On Tue, 14 Dec 2004, Joe Bauman wrote:
Your mentioning road-grading reminds me of an important consideration: is this thing close to a paved road?
I visited the site a few years ago with a friend who is a Long-Lines geek/buff, and the site is miles and miles from the nearest paved road. I wouldn't want to drive on that dirt road during anything other than dry conditions, and some folks might not be comfortable driving passenger cars to the site even in dry weather. (Myself included, but I'm not as, um, "enthusiastic" as some of the rest of you. :-) The site sits on a smallish/foothill-ish ridge line which has a clear view in several directions, so you could probably "see" headlights on the highway, but they'd be so far away that I doubt they'd be the least bit bothersome. (I wasn't there at night, however, and I don't know what y'all consider "bothersome", so take that with the appropriate grains of salt.) Come to think of it, the site is miles and miles away from almost everything. I say "almost" because, if I recall correctly, there is another communications facility on a nearby "bump" in the ridgeline, the antenna of which may or may not possess beacon lights. It's been long enough since I was there that I don't remember if the nearby site had an antenna tall enough to warrant beacons. Might be a good question for the seller of the adjacent Long-Lines site. Back when we visited the site, my friend and I thought the site might make a great place for an automated, radio-remote-controlled astronomical observatory. Maybe that kind of "communications" use would pacify the BLM. :-) Chris