of Caltech. Conceived of nearly 100 years ago, the observatory has been in continuous scientific operation since the mid-30s, and remains productive and relevant today. Palomar is most directly the vision of George Ellery Hale (1868–1938). During the 1930s, he assembled a remarkable team of engineers and designers from academia and industry. Under his direction, these people set to work on the mirror, on the mounting, and on the dome and its support facilities on Palomar Mountain. A triumph of innovation, insight, persistence, and precision the telescope was dedicated in June 1948 ten years after Hale’s death. The Hale Telescope at Palomar Observatory after many decades of service continues to play a leading role in the advancement of astronomy and astrophysics.