(ethereal chime swells) - Hey, I'm Jayarr, and on this season of "Trail Mix'd," I'm gonna take you around, under, and through Arizona.

Join me in my quest to see the best trails that Arizona has to offer, from the iconic spots to the hidden gems.

Along the way, we'll be diving deep into what makes Arizona's trails some of the best in the world.

So, come on, let's take a hike.

(upbeat music begins) For thousands of years, humans have looked to the night sky in awe.

Ancient sailors used the stars to navigate the seas, philosophers would reflect upon them in thought, and astronomers studied them to learn more about our own planet.

Today we're gonna visit some of the best spots in Arizona to reconnect with the night.

And there's no better way to enjoy the night than on the trail under a full moon.

First stop, Tucson.

(upbeat music begins) - [Narrator] "Trail Mix'd" is made possible in part by a gift from Sue and Bill Ahearn.

(upbeat music continues) Additional support provided by.

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We are investing in one of the country's largest solar battery storage projects to deliver power that's as reliable as it is sustainable.

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Over 200 acres of Arizona grown tree, citrus, and palms, complete custom design and installation, and Whitfill Nursery still does the digging.

Whitfillnursery.com.

(upbeat music begins) - [Narrator] Arizona, you never cease to amaze us.

From your determination to your resiliency, both individually and as a community.

Because of you, the Arizona Lottery can use its resources to help make our state stronger, from supporting small businesses to protecting Arizona's most vulnerable people and giving hope to future generations.

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- [Narrator] And by contributions to your PBS station from viewers like you.

Thank you.

(crickets chirp) (transition swooshes) - [Jayarr] Within the expansive landscapes of Arizona lie countless opportunities for stargazing, courtesy of the vast stretches of dark skies that adorn its rural regions.

One of these special places is a state park in Tucson where you can enjoy stunning views of the night sky all year round.

(transition swooshes) (marker pops) (transition swooshes) Welcome to Oracle State Park.

- We're a dark sky park.

We got an international designation, and so we have really dark skies here in Oracle.

There's not a lot of light pollution.

We're shielded by the mountains here.

And we do public star party events every once in a while that folks can come and view telescopes, see far off objects deep in the galaxy, all kinds of star clusters, nebulas, anything you can think of in the sky, really.

- Yeah, I think we're doing a night hike tonight, so I'm hoping to see something.

- Yeah, the nature trail is a really good representation of the landscape out here.

We are in the inter-mountain range here, so what that means is we have a lot of species that you'd find down in the Sonoran Desert nearby, but then we also have some of the stuff that you'd see higher up towards the mountains.

So you'll see a nice mix of cactus, oak trees, junipers, lots of wildlife and animals, of course.

- I haven't had very many night hikes in my life, so I'm really excited to do some exploring.

I'm glad the trail's really short, 'cause I feel like if something goes wrong or I get lost, I don't have very far to go.

If you hear me scream, if you hear screaming or whimpering, it's not an animal, it is me.

- Got you.

- And I'm not afraid to admit that.

(Ethan laughs) - Cool.

- Appreciate you.

- Yeah.

- Yeah, you're the man.

Today we're hiking the nature loop trail.

(Jayarr snaps) At night.

(Jayarr snaps) But not yet, sunset first.

So come on, let's take a hike.

(upbeat music begins) There's a lot of things that can go wrong on a night hike, so I am genuinely nervous to attempt it, but I'm eager to conquer that fear tonight.

(upbeat music continues) It's not even fully dark yet, but that moon is unbelievably huge.

I mean, it's still daylight out, but that thing is beaming.

It's very, very, very intense and satisfying to see.

(upbeat music continues) Oh, I don't know if it's the clouds breaking up the color patterns, but this sky is becoming a fireworks display of color right now.

A real masterpiece.

It's just getting better and better every second.

(upbeat music continues) So imagine you have a digital canvas, a digital screen, where the painting is consistently changing.

That's exactly what's happening here.

