Just wanted to toss this in the loop to see if there is any interest in it. I haven't saw it done anywhere yet, although it could very well HAVE been.
The idea came to me a few nights ago, on a day when I had found a few caches during daytime, & followed that up with finding a few sky-treasures that night. I wonder if the 2 can be combined. I think they can.
In case anyone hasn't figured it out yet, my handle is a portmanteau of "astronomy" & "david". I am an extremely active amateur astronomer & have been for over 2 decades. (Cooder once thought the "dav" stood for DisAbledVet, which also applies, but that ain't it )
Although VERY early in the "brainstorm" phase, here's the general idea. A good rural location is reserved for an event. Right off the top of my head, Mt. Magazine would be ideal. But I haven't approached the Park Service about this yet. However, I DID approach them a year or so back about hosting a monthly star party up there, & they seemed highly interested. So I don't think that will be an obstacle.
The event could be laid out in 1 of 2 ways. Either starting with eats at around 4 p.m., then some evening caching, finishing up with yours truly giving everyone a guided tour of the night sky with the telescopes in my arsenal. I currently have 4, ranging in size from a 3" to a 12" computer controlled monster. I could easily throw in some other activities also. I hosted an astro-radio show for a couple years, & have been a guest-host for several star parties. I'm full of ideas & these things are really fun, no matter if you are a kiddy or a grandparent.
Or it could be a night-time only event. The schedule would be about the same as above, but starting at around dark. Rather than simple temporary caches, there would be 3 or 4 nice temporary NIGHT caches laid out for the event.
And too, if the interest was there, it could be done as a regular event like what we know, with an entire night section added to the end of it. Around August would be the best time. The weather would probaly be easier to plan around then. Something like this would 100% have to have a clear sky, no rain, & little wind, or the "astro" section would be undoable. A warmish night is also much more comfortable than what we might have at other times of the year.
I'm not going to get into any more details here, since this is just to initially see what interest is out there. Just basically, how many people would be interested in an evening or night caching event, with a mini-Star Party thrown in afterwards, chocked full of hi-tech telescope viewing, sky-stories, & maybe even a nice meteor shower, if it's scheduled on the right night.
Let me know. If it sounds cool to enough people, I'll start tossing around some ideas & plans. Others can help too. Don't be shy....I'm not.