Kalifornsky.

"This is the second consecutive night at this site on the frozen surface of Telaquana Lake about 150 yds out from the ranger cabin on the shoreline. The first night the clouds would not clear and the NexStar mouhnt seemed to freeze up (perhaps the gear grease cannot handle the cold temps) after the first set. This second night the skies cleared nicely with only a few clouds to the west. the temps also dropped significantly, with a low of -8° F by early morning. There is absolutely no artificial light anywhere within 50+ miles of this site. Was hoping to see if Anchorage light dome would be visible 150 miles away, but found out city was under clouds and snowfall. Comet Panstarrs was visible next to M31 with the naked eye. Great difficulty in functioning in the sub-zero temps on the frozen lake surface. Northpoint script would not complete until at least the 7th try! All wires were frozen stiff and the GPS, Kestrel, and laser pointer all had trouble working in the cold (needed to remove and warm betteries). Too cold to spend much time observing night sky as I needed to keep moving. Milky Way not visible until later in the night. After 2nd set, the motor on the NexStar would not slew properly. Allignment of images from that point on were way off, though script collected all the way through. Even with the absolute absence of anthropogenic light, the details in the sky were not as visible as some sights in the southwest US. There is likely a high reflectance of star light off the frozen lake and surrounding snow covered landscape that is mixing with the frozen atmosphere to inhibit crystal clear sky viewing and increasing extinction values."

"Set up on the southern most islet of Keyes Point. There is 50% snow cover and the exposed ground is frozen. Excellent location from which to image Port Alsworth, Nondalton, Illiamna, and the Pebble Mine site. Some low clouds in the early eveningto the south, but skies eventually claring everywhere. There is moderate airglow and high extinction, but seeing is good. Comet Panstarrs is visible to the north with the naked eye immediately to the right of M31. No aurora visible and humidity levels are fairly low. There are no visible lights (or domes) anywhere along the horizon that can be seen with the naked eye. Polaris is up at 60°+ above the horizon and the Milky Way is still below the horizon at the start of the first set."