[mooreandrew5335]

Originally Posted by SimonTuffGuy

Thanks for the info. I forgot to look at my pictures again for the companies website... I just remember that it didn't go into specifics about what was what.

Oddly enough... I've never seen another set of towers like these in our mountains, and I've explored enough of them as a kid on my bike, and now with the Jeep too.

I've heard those things used to relay information for the fire department before there were cellphones. Apparently, where I go to school, there used to be large metallic obelisk-like structures that were used to bounce microwaves off of for communications purposes. If I can find any remaining ones I will post pictures.

[SimonTuffGuy]

That'd be cool andrew... I think I actually found another set of these towers on a set of mountains 20 miles south of my place too. I've seen them before, but never paid much attention to them. I know those roads are closed off and it would require some hiking to get there.

[Mymmars]

the roads are never closed off, its just made jeep only :P

[1997_Sport]

looking on here i want to go to catilina, PA it looks pretty sick up there

[GeneralDisarray]

Wow. Just found this thread. Great stories. Especially interested in the Insane asylum in Pueblo where the dudes in black Yukons took the guys SD card from his camera. Did they identify themselves from an agency? That is enough for me to almost plan a trip there.

No wheeling stories here, but when I was a kid a friend and I went riding the dirt roads and trails on the East Reservation of Barksdale AFB. We were kind of scared but were allowed to be on base.(AF brats) We were scared because we weren't sure that part of the base was open. And because there were natural gas wells and pipelines all over the place. Well we are riding and hear this huge explosion. I mean it was a huge concussion. We couldn't tell which direction it came from so we just took off and rode like hell till we were worn out.

The next day, we found out it was a sonic boom from an SR-71 that was diverted to Barksdale for an emergency landing. It came in super sonic.

[TwistedcaB-]

the only thing i've seen that was kinda funny is while driving on some dirt backroads in my xj i found a shack MAYBE 10'X10' and had a dish network dish on it haha.

[RikRotorhead]

Not Jeeping but... While flying around in the hills above Los Angeles in the helicopter one day, I was looking for a good spot to put it down to "releive urinary tract pressure" when I spotted four concrete pads on a hilltop. I landed on one of them, and found a steel door about fifty feet away from them that was pryed open. Curiosity made me go into the stairwell. It led to a bunch of underground tunnels that connected to the four missle tubes I spotted from above. It was completely gutted of any electrical wiring and plumbing, but you could tell it was set up to have people live in it. When I lifted off, I saw a three row fence with razor ribbon surrounding it a bit lower on the hill.
Last time I flew over that area it is still there.

On a Jeeping note... We were wheeling in the Panamint Mountains and exploring old ghost towns and mining camps. We went into a mine shaft that penetrated the mountain about a half mile. It opened up to a very large room with timbers holding the roof up. There was some mining junk laying around, but my son found a Sears catalogue from 1933 in mint condition. He still has it. It was only about thirty pages thick, and the toy section was only two pages.
Exploring outside the mines we found old tobacco cans with claims still in them from the early 1900's.
Pretty cool area to explore.

[rubizen]

I was stationed on MCB 29 Palms ('92-'95) and went wheeling with my roomate sometimes. One day we were on the north side of the base, just off the highway which borders the base. We noticed a parked car just off the road. We were going to stop and take a look at it but skipped it instead. He was in a hurry to get back to base to iron uniforms. About two days later my platoon had our vehicles at one of the gunnery ranges. I was on the radio listening to some of the base frequencies. I heard an EOD detail talking about finding a car. The detail had been out looking for unexploded ordnance near the border of the base; from their description I knew it was the car I had seen 2 days before. They needed command to contact local law enforcement because they found a body in the trunk. Some of the Marines who had been stationed there longer than me said it was not unusual to find bodies along the north border. Gangs from So Cal and meth cookers used it for a "drop off point".

[kidA]

Originally Posted by RikRotorhead

Not Jeeping but... While flying around in the hills above Los Angeles in the helicopter one day, I was looking for a good spot to put it down to "releive urinary tract pressure" when I spotted four concrete pads on a hilltop. I landed on one of them, and found a steel door about fifty feet away from them that was pryed open. Curiosity made me go into the stairwell. It led to a bunch of underground tunnels that connected to the four missle tubes I spotted from above. It was completely gutted of any electrical wiring and plumbing, but you could tell it was set up to have people live in it. When I lifted off, I saw a three row fence with razor ribbon surrounding it a bit lower on the hill.
Last time I flew over that area it is still there.

is it jeep accessible?