It's turning, that has gone from a rainbow with greens in it to just yellow and blue, but this is all purple and pink, and it's just such a treat to be out here alone and to have this ever-changing canvas to consume as I am hiking.

(upbeat music continues) Do yourself a favor, get out at dusk, maybe night.

Make sure you're prepared, make sure everything's safe.

But this is, it's a lot to take in.

So do yourself a favor and come find this, please.

(upbeat music continues) I am hoping that we can find these blinds.

Legend tells it that there's some blinds above a watering hole, and it would be nice to see some nature before it gets too dark.

But we're at the whims of Mother Nature, so we'll see what she has in store for us.

(upbeat music continues) Oh, those flowers are beautiful.

They look exactly like the colors of the sunset, actually.

Well, the moon is extremely well illuminated.

I mean, the brightest I've seen it in a really long time, and it has the ground completely bathed in light.

And so I did grab my headlamp out of the bag, but I'm not a hundred percent sure I'll need it.

I've had some apprehension to night hiking, even in a full moon with the light illuminated, but I feel really compelled to try it tonight.

So as far as the safety, I feel like there's only one way to find out.

We have another half of the trail to do.

It's gotten dark, but I think we should hit it.

So let's get back on the trail.

We got another half to go.

(upbeat music continues) I feel so grateful to have gotten to hike at night.

I was nervous, I have to admit, but I was well prepared, and with the bright moon lighting my way, it's truly been a beautiful experience.

To learn more about dark sky cities, tonight I chatted with Mike Weasner, a dark sky advocate.

Are you sort of like a dark sky star?

Because that's how the ranger was talking about you.

Like he was really singing your praises, but.

- So I got involved with the park in 2014 to do the designation for the park.

And I've been here for all but one star party over these last, many years.

The support of the community, the support of the park, the support of the visitors.

They come to this hidden gym of Oracle State Park, 'cause we're out of the way.

We're hard to get to.

They come here to do our hiking trails in the daytime.

They come here at night to appreciate this beautiful night sky.

- Well, it's official.

I definitely do not need my headlamp.

I mean, the sun, no, I meant to say the moon.

It's so bright that it's basically like the sun.

It's like a huge spotlight.

I can actually make shadow puppets on the ground.

It's lit, it's lit!

It is surreal.

There's almost no artificial light.

There's a few houses over there that have some sort of light, but I don't know, it's just so bizarre.

I spent so much of my life in the city that to be here in this moment with this thing that looks like, it looks like a spotlight, it just creates a totally different energy.

I'm in love right now.

I'm in love with this hike right now.

I'd love to hear about what are some of the requirements for a park to be designated officially a Dark Sky Park?

- So, to become an International Dark Sky Park, there's a whole set of requirements, but basically you need to have nice dark skies, you need to do education to the public, you need to do star parties so people can appreciate what they can see through telescopes.

Or just sit out under the stars, see the beautiful Milky Way up in the sky.

But you need to really do that education in a way that tells people about the problems of outdoor lighting, the problems that we're causing to human health, animal health, wasting money, all those kinds of good things.

If you meet all those requirements, then you can become an International Dark Sky Park.

(coyotes howl) - I hear, it sounds like hundreds of coyotes, like yipping and yapping at each other.

I know they're communicating, but yeah, gosh, I don't know if the camera will pick it up, but that is such a surreal sound, like.

(Jayarr mimics coyotes yipping) It sounds like children screaming, I'm not gonna lie.

(Jayarr chuckles) What is it about dark skies that you're so passionate about?

- I've been an amateur astronomer ever since I was six years old, growing up in Southern Indiana.

There's just something that we humans need about this dark sky.

We need this day night cycle, 12 hours on, 12 hours off, day and night.

You come out at nighttime and look around this beautiful night sky, it's relaxing.

- There's something about circadian rhythms where like, watching the sunrise and then watching it set, there's something about how it regulates us.

- Right, and not just us.

Animals, insects, all the living creatures, trees included, plants included.

We all have that day night cycle.

There's things we do in the daytime, things the animals do in the daytime, there's things every creature, every plant does at nighttime.

