[The Mekon (John Briggs)]

Have been waiting for Mars to get to a decent elevation in the evening, so last night was my first real look for this opposition. Had been a good night, steady seeing (in contrast with Tuesday night which was a shocker!) and I had observed a number of tight double stars with my 106mm refractor. After 2100 Mars was around 35 degree elevation, and I put in a 4mm Delite for 175x. What a disappointment. One polar cap just discernible and nary a feature visible on the surface - perhaps a bit of "mottled shading". Increased power to 350x without improvement.
It may have been the boring face towards us, but the view was nothing like I observed at the 2003 opposition.
Any other thoughts?