[RikRotorhead]

Originally Posted by kidA

is it jeep accessible?

There is a road about a mile from it. I didn't see any roads at leading up to it. It's been abandoned for at least 20 years, maybe more. Next time I'm up in the air in that area I'll look closer.
It would be a cool piece of property to buy and build your house over the top of it, and have that for a basement. Kinda' remote tho'.

[Avian]

Originally Posted by RikRotorhead

There is a road about a mile from it. I didn't see any roads at leading up to it. It's been abandoned for at least 20 years, maybe more. Next time I'm up in the air in that area I'll look closer.
It would be a cool piece of property to buy and build your house over the top of it, and have that for a basement. Kinda' remote tho'.

I'll bet its a Nike base. Ive seen a few, theyre all over. BUT....most are still owned by the army, so I wouldnt want to get caught out on one. Heres a nice vid of one that was restored ant turned into a park. Theres a big movement to try and save these historic sites.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eX6VbUL0BIY


They were used to defend against soviet invasion/ bombing runs. Some were conventional, and some were nuclear.






And about that tiny shack with the satellite dish on it, I saw something like that too. It was like 5'x5' and 8 or so feet tall. Open the door, and theres nothing but trophies. I mean floor to ceiling shelves of trophies. And not just normal trophies (baseball, football, etc) either. Almost every one had a little golden winnebago on it. It was just sitting in the middle of the woods, and looked like it hadnt been touched in decades. Weirdest thing Ive ever seen.

[RikRotorhead]

No. It was diffferent. The tubes were vertical, and really deep. the room in that video was about the same size as one of the rooms, but much deeper into the ground. I'd say about 80 feet or so. It had several other rooms around it. It was an underground base of some sort. Maybe ICBMs.
There were no keep out signs that I could see from the air, so I would probably be ok landing on it, and not getting into trouble. FAA regs would protect me.
I'm sure it's covered with snow right now, but I will take pics of it next time. I carry a flaxhlight in my flight bag, but it was just a mini mag light, and I didn't spend much time down there because I was not sure of the battery life. I now carry that one, and two LED flashlights.
Even if I don't land next time, I'll snap a pic from the air, and waypoint it on the GPS.

[kidA]

thats something i would like to go see

[Avian]

Originally Posted by RikRotorhead

No. It was diffferent. The tubes were vertical, and really deep. the room in that video was about the same size as one of the rooms, but much deeper into the ground. I'd say about 80 feet or so. It had several other rooms around it. It was an underground base of some sort. Maybe ICBMs.
There were no keep out signs that I could see from the air, so I would probably be ok landing on it, and not getting into trouble. FAA regs would protect me.
I'm sure it's covered with snow right now, but I will take pics of it next time. I carry a flaxhlight in my flight bag, but it was just a mini mag light, and I didn't spend much time down there because I was not sure of the battery life. I now carry that one, and two LED flashlights.
Even if I don't land next time, I'll snap a pic from the air, and waypoint it on the GPS.

If they were vertical, then maybe they were ICBM's. Hmmm


And about the signs....they usually arent marked well. The ones Ive seen have a chain link around them (mostly falling over from age) with small plastic 8"x8" signs that say "US government property, keep out."


The one thats closest to me is still active. The original base is sprawling, it used to be an army airfield in WWI. The active part of it is very small (maybe 500'x500') and is fenced, barbed wired, and barricaded off. From a distance, it looks like a cell phone tower with the antenna part replaced by a sat dish and a weather station, but a buddy of mine (active military) told me its the system that replaced the nike. Completely automated, with 14 conventional units housed in an underground battery. Those 14 conventionals replaced the 6 nuclears the base used to house. He said these new installations are all over, and for the most part hidden from public knowledge. They just look like cell phone tower facilities.


Here the link to the one closest to me. This site is full of cool pics. Both historical and recent.

http://members.tripod.com/nikehercules/d-57.html

[RKBA]

If the tales about the highly guarded abandoned looking facilities are to be believed, they must have a purpose. I wonder if they aren't simply out of the way places to house terrorist types.