Do you ever jus want to get away for a night and experience something new? Well, recently a friend and I took a trip to Hat Creek to enjoy the remote, pristine mountain setting and to satisfy our curiosity about the Hat Creek Radio Observatory.
Hat Creek Resort was our home for the night. On site
managers, Joe and Tracy Bertram, greeted us with a make-yourself-at-home friendliness you just don’t normally find in this fast paced world. No matter your lodging preferences or needs, they have it here. If the kids want to sleep under the stars and grandma wants a bed and a fireplace, this place has it covered. Rounded rock fire pits, barbecue grills and picnic tables are standard in all 15 tent sites as well as the 57 RV sites. A few of the tent sites have power available and wireless internet is free.
The tent sight area is group-friendly and arrangements can be made for 
special amenities. The basketball court and recreation hall are just a few of the teen friendly activities available. If horses are your thing, you can bring those too. Four of 
the fifty-seven RV sites have private stables. If you prefer all the comforts of home on the creek, the resort has 11 cabins with decks, two of which have private waterfront decks. The frosting on the cake is a ten room motel for those who prefer more traditional lodging.
The motel room was warm and cozy with beautiful oak furnishings, including a wardrobe I thought 
would look much better in my own bedroom. The breakfast table and chairs, next to the window, offered a tranquil view enhanced by the in-room coffee. The store, bait and tackle shop, deli, gift shop and resort check-in services are all housed in one small, attractive building; a one stop shop for all your needs. A post office, laundry and shower complete the facilities. It would be easy to stay for a while; we sure wanted to stay longer.
Adjacent to the Pacific Crest Trail, which runs from Canada to Mexico, the Hat Creek Resort’s location makes it the perfect base for hikers and mountain bikers of all endurance levels. Dirt bike and ATV riding areas are nearby as well. For a more complete listing of the activities available at the resort, go to their website at www.hatcreekresort.com.
For me, the resort’s history proved fascinating. During the 1800’s, the Calvary had a camp station on the current resort locale, and three stone tables, dating back to this era, are still in use. Since we only had a short time to spend at the site, we focused on learning about what happens at a radio observatory in the middle of the woods? So after our awesome tour of the resort with Joe, we were off to check it out.
The Hat Creek Radio Observatory is about a 10 minute drive up Hwy 89 from the resort. Roughly four miles off the highway, this scientific marvel sits in a flat open area surrounded by mountains. If not for the signs pointing the way, you might never even know it was there. The main building has a picnic table and several bird feeders that add a homey atmosphere and plenty of bird
watching to the experience.
Our tour began with a brief video about the history of the observatory and a basic explanation of what goes on there. This facility is a partnership between U.C. Berkley, whose interest in the project is to “look” into space using radio imaging, and the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) program, whose interest is to “listen” in space for signs of extra terrestrial intelligence. During the summer months, a student from U.C. Berkley is available as public liaison and tour guide. Gary Gimblin, an electronics tech from U.C. 
Berkley, walked us through 
the facility and showed us the inner workings of one of the many radio telescopes. It was fascinating to learn how all the “noise” from space is gathered, filtered, stored and processed into information on the computer screen. I was surprised to learn that everything can be identified by the electromagnetic radiation it gives off. Watching Ben, the Mountain Valley Living “techie” who came along on this adventure, was like watching a kid in the candy store, when we toured the room that houses the computers that proceses Tera Bytes of information around the clock. Following our indoor tour with Mr. Gimblin, we went outside to see the radio 
telescopes up close with senior software engineer Colby Kraybill, also from U.C. Berkley. I was astonished to learn from Mr. Kraybill that, if our own Sun turned into a black hole today, its gravitational pull would not become a vacuum and suck the Earth in. Apparently things are not sucked into black holes, as I had thought; they simply fall in when coming close enough to get picked up by the unchanged gravitational pull of whatever was there before it collapsed into a black hole. I won’t even pretend to be able to remember all we learned from these two brilliant men during the two hour visit. This tour is truly amazing whether you are a computer lover, interested in extra terrestrial life, a star gazer or just a knowledge junkie like me. This facility is group friendly, but the staff does request that arrangements be made in advance. What an adventure we had! Take this drive, soak up nature, pamper your soul, and enrich your mind at this fascinating stop, just an hour or so away from Almanor on Hwy 89.