You interrupt that cycle with all this artificial light that we've done over the decades, we're hurting ourselves, we're hurting those animals, et cetera.

(insects chirp) - Uh oh, hold on, it is looking real deep over here.

Yeah, this looks like a little ankle buster.

I'm just gonna turn my headlamp on for a second.

No need to try to be brave.

There we go.

We're good.

Back to nightness.

What can everyday people do to help with dark sky protection?

- So think about the lighting that you have at your home.

Think about the lighting that you have at your business.

Is it doing what you want it to be doing?

Too many people put up lights and don't think about where it's going.

Is it going beyond your property line?

Shining into your neighbor's home, shining into their backyard?

Think about when they're on, do they need to be on?

Too many people turn on a light at sunset and they leave it on until sunrise.

Why?

What are you doing with that light outside when you're not outside?

Now you could say, "I want it on for safety and security."

Perfectly a valid reason to have outdoor lighting.

But you can overdo it.

- Still feeling really excited about this moonlight.

I don't know how to explain what it's doing to my spirit right now.

I know it's a combination of just being excited to be on a night hike, but they say there's something in the light of the moon.

It definitely has a different energy than sunlight.

I feel, it's late, but I feel charged in a different way than with the sun.

The sun kind of drains me out here.

It kind of puts me in chill mode.

But I feel electrified right now by this atmosphere.

Well, I'm thinking that's the Little Dipper, but I have to find Big Dipper to be sure.

I don't know much about the stars, but that's why I'm here so I can learn.

But I know that's a dipper of some sort.

I know that's Orion's Belt over there.

Okay, I guess I know a lot more than I thought.

(insects chirp) Oh, here's a vista for sure.

It's a totally different type of view because it's not the sun's light, it's the moon's light.

So you have to take it in differently.

Most of the animals, including the human animal, are winding down, and you're just taking in the energy of sleep.

Everything is bathed in ashy blues, and purples, and deep greens.

And yeah, you cannot experience this during the day.

This is a totally different vibration.

I'm not sure, I'm pretty sure I've never actually had this experience.

This is a great, nice short hike to have a profound night experience.

(gentle music begins) - [Mike] Go out to wherever there are star parties going on.

Here in Southern Arizona we have star parties going on a lot.

Find out when they're at, find out where they're at.

Go out and talk to the amateur astronomers out there.

You will enjoy it, very definitely.

- Take it from Mike.

You can tell he is a party animal.

He knows where all the hot spots are, so yeah, you have to take his advice on that one.

Find a star party immediately, and maybe you'll see Mike out there, and you can shake his hand and say, "I saw you on TV."

- Yep, yep.

- Appreciate you big dog, good to meet you, man.

- Thank you, appreciate it.

- [Jayarr] Talking to Mike inspired me to take a closer look at the stars.

So after a little rest, I headed up to Kitt Peak Observatory, just outside of Tucson, to learn more about Arizona's night skies and how we can protect them.

(transition swooshes) Howdy my brother.

- Howdy.

- Good to meet you, man.

What's your first name?

- My name's Greg.

- Okay.

- I'm one of the docents up here.

There's a cadre of us that do tours, daytime tours, and basically three tours.

So I'm just one of the cadre that volunteered to do this sort of thing.

- Well, thank you for meeting with me at this extreme elevation.

The views have been unbelievable.

- One of the things we do on the tour is this, McMath-Pierce is a solar telescope.

I'd like to give you a closer look if you got time.

- Please, oh yeah.

I've actually never seen a telescope in my life, honestly.

Except the little handy ones.

The little, you know, the tiny ones.

- Right, well this was the first solar telescope, was one of the largest ones for the last 50 years in the United States until it was replaced by the newer one in Hawaii.

But this is one of the first telescopes built on Kitt Peak.

Well, we actually, on this particular telescope, it's really cool, 'cause we get to see inside the light tunnel and actually be inside of a telescope.

Would you like to see that?

- Absolutely.

- Well, let's go take a look.

