Almost Heaven Star Party 2025 with Doug Biernacki from August 22 to 26, 2025.

This was my fourth AHSP, and my fifth visit to Spruce Knob, WV. We arrived at Spruce Knob, WV, late morning on Friday, 8/22. Stan and JoAnn, and Rich arrived during the afternoon.

We set up the camper and even though the evening forecast did not look promising, we set up scopes too. We watched for any clearing until about 2230 before turning in.

The Saturday evening forecast called for clouds all night and even an elevated chance of rain. The Sunday forecast predicted that the clouds and smoke would be pushed out to the south by sunset, but the clouds would return by 2200, and that proved accurate. The sky was crystal clear in between those two times.

Lightning could be seen off to the north and west even before the session was started. I was finished preparing for the rain by 2315. A light rain came through about 45 minutes later.

Although it had been cloudy all day on Monday, the clouds began to dissipate just before sunset. The sky was crystal clear at sunset, but clouds began to roll in at 2200. I do not know what time the clouds cleared out, but the forecast called for clear skies by midnight or 0100. I woke up to a clear sky at 0630. It was a chilly night.

Pack up and departure were nominal on Tuesday morning, but things took a turn for the worse on the trip home. The camper suffered a broken spring and U-bolts on the right-side wheel while travelling north on I-81. A temporary repair got me from the break down site to home without a problem.