Overview
We have - over the years - made a few trips up Tikaboo Peak, Nevada to view the facilities at Groom Lake. On our first trip in September 1995, it was a simple case of a touristy side-trip from a work-inspired few days in Las Vegas. I don't recall seeing anything move at or over the base, nor did we really expect any more. We climbed Tikaboo according to the excellent 'Area 51 Viewer's Guide', drove up Groom Lake Road as far as the border and visited the Little A'Le Inn.
Our second trip was in October 1996, the occasion being a 'stag night' (well, stag week). The format was similar except that we found human life at the peak in the shape of a more serious secret aircraft watcher who told us his name was 'Eugene'. He is probably still cursing his choice of holiday date as our arrival was hardly stealthy and probably blew any chance of interesting aircraft movements; but we are still in touch. And his name isn't Eugene.
The next trip was April 2001. We started early, expected little and were somewhat surprised to arrive at the Tikaboo Peak 'parking lot' at 0630 to the sound of a fighter-type aircraft manoeuvring overhead. It was operating at a middling altitude and it looked like an F-15 to my 'I-Spy book' level of aircraft recognition; Nick surprised me by suggesting that it was a 'big MiG'.
Two years later in April 2003, there was little snow, conditions were good and for a few hours the base was a hive of activity.
A year later we returned to Tikaboo Peak. The April 2004 visit was especially good as luckily N105TB the Gulfstream II was operating out of Point Mugu, CA for a few days; a side trip managed to get some half-decent photos of the highly modified aircraft that we'd first seen the previous year over Groom Lake.