- Be inside of a telescope?

- Yes.

It's the light tunnel, from the reflection of the mirrors of the sun all the way down to the mirrors and up to the platters.

It's pretty cool.

As we go into the light tunnel, you can see, if you look up to the top, you see the center.

It looks like a hole with Mickey Mouse ears.

- Yeah.

- It's actually three telescopes in one.

The main mirror in the middle that tracks the sun as it goes through the sky and reflects the light all the way down the bottom, 500 feet.

You can't see the bottom mirror from this angle.

And then reflects it up to right here in front of you, you see the mirror on an angle, then down onto a platter that's about three foot in diameter.

And this telescope is able to give you a nice view of the sun that's about three feet in diameter for a solar telescope.

- So is it captured digitally and then transferred to a computer, then you can see it?

- Oh no, it's all analog.

- No way!

- Yeah.

- Oh my God!

- So that's one of the reasons the resolution was built this big, this long, to give us a view of the sun, an image of about three foot diameter.

So you can imagine the resolution, not only to measure the spectrum of the sun, but the resolution is just not there for sun spots and other types of granulation.

- So how do you turn this thing to hit different coordinates in the sky?

- It's all done with an analog computer downstairs.

You gotta remember this is the early sixties.

- Cool.

- So this is right outta the sixties.

- Man, this is so cool.

Thank you so much for bringing me into this space.

- No problem.

One thing that also people don't recognize about how all this took place had to do with the National Science Foundation.

That was done back.

(fact bubble pops) (gentle music begins) - [Jayarr] Kitt Peak sits on top of the Quinlan Mountains on the Tohono O'odham Nation.

At almost 7,000 feet elevation, Kitt Peak can get cold, so guests should bring a sweater and plant accordingly.

The hills and valleys between each of these telescopes are no joke either.

So be prepared to get your steps in.

- [James] Well, we're standing at the 20 inch Kitt Peak Visitor Center telescope.

We are about to point it at the moon and take a look through it.

- Okay, how long does that process take for it to calibrate to pointing at the moon?

- It takes as long as it takes for me to type MOON into the guidance computer and then stand by while the telescope moves.

It's a slow robot, so it's not instant, but it'll get right over to it in the sky.

- [Jayarr] Okay.

- [James] And we are slewing the telescope now.

That's how fast it takes to look at the moon.

- [Jayarr] Why the red light?

- [James] Well, red light doesn't affect our nighttime vision.

We can continue to see as clear as possible in dim light if we use red lights to focus on things.

This is the eye piece, and now's your time.

- [Jayarr] Here we go, first time ever looking through a telescope, honestly.

(gentle music continues) Oh, so this is unbelievable.

The details.

Oh my God, I can see the edges!

Oh, that's, that is mind blowing.

You know, it looks like on the edges there's a bit of the, like the heat distortion.

You know what I mean?

Am I crazy or am I seeing that?

You know what I mean?

- [James] We have a lot of atmosphere between us and what we're looking at.

And that affects how clear anything is that we point the telescope at.

- [Jayarr] Ah, I can't believe this.

The Tucson area certainly has an abundance of opportunities for spectacular nighttime views.

But Tucson isn't the only city in Arizona that cares about dark skies.

(transition swooshes) My next trail is located in the middle of a volcanic field surrounded by the largest Ponderosa pine forest in the world.

Welcome to Sunset Crater.

(gentle music fades) (transition swooshes) As the sun went down, I spoke with Chris Luginbuhl, an astronomer who specializes in dark skies and light pollution.

- There is a natural response of many human beings to a fear of the dark.

All of us grow up with it.

Most of us outgrow most of it, but it's still a little bit barking around the edges of us.

The more you are uncomfortable with darkness, the more you wanna light it up.

And the more you light it up, the less you experience natural night.

More than 80% of the people who live in this country live in places where they cannot see the Milky Way.

And if you've ever seen the Milky Way, you understand that that's meaningful.

That's a real loss.

If you've never seen the Milky Way, you probably think, well, is that a candy bar or does that really matter to me?

