Since I have a sturdy pick-em-up truck, I made the drive up to the Barker House several years b/4 the County decided to buy it. The road, if you want to call it that was treacherous, dangerous and exactly like Hank described it and the video shows.
Once I got to the top, I walked around a bit but did not try to get thru the fence surrounding the property. And yes, the views are spectacular but hiking this is ludicrous, IMHO.
When I got done, I jumped in my truck and found that even turning around up there to go back downhill was difficult and took several turns to get the truck oriented back downhill.
I remember the discussions about how this property could never meet the ADA requirements and it just needed to be demolished. So Hank is right, no due diligence or thoughts of how this acquisition could be utilized in the future were done prior to acquiring it. Another example of wasteful gubmint spending only at a County level. jest sayin’
This is not a very hard problem to solve and has been dealt with in many other mountain top tourist destinations from Brasstown Bald to Jefferson's Monticello estate.
1) Build a parking lot as high up the mountain as feasible to shorten the hike.
2) Run a shuttle bus up and down the limited access road from the parking lot to the top for those incapable of making the hike.
Wish you would have run before I Left…which is about the time the school superintendent started injecting DEI into the county school curriculum.
You are so correct, they are out of touch with taxpayers.
Since I have a sturdy pick-em-up truck, I made the drive up to the Barker House several years b/4 the County decided to buy it. The road, if you want to call it that was treacherous, dangerous and exactly like Hank described it and the video shows.
Once I got to the top, I walked around a bit but did not try to get thru the fence surrounding the property. And yes, the views are spectacular but hiking this is ludicrous, IMHO.
When I got done, I jumped in my truck and found that even turning around up there to go back downhill was difficult and took several turns to get the truck oriented back downhill.
I remember the discussions about how this property could never meet the ADA requirements and it just needed to be demolished. So Hank is right, no due diligence or thoughts of how this acquisition could be utilized in the future were done prior to acquiring it. Another example of wasteful gubmint spending only at a County level. jest sayin’
This is not a very hard problem to solve and has been dealt with in many other mountain top tourist destinations from Brasstown Bald to Jefferson's Monticello estate.
1) Build a parking lot as high up the mountain as feasible to shorten the hike.
2) Run a shuttle bus up and down the limited access road from the parking lot to the top for those incapable of making the hike.
That's fine to say, but none of that is part of the plan, and if it were, it would cost a fortune.