New Electric Towers in NoVA

[Newb]

I went hiking from Asby's Gap up over the top of SkyMeadows state park yesterday here in Virginia. Anyone who knows the area knows that SkyMeadows is (now was) one of the most beautiful hiking spots in the mid-atlantic.

Well, the easement has now been cut right thru the middle of it for the new Supertowers to carry electricity for Dominion power. It's a horrid scar, and quite disconsoling.

[Blissful]

A shame. The reloc there is so nice too. :(

[skinewmexico]

Could be worse. Could be like here, where we have thousands of tax-supported wind generators lining every mesa.

[NICKTHEGREEK]

I went hiking from Asby's Gap up over the top of SkyMeadows state park yesterday here in Virginia. Anyone who knows the area knows that SkyMeadows is (now was) one of the most beautiful hiking spots in the mid-atlantic.

Well, the easement has now been cut right thru the middle of it for the new Supertowers to carry electricity for Dominion power. It's a horrid scar, and quite disconsoling.
Loudon fought it but the sprawl in the county and the increasing demand in Fairfax and Arlington made the new lines necessary. Although if Paul Mellon was still alive I think it may have been rerouted. (Sky Meadows was his land at one time) Oddly every time you throw a light switch or dial that thermostat down you'll be drawing from those same towers. Incidentally they could fire up that horrid coal plant in Olde Towne Alexandria and pollute the hell out of the place to pick up the slack
I love that section of the country and have been hiking between Manassas Gap and Ashby Gap for 20 some years. But there's plenty more nice hikes in the locale let alone in the mid atlantic, it's just that this one was very convenient.
BTW what about the natural gas lines criss crossing the AT in that neck of the woods? All they need now is sewer and all the utilities will be there.

[Jeff]

Sky Meadow is indeed a beautiful spot. :(

Some easements across the AT are actually not so bad in that it gets a hiker out of the "green tunnel" and makes for an interesting viewpoint.

[Jack Tarlin]

These sorts of things are unfortunate, but all too often, the folks who take to the airwaves to vent about them forget about a few things. In all likelihood, they are sitting in the comfort of a heated, electrified home, working on a computer that is in use for hours every day, in a room comfortably if not overly heated, well-lit, and full of all sorts of other conveniences and devices. The person is also probably eating a snack or sipping a drink that came from a large appliance.......that runs 24/7, every single moment of every single day.

When one criticizes power companies and what they do, one might want to think about a few things first.

And if my above comment bothers anyone, and they want to reply to it, well remember the companies, equipment, and power lines that permit you to do so.......without them, I rather doubt this dialogue would be taking place.

[Lugnut]

Well put. The power line has to cross the mountain someplace, and no matter where some will prefer it was not where they had to look at it.

[Newb]

I just don't understand why they didn't just double-up on the easement at Keys Gap.

[weary]

These sorts of things are unfortunate, but all too often, the folks who take to the airwaves to vent about them forget about a few things. In all likelihood, they are sitting in the comfort of a heated, electrified home, working on a computer that is in use for hours every day, in a room comfortably if not overly heated, well-lit, and full of all sorts of other conveniences and devices. The person is also probably eating a snack or sipping a drink that came from a large appliance.......that runs 24/7, every single moment of every single day.

When one criticizes power companies and what they do, one might want to think about a few things first.

And if my above comment bothers anyone, and they want to reply to it, well remember the companies, equipment, and power lines that permit you to do so.......without them, I rather doubt this dialogue would be taking place.
Absolutely true, Jack. Conservation is the critical first step in our efforts to protect the last wild places.

Weary

[Jim Adams]

No problem...just stop using electricity!

geek

[Tipi Walter]

I guess we'd better get used to it. The inevitable grinding march to destroy all things natural is currently the choice most humans here have made in order to support a purported higher standard of living. The choice to use or even develop electricity(as in the rural electrification project)was a human choice and not something ordained by God or commanded upon us by some dictator.

But there are many people living without electricity and do so in primitive shelters, tent, hogans, or in the case of the Amish, regular style farm houses. Anyone who backpacks makes a conscious decision to live without actually being on the grid, even though they may take a cell phone or other battery operated devices. And some people make a conscious choice to get off the grid entirely and do so for years. They are the ones who are evolving into a higher level human and leaving the rest of us behind. Modern Man then becomes Post Modern Man: Natural Man.

As far as using electricity to comment on NOT using it, well, it's like using a thorn to remove a thorn. Someone might read something here and decide for themselves to dump the typical American lifestyle and live on a acre or two or in a national forest in a primitive shelter w/o the usual energy addiction we've so accustomed ourselves to.

And this whole thread brings up another point: What's the point of practicing LNT camping when the mountain next to you is being raped?

[NICKTHEGREEK]

I just don't understand why they didn't just double-up on the easement at Keys Gap.
There's a good point, why not consolidate the damage in one spot? Wish I knew the answer.