But if you've seen it, you know it does matter.

There are so many questions that come up when people think about regulating lighting.

And you talked about the fears about, "Hey, is this safe?"

Or, "Am I gonna be afraid of the dark?"

Well, those are hard questions to answer, but Flagstaff has kind of proven that we didn't destroy our community, and there's no particularly bad crime in our community, and the economic development is not squashed, but we're having 90% less light pollution than other communities.

So we've kind of proven a concept.

- Doesn't seem to be very many downsides to it.

- Yeah, there's not a downside to this.

There's better visibility, you can find your way around, you save energy, you bring back the stars into people's lives, and their perspective on the universe improves.

They're connected more with the universe surrounding them.

All of those are good.

- [Jayarr] Next, I met with Dr. Danielle Adams, a cultural astronomer who specializes in indigenous Arabian astronomy.

Dr. Adams?

- Oh, hi, call me Danielle.

- Hey, is that what you prefer?

- Yeah, yeah, Jayarr right?

- Yeah, yeah, yeah, Jayarr.

- Awesome.

- It's really dark out here.

- Just how I love it.

- I believe we're hiking the lava flow trail tonight.

- That sounds awesome.

- Are you down to like mosey along with me and maybe teach me some things about the stars in the sky?

- Yes, I'd love to.

- You ready?

- Yeah.

- Come on, let's take a hike.

Watch your step.

First step's a doozy.

(Danielle laughs) Danielle, I heard through the grapevine that you are a cultural astronomer.

What does that mean?

- [Danielle] Yeah, it's kind of a weird thing, huh?

- [Jayarr] Well, I don't know, you haven't told me yet.

(both laugh) - [Danielle] Instead of looking at and studying the stars themselves, I try to understand how people and societies connect to the stars.

So what stories do they tell about the sky?

How do they connect the constellations?

How does that impact their culture?

- [Jayarr] Can I ask a silly question?

- [Danielle] Yeah.

- [Jayarr] What's the purpose of the stories?

- [Danielle] Well, imagine going back to a time where we don't have electric lights, right?

We're outside at night in the desert, if you're a good camel herder, you don't drive your camels during the daytime.

It's too hot.

That's mean to the camels.

So you travel through the night and you use the stars for navigation, but there's so many stars in the sky.

And so the prominent stars that you use for navigation, you start telling stories about them.

- [Jayarr] Do you think it has something to do with like memory and association?

If we create a story around something that helps us remember it?

- Yeah, yeah.

I mean, this is all oral history, right?

This is just all oral poetry and oral rhymed prose.

And through that you memorialize these stars in the sky that you literally live by.

You need that information to survive in the desert.

- Maybe that's why we teach kids in nursery rhymes, 'cause it's in our DNA.

- [Danielle] Yeah.

- I like to help people break the idea that it's overhead and that we're down here and it's up there.

And that's another way of thinking of us as separate.

Sometimes I say to people, try to break that it's out there and we're down here feeling by lying on the ground and looking up at the night sky in a dark place where there are lots of stars.

And imagine that you're not looking up from the ground, but imagine that you're stuck to the side of the earth, like through a natural night, it becomes an alien and a foreign thing to us.

So we tend to be afraid of things that we're not familiar with, and that kind of feeds on itself.

The more you are uncomfortable with darkness, the more you wanna light it up, and the more you light it up, the less you experience natural nights.

And we've become kind of isolated from the natural night.

There's an author named Henry Bestin who said that, "Our fantastic civilization has fallen out of touch with many aspects of nature, but with none more completely than with night.

With lights and evermore lights, we drive the holiness and beauty of stars back to the forest and the seas."

(Jayarr breathes sharply) - We've had an awesome collection of nighttime experiences, some education about dark skies, and spent some time looking at the cosmos, wondering what awaits us up there.

As always, thank you for your time and attention.

And don't forget to look up, keep your lights down low.

Until next time, we'll catch you on the next trail.

(Jayarr inhales and exhales deeply) (insects chirp)