The Dish is two things. For runners, it’s a 3.5 mile (roughly 5.6km) run through quiet and amidst beautiful rolling hills. The run would be pretty easy if not for the hills. No wheels are allowed in the park — you have to make your way using good ‘ole fashioned people power.
For science geeks, these hills are home to the Stanford Dish a radio telescope built in 1966 to study the chemical composition of the atmosphere. Now it is used by NASA to communicate with spacecraft and satellites orbiting the Earth.
The Dish isn’t the only artifact in the park. There are other devices — both old and modern. And, I suspect that there’s an underground facility under the hills that’s still being used. Periodically, I found ventilation shafts and water routing systems — both with clean, shiny locks. It made me think of the Stargate world.
