Trinity Site Open House

[THE PILGRIM]

It's that time again.
The Trinity Site will be open to visitors on 1 Oct.
There are a number of attractions to see in that part of NM, and the weather should be near perfect.
So come over and visit a one of a kind site, only open to the public twice a year.

http://www.wsmr.army.mil/PAO/Trinity/Pages/Home.aspx

 

[Erich]

Good looking-out, amigo. Once was enough for me, but it's worth doing, for sure. And then a green chile cheeseburger at the Buckhorn . . . well, that's all right!

 

[two-bit cowboy]

Been there a number of times when I was stationed at White Sands Missile Range and then Holloman AFB. Best trip we ever made there was with the New Mexico Touring Society (bicycle group). We rode from San Antonio to Trinity Site and back. Chili cheese burgers at the Owl Inn after the ride (I'm not familiar with the Buckhorn).

The place is well worth the visit, especially if you're a history buff.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

San Antonio, NM, (we have more than one) is the birthplace of Conrad Hilton.
It's the home of not one but two well known Green Chili Cheeseburger restaurants. And not much else!
South of there is the Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge, Ft. Craig and the Camino Real State Museum.
Going East, it's the Stallion Gate into the Trinity Site, Lincoln NM- sort of a entire town museum, uphill to Ft. Stanton, Ruidoso- museum of the Horse, Hoss.
Down the West side of the Mountains there's Three Rivers Petroglyths, NM Space Museum, and White Sands.

 

[rwsmith]

I would love to go......

......but I live on the east coast and it's a little more than a hop, skip and jump there. I'm reading, and have read several times before, 'Day One: Hiroshima before and after' That starts with Lise Meitner telling Otto Hahn that the the leftover barium from his experiment meant that he had split the Uranium atom to well into the cold war.

We circled N.M. but didn't stop at Alamogordo. Driving along the White Sands missile range with warning signs that they might be testing missiles was pretty cool, though. I would really like to see the trinity site.

PS Dang. I just looked at the map and a short side trip would have taken us to the trinity site.

PPS Something funny. The project big wigs lived on a street called 'Bathtub Row'. This was because their's were the only houses that had the luxury of bathtubs.

 

[Cyrano]

Thanks to someone on this site who directed me to the Buckhorn instead of the Owl. Buckhorn DOES have better cheeseburgers. I've stayed clear of their green chile cheesburgers, though; rumor has it they're hot enough they glow in the dark.

I understand the only way into Trinity is though the Stallion Gate on the north side. Once, years ago, I went from Alamogordo. We convoyed in but left when we desired. There's a network of roads on White Sands and few are marked. I understand stray lambs were turning up all over the Range for a couple of days afterwards.

 

[kthom]

Back when I was stationed in the Alamogordo District, we had the responsibility to help escort folks to the Trinity Site once a year for this Open House. I think the entrance to get in may have changed, but we used to take folks in and back out through a gate that allowed entry pretty much to the west from near Tularosa. The trip in and out as well as the activities during were strictly escorted and controlled back then. It was very interesting to see all that sand fused into basically glass still lying around every where!

 

[DWalt]

If you really want to know about everything there is to know about the birth of the atomic age, you need to read this before going to the Trinity Site: [ame="https://www.amazon.com/Making-Atomic-Bomb-Richard-Rhodes/dp/0684813785"]The Making of the Atomic Bomb: Richard Rhodes: 9780684813783: Amazon.com: Books[/ame]

 

[THE PILGRIM]

The old program was of course escorted caravans from a gate over near Tularosa, I think.
Now you enter the Stallion Gate on highway 380 East of San Antonio.
You can enter unescorted between 8 AM and 2 PM and drive down a paved road to the Trinity Site.

 

[JayFramer]

What's it look like??

A big crater or something??

I could go for one of them chili cheeseburgers right about now...

-Jay

 

[two-bit cowboy]

You guys are bringing out some great memories of twenty-plus years ago. I ran the range's radar facility -- 15 blue suit air traffic controllers on the Army Post -- to make sure all those missiles didn't poke holes in the bottoms of perfectly good airplanes. "My Air Force" is what the Army commanding general called us, and he treated us very well.

I've been on nearly every road on the missile range, but my favorite trip was in a Huey flown by an Army warrant officer who knew how to make that whirlybird do everything it wasn't designed to do.

A truly intriguing place. Our government introduced oryx, an African antelope, to the range to see whether they would adapt and survive. Boy, did they. So well that the range held an annual hunt (sort of -- you had to shoot the one the ranger told you to shoot). Really good eating!

 

[two-bit cowboy]

What's it look like??

A big crater or something??

-Jay

Nothing really "impressive" looking, but eerie nonetheless. Click on the link in the OP and look at the picture titled "Questions and Answers." That's the monument at the site, and you can see it's pretty flat with some desert plants. If memory serves it seems the site is set just a bit below the surrounding desert floor, but there's no obvious crater.

 

[rwsmith]

Even soon after the blast.....

The tower simulated an air burst which was designed to do more widespread damage than to dig a big hole, which apparently takes a LOT of energy:

pictures of trinity crater - Google Search

 

[Erich]

I was at the Owl most recently - still very good, but I prefer Bobby Olguin's Buckhorn.

Honestly, though, Gina makes a mighty tasty burger, too.