windthrown
361 Junkie
That is the Nacimiento-Fergusson Rd... steep and twisty with lots of switchbacks. I remember a million and one hippies were there in the 60s. I lived in Monterey, Carmel and PG from 1966 to 1986.
So Nate killed it off for me. Thanks buddy.
PasoJim: U.S. Army Combat Developments Experimentation Center, Ft Hunter Liggett, CA
Is that what they turned Hunter Liggett into now? Last I was there, it was abandoned. I took an off-road group down to Big Sur one year, and we made our way over the mountains to Hunter Liggett. to my surprise and delight, and it was empty. The kiosks were tipped over and there was no one there. We off-roaded all over there in the fall, and never saw anyone. We used to also go there on the old Indians Road on our dirt bikes from Arroyo Seco in the 1970s. That is all closed off now on the Arroyo Seco side now though, with a campground and fee park.
Funny story: when I worked at General Dynamics in San Diego as an engineer, I passed a guy's cube one day and saw that he had a 3-dimentional stick figure mapping array on a monitor, and it looked like Arroyo Seco. I asked the guy working there if that was what it was, and he said yes. He showed me what he was doing, and we plotted a route using a light pen up into Hunter Liggett along the Arroyo Seco River for fun. I did not think anything of it until I passed that cube the next day and everything was gone! I found out that it was moved into a 'black' lab, a secure lab requiring higher security than I had. Evidently the guys manager had noticed my noticing the mapping scheme, and if someone passing by in the hall could recognize real features from a stick figure targeting system, it needed to be secured. That was a group developing programming tools for the Tomahawk cruise missile on battleships (early 1990s).
FHL is ideal terrain for tank warfare. Its remote location away from city lights is also ideal for night vision.
Fort Hunter Liggett is now in the custody the U.S. Army Reserves and has been turned into a training base with lots of people and lots of activity.
Since 9-11, security at FHL has become really tight. Signs at the entrance of Nacimiento-Ferguson Road now say that motorists are required to obtain an official permit from FHL before they can drive over to the coast.
Aaron, you post a pic of me running a husky, lol, but you seem to have forgotten about your Stihl pic......
There was a guy from England on one off-road trip I led down there. We were camped at Arroyo Seco and he looked up and asked me, "What's that foggy stuff in the sky there?" I looked up, and looked at him and said, "That's The Milky Way." He said, "The Milky Way?" I said, "Yah, that's the galaxy we are in." He was amazed. He had never seen the Milky Way in his entire life, living in London, Dallas, and SF where light pollution blocks the view of the galaxy stars. That area is certainly away from light pollution.
Interesting about the Naciamento-Furguson permit requirement. That road is the lifeline to Big Sur when they road closed from fires in summer and mud slides in winter. I was really happy to have a late summer to bomb around Hunter Liggett when it was deserted. I never thought it would be that way, but the gates were all open to the coast along 'roads' that I had never seen opened before (and likely closed after). There are some great off-roading areas there, and there are nice waterfalls and pools along the Naciamento River.
Since we are living 15 miles from the nearest town in a rural area with no street lights, I can walk out into by backyard after dark and see the Milky Way very clearly almost every night. We moved out of the SF Bay Area 25 years ago and don't miss it one bit.
I love driving back into the Indians and other remote areas. Fascinating things to explore, see and do back there. Hunter Liggett has changed into something I am not familiar with nor comfortable with. Government seems to be obsessed with taking the enjoyment out of everything.
guess i'll try photo bucket. I tried uploading the pic but apparently the pic is to big for the siteRobert you're going to have to post the pic here. Cutting/pasting the link from 'elsewhere' doesn't work...................as the AS auto-censor software don't like that attachment link. It has the name of that 'elsewhere' place within the link...............and that gets replaced with ######## when posted on this site........
I am surprised that know one invited "Barbra Boxer" (Note) I may get banned for this comment! LOL Ken
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